December 01, 2003
'Tis the Seasonentry,
I think my favorite thing about the Thanksgiving Holiday here in the U.S. is that most people take a four- or five-day weekend surrounding a holy day (hence the word "holiday") of reflection and gratitude, and turn it into an epicurean binge of eating, movie-going, and shopping. This spree kicks off, ironically enough, a month-long attempt to accrue enough debt that settling the books will require the sacrifice of a god.
If you want further irony, consider that many folks won't have paid off their Christmas spending until Easter.
I strongly suspect that this is not a healthy pattern for worship, despite the fact that debt and reconciliation metaphors serve as good object lessons when teaching about the Atonement of Christ. To contrast, the Santa Claus yarn would have us believing in the mythical free lunch. Still, it's more entertaining than teaching our kids about credit history and bankruptcy.
Anyway, I was saying that my favorite thing about Thanksgiving is the frenzy. Mostly this is because I like the cozy feeling I get from staying home and reading about it. Sure, sure, I did take my kids shopping on Saturday -- but in a single trip they bought all the gifts they needed to for each other (and I pat myself on the back at the fact that we made it out of the store without them knowing what they'd gotten each other) and for Mom.
We did NOT go to Wal-Mart. I shop there just often enough to know full well that their employees are not trained in riot control, and are not paid enough to try it without training.
It was a good weekend for the Schlock Buffer. Right now it stands at 25, with another two waiting to be inked as soon as I feel up to it. I'm pretty pleased with myself. I got into the Christmas Spirit by drawing until my hand hurt while playing Christmas music (of which I've got almost 20 hours worth) on iTunes.
I hope your weekend found you well, and whether or not you celebrated Thanksgiving I want you to know I'm thankful to have you as a reader.