A Little Rehab.

This blog needs to go off to rehab (what? All the cool blogs have already been).

I'm putting this little bugger aside for a little bit, while I work on my story (I'm aiming for novel length, btw) and research on what exactly makes a good blog.

Any suggestions?

Snow?

So what is this?  Snow?  That means Christmas, right?

(Yes, this is going to be about Christmas).

Here's the story:

While being terribly bored earlier this morning (school was miraclously cancelled--who woulda thought?), I was looking at the mail from yesterday which contained several coupon-bearing store catalogs--you know, the ones that are from like, supermarkets and local stores?  So I came upon Walmart's catalog-magazine thing and their holiday slogan is apparently "Christmas costs less at Walmart".

That made me laugh.  Here was tangible proof just how consumer-y Christmas has become.  Why does Christmas have to cost anything?  Because Santa doesn't really make toys up at the North Pole?  It's probably because (Christians) people forgot why we even celebrate the holiday.  I'm not sure how consumer-y Hannukah or Kwanza are or what other kinds of celebrations cost, but it seems like people think that if they spend December 25 without opening presents and indulging each other in material things, it will just not be the same.  Or maybe the TV just entices people to buy, because materialism is human nature, and once it starts, it is one of the most difficult habits to break.  I'm trying to kick the habit myself, which is why I didn't ask for anything from my family this year--we'll see how that goes.  

But going back to the whole "Christmas costs less" thing, perhaps we should take that as a sign to spend a little less on lavish seasonal parties.  I can't speak for other people, but I see the same issues of spending in my own Polish, Catholic family.  My parents both grew up fasting on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, spending it at the church and with the familia.  They've tried to instill this tradition in my sister and me, but it took me all of almost ten years to realize that I should respect what is traditional (until about the age of six or seven, of course I did whatever they wanted me to).  My extended family seems to have been sucked into the swirling vortex of spending, throwing out money on things they don't really need to give, ever though I love them all the same, and who knows where they managed to get the money (they seem to be living a life of wealth when there is little wealth for them to sit on.  I'm sure they're not the only ones; i.e. "BIG FINANCIAL CRISIS").

The feeling of Christmas and the holiday itself should cost pennies, if anything.  We should look at gifts as extra things that come with the territory, but not things that should overpower the meaning behind December 25th.  I'm not trying to preach (I'm sure it sounds like it), but I would like to point out that Toys-R-Us, Walmart, the mall, and Abercrombie (or other high-priced clothing "boutiques" that leave you heavily intoxicated with perfume) don't sell happiness on their shelves--or if they did, it would probably break your bank account, because hey, who doesn't want to profit?

If you look past the gift wrap and sparkles and want to better someone else's life, do something useful with your time: volunteer.

Happy Holidays--because we're not "one-size fits all", are we?--and to people who may read this and react to that greeting like my father would, Merry Christmas!  

It's Britney, Besch.

My mom wants me to do homework, but since I'm not coming to school tomorrow, I'm going to rebel for once in my life, and not do it.

SAT here I come!

So yesterday, slacker-itis caught up with me, and that Britney Spears thing was on, so I watched it.

That's right, we're switching the topic.  Is that okay with you?  Yeah, didn't think so, everyone loves a good Britney story nowadays.

Well, except for me.  While she was going through her premature mid-life crisis, I could care less, only because the media made it seem like everyone cared.  And you know what?  I bet half the people I know didn't care.  At least for a little while.  So when I started watching the show, I wasn't amazed at how she felt about her life--of course she always had a fairly large magnifying glass over her--but I never saw just how bad things were for her.  And I liked the fact that I could finally say, "Yes, she's not stupid."

The media most definitely made her look that way, even though they didn't have to say it right out.  They must have been foaming at the mouth for the next crazy thing she did.

And you know what happened?  I started to like her again.  I wouldn't say admire her in a role model-y sort of way, but I liked seeing how her life was and hearing what she thought about what she went through.  I felt bad for laughing at her last year at the MTV VMAs.  I think a common reaction after watching that special was, "Wow, that must suck."

Some parts, of course, I had to laugh at her mistakes.  And then I took it back, because I reminded myself that no matter how distant I was from her, she deserved to prove herself of something before any judgement on whether to listen to her or not was made.  Which did happen, and I just sorta listened and watched in fascination.

It made me rethink my wish to be a musician.  Maybe I'd stay Indie, if it ever happened.