Why, its Christmas Eve already! A couple of things that stand out for me this year. I still don't have a TV. No this isn't a message to jolly old St. Nick telling him that I want a 50" plasma TV. I'll buy it myself. Besides, I have no chimney. The reason I put the TV bit here is to express the joy of not being bombarded by annoying Christmas advertisements. No more, jesus was born a couple of millennia ago and now you need to buy this cell phone with this amazing feature at a price that can't be beaten... no more you need to buy this car (a Japanese luxury one) so you can wrap it with these ugly bows and surprise your significant other... none of that bollocks. Why? Because I have not a TV, nor do I have a functioning radio! Just the blessed Interweb thingy.
I've had to do very little if any Christmas shopping. I am staying in DC. I am spending Christmas alone. I am sure there will be many emails forwarded and sent, facebook wall postings etc on the blessed day. Those ought to keep me busy. I've been on vacation for over a week now. It has been good. I've accomplished very little though. And I feel bad that I have done so. Watching episodes of Top Gear isn't really what I consider productive... but they do have some merit. They feed the soul as it were.
I've also been Geiger free for a week. I can't tell you how nice it is to be free of Geiger. I am sure everyone has at least one Geiger in their life. Getting away from the Geiger is a great morale-booster.
This is my second Christmas in Washington DC, the first one in my apartment. I spent last Christmas in the temporary housing provided by the company I work for. I do miss my family and friends and Vancouver. I was never really a fan of Christmas... it feels like its all about buying and giving things to people. Things that take up space, consume electricity and things you have lived without until then. It is sad how materialistic we are (yes, I know it is a cliché) as a society. We want things. New things, shiny things, better and faster things, smaller things. Maybe we should all just stop with the buying of things. Maybe we should go out there and do something. Like build a house or plant a tree or something. For those amongst us who may not have much to cheer for.
It gets bugger cold out in DC. I see plenty of homeless. It bothers me. I saw this lady taken out of the Barnes and Noble in Georgetown the other day late in the evening. I went looking for the Christmas edition of the Economist. They were sold out. Anyway. They left the lady on the bench outside. She was falling over. Lord knows, probably she was intoxicated or worse. I assume she has no place to sleep in. I have a $1200 bed. I love it. It keeps me warm. I think of folks like that every time I wake up on my comfortable bed and have a moment to ponder. I am by no means a minimalist. But I do hate having so much excess when there are people around me who are so unfortunate.
I know, the old argument goes that these people are lazy and chose their own destiny. They chose to live on the street and suffer the cold. They chose to beg for money from passers by. Yeah right. Unless you're made of hydrocarbons that I am not made of... you're going to feel cold out there. And miserable. So, screw that theory. These people are out there. We are not sure why. We know they likely want to get out of that life. They may not be able to. They may squander multiple chances. But they deserve better. Why not make Christmas about helping these folks? I don't mean giving them a handout and being done with it. That makes you feel better. And I'm sure it feeds them for a bit or something... but really, it doesn't solve the problem. But what is the problem? Lack of affordable housing? Lack of skills? Lack of humanity? Lack of political will? I don't know. I just hate seeing people suffer when they shouldn't have to. They deserve the dignity the rest of us have. Of waking up in a warm and dry bed. Of going to the kitchen and making a cup of coffee. Of not having to listen to annoying Christmas commercials about those damn cell phones.
So, Santa Claus or Jesus or whoever is out there keeping cosmic score, counting the naughty and nice stuff: that's what I want for Christmas. I'll buy myself a TV. You take on the bigger problem of poverty. I'll be happy. I promise. And skip the lumps of coal.
I've had to do very little if any Christmas shopping. I am staying in DC. I am spending Christmas alone. I am sure there will be many emails forwarded and sent, facebook wall postings etc on the blessed day. Those ought to keep me busy. I've been on vacation for over a week now. It has been good. I've accomplished very little though. And I feel bad that I have done so. Watching episodes of Top Gear isn't really what I consider productive... but they do have some merit. They feed the soul as it were.
I've also been Geiger free for a week. I can't tell you how nice it is to be free of Geiger. I am sure everyone has at least one Geiger in their life. Getting away from the Geiger is a great morale-booster.
This is my second Christmas in Washington DC, the first one in my apartment. I spent last Christmas in the temporary housing provided by the company I work for. I do miss my family and friends and Vancouver. I was never really a fan of Christmas... it feels like its all about buying and giving things to people. Things that take up space, consume electricity and things you have lived without until then. It is sad how materialistic we are (yes, I know it is a cliché) as a society. We want things. New things, shiny things, better and faster things, smaller things. Maybe we should all just stop with the buying of things. Maybe we should go out there and do something. Like build a house or plant a tree or something. For those amongst us who may not have much to cheer for.
It gets bugger cold out in DC. I see plenty of homeless. It bothers me. I saw this lady taken out of the Barnes and Noble in Georgetown the other day late in the evening. I went looking for the Christmas edition of the Economist. They were sold out. Anyway. They left the lady on the bench outside. She was falling over. Lord knows, probably she was intoxicated or worse. I assume she has no place to sleep in. I have a $1200 bed. I love it. It keeps me warm. I think of folks like that every time I wake up on my comfortable bed and have a moment to ponder. I am by no means a minimalist. But I do hate having so much excess when there are people around me who are so unfortunate.
I know, the old argument goes that these people are lazy and chose their own destiny. They chose to live on the street and suffer the cold. They chose to beg for money from passers by. Yeah right. Unless you're made of hydrocarbons that I am not made of... you're going to feel cold out there. And miserable. So, screw that theory. These people are out there. We are not sure why. We know they likely want to get out of that life. They may not be able to. They may squander multiple chances. But they deserve better. Why not make Christmas about helping these folks? I don't mean giving them a handout and being done with it. That makes you feel better. And I'm sure it feeds them for a bit or something... but really, it doesn't solve the problem. But what is the problem? Lack of affordable housing? Lack of skills? Lack of humanity? Lack of political will? I don't know. I just hate seeing people suffer when they shouldn't have to. They deserve the dignity the rest of us have. Of waking up in a warm and dry bed. Of going to the kitchen and making a cup of coffee. Of not having to listen to annoying Christmas commercials about those damn cell phones.
So, Santa Claus or Jesus or whoever is out there keeping cosmic score, counting the naughty and nice stuff: that's what I want for Christmas. I'll buy myself a TV. You take on the bigger problem of poverty. I'll be happy. I promise. And skip the lumps of coal.
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