I'm dreaming of a wet Christmas

[vovat]

Around here, it rained pretty much all day on Christmas. How was it where you were? Really, it could have been worse. An actual white Christmas is only good if you don't have to go anywhere. Since my family came back from Virginia yesterday, it's a good thing it wasn't snowing. And I didn't really dream about any kind of Christmas, although I DID have a dream on Christmas Eve that I was driving a car that had been designed for an emir, but somehow ended up becoming a rental. It was incredibly difficult to find the brake, which turned out to be simply a bump on the floor. I think Dorothy's Uncle Henry and Aunt Em might also have been involved in the dream. But I digress.

Going back a few days, my immediate family exchanged gifts on Friday evening. From my sister, I got a new razor and a gift certificate to the Olive Garden. My brother is making me a clay dragon to sit on top of my computer. I also got a sweatshirt from my uncle. After the present exchange, my mom drove us all down to Virginia, where her mother lives. We got there pretty late, and went to bed almost immediately.

On Christmas Eve, we went out to eat at Cheddar's. I had the chicken tenders and shrimp, which were good. You get a choice of two sides, and I ended up getting French fries and broccoli. I had the same wish I often do with side orders at restaurants, which was that they would have more bread and fruit options, and less potatoes. I was able to eat my fill of dinner rolls and homemade applesauce at dinner, though, so it wasn't a total loss. Also at dinner, I had ham, turkey, and asparagus. This was all on Christmas Eve, mind you. On Christmas Day, my dinner consisted of a Wawa hot dog, with some leftover pizza a few hours later.

My family went to the late church service on Christmas Eve. The associate pastor's sermon was this weird story about how God decided to come to Earth as a baby, because babies don't make war or litter, and they laugh at God's jokes. When God tries to talk to humans, all they hear is the song of the loon. And when He throws pebbles at their windows, all they hear is thunder. (I am not making any of this up.) After church, we exchanged some more presents. Most of my relatives had simply given me money, so I didn't have that much to unwrap. I did, however, get a wallet and a tiny Winnie-the-Pooh notebook from my grandmother, and some candy from my aunt.

During the slow periods of the day, I amused myself by re-reading Hogfather, the Discworld take on the holiday season. I'm actually only up to Small Gods in my general re-read of the series, but I thought I could make an exception for the special time of year.

After returning home last night, I drove to bethje's house. While her presents to me still haven't arrived, she opened the rest of my presents to her, and I opened some from her relatives. Most of it was clothes and candy (which isn't to say that I don't greatly appreciate those gifts, just that I don't see the need to describe all of them in this entry), but I also got the new Pixies concert DVD from her Uncle John. And Beth--um, I mean, Wally and David--gave me a gag gift, namely a book of Jay Leno's Headlines.

Later that night, we watched Miller's Crossing. I kept nodding off during the movie, and had a little trouble keeping the characters straight anyway. I have to agree with Beth that it's the weakest Coen Brothers film I've seen. It lacked the humorous dialogue that's often the highlight of their movies.

Happy Boxing Day, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa to anyone who might celebrate these holidays. Also, happy birthday to slfcllednowhere.

Comments

[jenhime.livejournal.com]

It's was sunny and in the mid-60s yesterday. Today it was sunny and in the mid-70s. Even for Texas, this weather is crazy.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Well, it couldn't POSSIBLY be global warming! The government says that doesn't exist!

Mind you, I hate cold weather, so I'm glad it's been relatively warm as of late. But it's not very good for the plants and such.

[revme.livejournal.com]

Here, it was unseasonably warm, actually. Not REAL warm, but, like, in the 50s/60s. Not so much today, where it was cold and wet (that's the message I'm conveyin' to you), but yeah.

Miller's Crossing is a bit of a second tier Coen Brothers, but no where near their weakest -- Intolerable Cruelty would be that for me -- I fucking despise that film. Which was so baffling since I typically adore the Coen brothers. (Also not a fan of Raising Arizona, though. IIRC, the only film of theirs I've not seen yet is The Ladykillers, which I've heard is basically not quite as bad as Intolerable Cruelty but still pretty ass.)

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I actually liked Ladykillers, although it was hardly their best. The first two Coen films I saw were The Big Lebowski and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which were both great. Fargo was good, but not AS good, in my opinion. I've never seen Intolerable Cruelty or Raising Arizona. What else did they do?

[revme.livejournal.com]

Hm, off the top of my head here:

Crimewave (written, dir. Sam Raimi) - never seen, never came out on DVD, and is rare on VHS
Blood Simple - REALLY Good, but a first film -- but DEFINITELY worth seeing
Raising Arizona - Blegh, but I should probably see again now that I'm older. But I don't have much desire to.
Barton Fink - My favorite of theirs
Miller's Crossing - Pretty good
Fargo - Duh!
Big Lebowski - Duh!
O Brother - Duh!
Intolerable Cruelty - I had an astoudingly negative reaction to this film. It's up there with Go on "Films I Really Hate". Partially because it's bad, but worse because the Coens are capable of SO much more. (On the other hand, I don't think the director of Go is capable of shit, but that film was more than awful enough to make up for any "Oh, well, we'll give him credit because he's obviously new or something". Cause, y'know, he wasn't new, he just is a goddawful hack.)
Ladykillers - Never Seen Yet.

[revme.livejournal.com]

I knew I forgot some -- Hudsucker Proxy (which was OK) and The Man Who Wasn't There, which I'm surprised I forgot, as it's REEEALLY high up there, like, up there with Barton Fink. (One of the other things about IC tht made it suck was that the film previous was Man Who Wasn't There, so, you know, they followed up one of their best films of their entire career with the absolute worst.)

[onib.livejournal.com]

What is it with weird Christmas messages? We went to my sister-in-law's church with them for the Christmas Eve service. The pastor kept saying how proud they were of being able to say "Christmas" rather than "holiday" which was met with much clapping every time. Is it just me or is that the stupidest thing to get bent out of shape over ever. I mean, since when was Target wishing people Happy Holidays taking away a Christian's right to celebrate Christmas in their own way. Someone should remind them that there are in fact a great many holidays being celebrated right now and they're not the center of all policy. *gets off soapbox* Of course, the person doing announcements there also bugged me by making comments like "I'd lay great odds that our new gambling support group will be a hit. Heck, I'd bet the house." Seriously, can we be a little less sensitive? Mocking people looking for help doesn't seem to be in the holiday spirit.

Anywho, Merry Christmas. I've been installing a new primary hard drive after another crash the other day, so I'll get some music out to you when the re-installations calm down a bit. :)

[vovat.livejournal.com]

The pastor kept saying how proud they were of being able to say "Christmas" rather than "holiday" which was met with much clapping every time.

Wait, they were proud of being able to say "Christmas" in a CHURCH? Or did they just mean in general? It's stupid either way, but the former would be totally ignoring context. Obviously no one cares if you say "Merry Christmas" when it IS Christmas, and you're in a room full of people who all celebrate it!

I mean, since when was Target wishing people Happy Holidays taking away a Christian's right to celebrate Christmas in their own way. Someone should remind them that there are in fact a great many holidays being celebrated right now and they're not the center of all policy.

As far as I can tell, the entire "War on Christmas" thing consisted of a bunch of rich white male fundamentalist Christians being concerned that acknowledging any other culture or tradition would result in them losing their privileged status. They probably wouldn't even have been all that concerned about it if it hadn't been for Bill O'Reilly and his Fox News cronies egging them on, though. I just can't believe there are so many people who take that garbage seriously.

Anywho, Merry Christmas.

Thanks! You, too. It still is Christmas in certain cultures, isn't it? I think it's officially the Day of the French Hens. {g}

[onib.livejournal.com]

I sorta took it that they felt proud to say "Merry Christmas" in a church. I think it plays into the Christians-are-always-opressed mindset ("Rather than clothing the poor and feeding the fatherless and the widow, let's focus all our energy on fighting for the right do say what absolutely noone is trying to stop us from saying"). I totally agree with your assessment of the "War on Christmas." I mean, noone truly cares if you wish people a Merry Christmas in your store. It's just that Happy Holidays is more inclusive. Heck, I don't remember a time when card stores didn't sell Happy Holidays cards. Besides, I wonder what the exact percentage is of people who celebrate Christmas as a Christian holiday.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I also think it's silly when people act like it's their OWN freedom at stake, when it's often the exact opposite. Some people didn't just want the freedom to say "Merry Christmas" themselves (which, of course, they already had), but wanted to force others to do so, by boycotting businesses that didn't. The same people will also call for the government to censor television, outlaw gay marriage, institute mandatory prayers in public school, force businesses to close on Sundays, etc. As long as the restrictions go along with their religion, it's fine. But what happens if this government, made ultra-powerful by these calls for unconstitutional legislation, decides to start ACTUALLY persecuting Christians? Where are these people going to turn? They apparently can't recognize the slippery slope here.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

They apparently can't recognize the slippery slope here.

I can. That's why Christians shouldn't be lumped together as all being fundamentalist Christian Right types. Some of us believe in the separation of Church and State-- Jimmy Carter, for example. But businesses, Hollywood, and the rest of the world aren't the government. Non-government agencies should be free to support whatever religion they want, and shouldn't be afraid of doing so for fear of offending people on the right OR the left. They shouldn't be afraid of SHOWING religion any more than NOT showing it. And I DO see a social trend of secularizing that has nothing to do with government.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I suppose there's often somewhat of a balancing act for private businesses and such. You can lose customers when you show support for a particular religion, and you can lose customers when you don't. Perhaps the larger concern is that most organizations are so motivated by profit that they're afraid of ANY kind of controversy (unless it's a controversy that's proven to sell, I suppose), for fear of losing money.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

What bugs me is "Happy Sparkle Season." Happy Holidays is fine, isn't it? My opinion is everyone should be allowed to wish anyone whatever they want. That means no one should feel COMPELLED not to say Merry Christmas for fear of offending anyone, but no one should be FORCED to say it for fear of offending other people either. I celebrate Christmas, so most of the time I say Merry Christmas, although I did say Happy Holidays to a Jewish girl I worked with who I knew for a fact didn't celebrate Christmas. But "Sparkle Season" is just freakin' dumb. That's my opinion.

It still is Christmas in certain cultures, isn't it? I think it's officially the Day of the French Hens. {g} 'Tis so. Not certain cultures as much as that according to the Church calendar (the OTHER sort of Christians from the typical fanatical fundamentalists, because I don't know if fundamentalists follow the Church calendar like the Catholics and Lutherans and other more traditional--odd that no?-- denominations do) Christmas lasts until Epiphany, ie, twelve days. Hense the twelve days of Christmas. Christmastime is not BEFORE the 25-- that's just commercialism trying to get you to buy stuff. ADVENT comes before, it is a time of preparation, not necessarily celebration (although as you can see from my own journal I sure get a lot of thrill and joy from the preparation). The time of celebration is NOW. (Dude, Kool and the Gang's "Celebration" JUST came on my computer, so apparently it agrees). So keep partying, people! Don't let the stores tell you to stop just because you don't have to buy anything from them anymore!

As for the weather, it rained and was dreary here as well, but I'm only across the state from you. Unfortunately the ice on my sidewalk had still not quite melted and we had to use up half a bag of salt for something that would have happened naturally by the next day. Didn't really fancy knocking out our guests as they tried to get to our house though.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I've ever heard "Sparkle Season" before, although it sounds kind of familiar. Really, it seems like the kind of name they'd give a product for children. "Hey, kids! It's Sparkle Season Barbie!"

Technically, the word "holidays" also has religious significance, since it's derived from "holy days." But I think it's come to have a secular meaning, so it would be silly to argue that "Happy Holidays" implies you have to be religious.

Not certain cultures as much as that according to the Church calendar (the OTHER sort of Christians from the typical fanatical fundamentalists, because I don't know if fundamentalists follow the Church calendar like the Catholics and Lutherans and other more traditional--odd that no?-- denominations do)

I'm sure the Orthodox Churches use a similar calendar, although some of their dates are different. I think that, in 2005, there was almost a month between Western and Orthodox Easter. I would imagine that every denomination has their own days that they consider important. The Puritans outlawed the celebration of Christmas in England. I don't think the New Testament really has the strict laws regarding holy days and festivals that the Old Testament does, so it's up for some interpretation, I'm sure.

Christmastime is not BEFORE the 25-- that's just commercialism trying to get you to buy stuff.

So when does Christmas officially start? Midnight on the 24th/25th, or at sundown or something?

Don't let the stores tell you to stop just because you don't have to buy anything from them anymore!

Hey, there are always after-Christmas (after-holiday?) sales! {g}

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

So when does Christmas officially start? Midnight on the 24th/25th, or at sundown or something?

Yeah, technically Midnight, that's why Midnight Masses on Christmas Eve are traditionally a big deal. But lots of people don't feel like staying up that late or getting up in the morning, so Christmas Eve Masses are increasingly more popular. It's called the "Vigil" mass, but for all intensive purposes it's still basically Christmas, so maybe that counts as starting at sundown (like you said, though, New Testament rules just aren't as strict about that sort of thing as Old Testament. But for that matter, there aren't any New Testament rules for celebrating Christmas in the first place!). But if you would go to Daily Mass Christmas Eve MORNING, it would still be part of Advent, not Christmas. One of the reasons we had our wedding the weekend AFTER Christmas instead of the one before, besides that our moms threatened to disown us, was that the church would not be decorated prettily until Christmas. Anyway, that's the Catholic calendar. The Orthodox religions have a different calendar because when the secular calendar changed to our current calendar in the west (ie, Roman Catholic Europe), the east (Eastern Orthodox Europe) didn't change. One of my friends in high school was Ukranian Orthodox, and as long back as I knew him (kindergarten!) he always got to cut school on January 7th because it was his Christmas! (Random interesting fact about the calendar, and that's that the Catholic Church calendar is different from our secular calendar as well. The new year actually starts the first day of Advent. In Church terms, it's already 2006).

Did a report on Catholicism in grad school, so I know lots of random facts... besides having grown up a Catholic....

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Now I'm kind of curious as to why the secular year DOESN'T start on either Christmas or the winter solstice. (From what I understand, it was originally thought that December 25th WAS the winter solstice, which was why it was chosen as the date for the birth of the sun god Mithra, and, later, Christmas.) I assume there's a reason, but I don't know what it is. Maybe I should look that up at some point. Maybe the 31st was the end of the Saturnalia or something?

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

But I think it's come to have a secular meaning, so it would be silly to argue that "Happy Holidays" implies you have to be religious.

Of course, CHRISTMAS has come to have secular meaning, for that matter. Loads of people celebrate Christmas who aren't Christian.

I could actually write a very interesting essay about what I think Christmas means. But I could also write an update entry of what actually happened to me this Christmas (but I DID, and it's GONE, and I don't FEEL like doing it again!), or I could even share the essay on Santa Claus I wrote in my paper journal on Saturday, but I wonder... does anyone really care? After all, seems everyone besides me is DONE with Christmas by this point.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty much done with Christmas for now, but I'd still be interested in seeing it.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I'M even done with Christmas by this point. Remind me next year. ;)