Is Christmas gay?

I guess I don't mean gay in the dudes/women kissing homosexual way. I did find this picture funny though, so I decided to use it. When did Christmas turn into a massive monster of human consumerism? I don't remeber it being like this as little as 10 years ago. I started seeing Christmas stuff BEFORE Halloween. Have the corporate conglomerates resorted to force-feeding us for three months before the actual holiday in hopes that we will eventually fold under the pressure and resort to maxing out credit cards to buy gifts for people? I know myself, like many other people right now, are struggling to make ends meet. I know people that are worse off than me right now but they are caught up in "the spirit of the season". So what do they do? Max out that plastic! You know, because Christmas is all about buying presents.

That brings me to my next point. How did Christmas stray so far away from celebrating the birth of Christ. I'm not beating a drum or anything saying that I celebrate Christmas solely for the purpose of honoring Jesus. But I do know people who claim to be agnostic or atheist and they're usually more into Christmas than anybody. If it was up to me Christmas would just be Thanksgiving II. Get together with family, eat, drink, and be thankful.

I will say that having Amalie has rekindled some of the Christmas spirit for me. She loves the lights, the tree, and the lore of Santa Claus. Kelli is very good about doing Christmas activities with her and staying current on the advent calendar. Amalie is also at the age where she understands that not everybody receives gifts and that she should be grateful for what she has.

It isn't my place to criticize or chastise people and families for how they choose to celebrate Christmas. I guess the biggest issue for me is that this shit is starting in October and doesn't really wrap up until the new year. And if you're one of those people that leaves your Christmas lights up year round, please, please just stop. It takes a few hours to take them down. Who knows though, maybe someday Christmas will never go away. It will just perpetuate 365 days a year. Don't be surprised.

Wow!

I spent the last four days down in Corvallis working for Red Bull and hanging out for the Civil War. I'm glad this game is only once a year. I had fun with the crew from Red Bull but to say the college scene isn't for me would be an understatement. Something about being 30 years old and hanging out in college bars just doesn't fit. That isn't to say that I didn't party and have a good time while down there. Let's just say that I'm glad to be home and getting some much needed rest.

I try not to jock out too hard but I do love college football, namely the Ducks. I'm pretty stoked to see them get the chance to fight for a National Championship. The game is on Monday, January 10th. I hope you'll all be tuning in to root them on!

Stumbled upon this interesting story.

This might be too gnarly for some people but I think it is interesting. People essentially go there for the purpose of committing suicide. You can find all sorts of other stuff about it too. By the way, how was your Thanksgiving?

Click on title for link to story.

Click on pic to see in full size.

A little testy.

I've been a little on edge lately. I'm sure it has to do with not skateboarding since I hurt my knee, which has been almost 3 months ago. I actually got so fed up that I went for a run the other night. I haven't gone on a run for years! Surprisingly my knee felt pretty good. Time to skate again!

Mundane

Sometimes I wonder why I even get out of the bed in the morning. Coming into work is probably one of the most painful things I endure. And I do it day after day. I know that it provides a paycheck and (marginal) health insurance. The problem I have is the way that I am treated by the customers. I pretty much get yelled at and demoralized for 10 hours a day. I've come to the conclusion that sitting in an 8x10 box and staring at a computer is not for me. I need to be out doing things. I've considered a million different things. Male stripper, drug dealer, door to door vacuum salesman. I'm not sure which direction to head at this point but I need to make a change. What do you guys do for work and do you hate it?

Why?

What is wrong with people that makes them want to watch these four douchebags on a T.V. show? I watched the show, once. It only took me about 5 minutes and I wanted to sledge hammer my T.V. I don't get it.