I'm Dreaming of a White Kwanzaa?
Before I get to Christmas stuff I have to point out the hilarious irony that it’s snowing on the first night of Kwanzaa. Is Mother Nature an insane racist, or comedic genius? Since she isn’t doing any interviews I guess the decision is up to us. On to Christmas!
Christmas was pretty good. The day started early for me since I wanted to drive down to see my grandmother at the old folks home. It’s not a fun drive, but she’s 92, so it’s not like she has a lot of Christmases left. In fact, and I know this sounds incredibly morbid, but at 92 I know she’s hoping this is her last one. Living as long as she has she’s quick to say there isn’t anything left for her to see here on earth.
After visiting my grandmother I went back home, tried to watch a little TV but ended up falling asleep for a half hour on the sofa. After I woke up I watched Spawn, because, ya know, after Frank Capra’s "It’s A Wonderful Life" nothing says "Holiday Season" like Spawn. After the movie ended I headed over to my parents (it was coincidence that the movie ended right when I was supposed to leave. Don’t worry, I didn’t call up my parents and ask them to put Christmas on hold so I could watch Spawn for the three billionth time). We opened up presents and my Grandfather arrived for Christmas dinner. One of my gifts has already resulted in a lot of funny pictures being taken, but how can you not take a picture with the killer rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail?
Quick! Someone get The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch!
Christmas also marked the second time in a row I’ve gotten together with my grandfather without a major argument breaking out. This is an amazing accomplishment and a trend I hope continues. My grandfather and I can be a lot alike, the problem is when you get two stubborn people together it usually doesn’t end well, thankfully we’ve sidestepped all the potential pitfalls the past few get-togethers.
In other holiday happenings, for the second straight year Smackdown went to Iraq for Christmas to entertain the troops and for the second straight year it was something very very special. Some of the interviews with troops were gut wrenching, especially the woman who’s husband was also a soldier and they kept getting deployed at different times, never getting to see each other. The show’s high point, however, was when the wrestlers got to tour Iraq and see what was really going on. Mick Foley, who is openly a Democrat, noted that during his helicopter tour of the country everyone was waving happily and that it’s really not as bad as the media is making it out to be. The WWE’s time in Iraq inspired Vince McMahon to take out a full page ad in The New York Times on Saturday that, when read between the lines, essentially insulted the Times’ coverage of the war. It was great, and while it’s not surprising that our troops are doing good things what is surprising is that our pro wrestlers seem to be reporting the news better than the people being paid to. As a journalist I’m very saddened by the poor work my peers are doing covering the freeing and rebuilding of Iraq. It’s time for everyone to raise up and realize we’re doing some good things out there. Is it really that hard to have a positive sense of self worth? Since when did being proud of oneself become a negative thing? We’re doing well, let’s be happy about it and take pride in our accomplishments!
Continuing with the theme of accomplishing things, with Christmas weekend over I now begin a week of practically nothing. Though magazines still have deadlines and need to be published I’m not counting on many people being in their offices or answering email until after the second of January. If I end up hearing back about articles I’ve already pitched that would be great, but like I said, I’m not really counting on anything getting done until after the new year starts.
Speaking of the new year, my New Year’s Eve looks to be like any other night in my life. From what I’ve heard through the grapevine (ie. a mutual friend), the girl I was going to try to link up with for the night is interested in another dude. I have no problem with this. I’m not the type of person to get attached to someone before anything real happens, and I’m also not the type of person who’s going to bust their ass the try to get someone who’s interested in someone else. My main problem lies in the fact that as soon as I was going to show interest and try to hook myself up she found another person. This has become a disturbing trend. Example one: one of my boy’s girlfriend’s wanted to hook me up with one of her friends a few months ago. She told her all about me and the girl was all excited to meet me. Before we could meet, however, she fell madly in love, just not with me. Example two: my boy wanted to hook me up with a female friend of his who, by all accounts, actually seemed like someone we could all see me having a relationship with. Again the girl in question was told all about me and got really excited about meeting me. We were supposed to meet at the start of the month but she didn’t show at the event we were all at. I asked my boy what was up and he said this girl, much like that last, fell madly in love with someone, just not me. With New Year’s girl being example number three this is getting out of hand. It’s gotten to the point where my friends are now trying to hook me up with lonely people they know I wouldn’t like just so the lonely people can find love. It’s a good thing I have a good sense of humor, lol! What an odd dating service I’m turning out to be!
Final Thought - The shocking death of Reggie White this morning was truly saddening. A great football player and a great man, The Minister of Defense will be missed by many. Rest in Peace Reggie.
Christmas was pretty good. The day started early for me since I wanted to drive down to see my grandmother at the old folks home. It’s not a fun drive, but she’s 92, so it’s not like she has a lot of Christmases left. In fact, and I know this sounds incredibly morbid, but at 92 I know she’s hoping this is her last one. Living as long as she has she’s quick to say there isn’t anything left for her to see here on earth.
After visiting my grandmother I went back home, tried to watch a little TV but ended up falling asleep for a half hour on the sofa. After I woke up I watched Spawn, because, ya know, after Frank Capra’s "It’s A Wonderful Life" nothing says "Holiday Season" like Spawn. After the movie ended I headed over to my parents (it was coincidence that the movie ended right when I was supposed to leave. Don’t worry, I didn’t call up my parents and ask them to put Christmas on hold so I could watch Spawn for the three billionth time). We opened up presents and my Grandfather arrived for Christmas dinner. One of my gifts has already resulted in a lot of funny pictures being taken, but how can you not take a picture with the killer rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail?
Quick! Someone get The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch!
Christmas also marked the second time in a row I’ve gotten together with my grandfather without a major argument breaking out. This is an amazing accomplishment and a trend I hope continues. My grandfather and I can be a lot alike, the problem is when you get two stubborn people together it usually doesn’t end well, thankfully we’ve sidestepped all the potential pitfalls the past few get-togethers.
In other holiday happenings, for the second straight year Smackdown went to Iraq for Christmas to entertain the troops and for the second straight year it was something very very special. Some of the interviews with troops were gut wrenching, especially the woman who’s husband was also a soldier and they kept getting deployed at different times, never getting to see each other. The show’s high point, however, was when the wrestlers got to tour Iraq and see what was really going on. Mick Foley, who is openly a Democrat, noted that during his helicopter tour of the country everyone was waving happily and that it’s really not as bad as the media is making it out to be. The WWE’s time in Iraq inspired Vince McMahon to take out a full page ad in The New York Times on Saturday that, when read between the lines, essentially insulted the Times’ coverage of the war. It was great, and while it’s not surprising that our troops are doing good things what is surprising is that our pro wrestlers seem to be reporting the news better than the people being paid to. As a journalist I’m very saddened by the poor work my peers are doing covering the freeing and rebuilding of Iraq. It’s time for everyone to raise up and realize we’re doing some good things out there. Is it really that hard to have a positive sense of self worth? Since when did being proud of oneself become a negative thing? We’re doing well, let’s be happy about it and take pride in our accomplishments!
Continuing with the theme of accomplishing things, with Christmas weekend over I now begin a week of practically nothing. Though magazines still have deadlines and need to be published I’m not counting on many people being in their offices or answering email until after the second of January. If I end up hearing back about articles I’ve already pitched that would be great, but like I said, I’m not really counting on anything getting done until after the new year starts.
Speaking of the new year, my New Year’s Eve looks to be like any other night in my life. From what I’ve heard through the grapevine (ie. a mutual friend), the girl I was going to try to link up with for the night is interested in another dude. I have no problem with this. I’m not the type of person to get attached to someone before anything real happens, and I’m also not the type of person who’s going to bust their ass the try to get someone who’s interested in someone else. My main problem lies in the fact that as soon as I was going to show interest and try to hook myself up she found another person. This has become a disturbing trend. Example one: one of my boy’s girlfriend’s wanted to hook me up with one of her friends a few months ago. She told her all about me and the girl was all excited to meet me. Before we could meet, however, she fell madly in love, just not with me. Example two: my boy wanted to hook me up with a female friend of his who, by all accounts, actually seemed like someone we could all see me having a relationship with. Again the girl in question was told all about me and got really excited about meeting me. We were supposed to meet at the start of the month but she didn’t show at the event we were all at. I asked my boy what was up and he said this girl, much like that last, fell madly in love with someone, just not me. With New Year’s girl being example number three this is getting out of hand. It’s gotten to the point where my friends are now trying to hook me up with lonely people they know I wouldn’t like just so the lonely people can find love. It’s a good thing I have a good sense of humor, lol! What an odd dating service I’m turning out to be!
Final Thought - The shocking death of Reggie White this morning was truly saddening. A great football player and a great man, The Minister of Defense will be missed by many. Rest in Peace Reggie.
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