Treasure in the Attic

When I was younger I had possession of a 1905 nickle, and lost it.  I kicked myself for quite sometime because I thought I had a valueable item.  Actually I just looked up the price and it'd be worth $0.75 today.  I'll no longer be feeling bad.

A 15x increase in value isn't too shabby.  I just turned off the terrible The Great Big American Auction on ABC with that crazy from Home Improvement Makeover.  It's sort of like Antique Roadshow, with the class of public radio.  A good amount of time has folks lugging junk to the appraisers, hoping they've been sitting on a winning lottery ticket all along.  I did get a bit of pleasure in watching several of them them being told that, in fact, their items are junk.  My heart went out to many though, as not all were just looking for a quick buck.  Several were willing to part with what they believed or knew to be quite valuable because of the economy - the rich will exploit their desperation and take their treasure, but isn't that what always happens?

A few years later, an older cousin went to Europe and brought back a piece of the Berlin Wall.  My others and I put it in our fish tank.  When you're 10 it's just a rock.  That piece of history probably has a bit more value, but now, maybe if it's anywhere, it's lying in the rock piles underneath the deck.

A Daily Dose of Scary

"Do one thing every day that scares you" is a call to break out of one's comfort zone, to conquer one's fears.  To actually do it every day - I don't think I could go through a month of scary things before I ran out of "things I'm irrationally afraid of but would be healthy for me to actually try" and was forced into "things I'm legitimately afraid of because they will kill me".

The scariest thing I did today was to watch, then rewatch Gary Oldman portraying an evil dummy singing an equally sinister "Bring Back My Bonnie To Me", filmed for the New York Time Magazine's Hollywood issue.  There goes sleep tonight...

Two Kinds of Christmas Songs

The only song that Santa and Jesus cross is in the final verse of "Here Comes Santa Claus"

"So let's give thanks to the Lord above 'cause Santa Claus comes tonight..."

Otherwise there are two kinds of songs, religious and non-religious, and religious people complain that "Silent Night" is forbidden now from some schools' pageants, so instead it's "Frosty the Snowman".

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown

Poor Charlie Brown, no one sent him a Christmas card.

Right now I'm watching Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown on ABC.  It wouldn't be the holidays without it.  Charlie Brown is bummed out, as usual, this time over Christmas's commercialization.  At the end of the show, Linus tells Charlie Brown about the true meaning of Christmas, alla Luke, often forgotten in the holly and jolly.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Linus Breaks It Down

The funny thing is that, almost fifty years later, how quaint it seems.  If anything, we in this decade think of the 1960s (when the special first debuted) as a simpler time, when carolers still passed house to house.  If Charlie Brown saw what Christmas has become in 2011, I can guarantee that eggnog would shoot out of his nipples.

Don't Be Rose

To Be Rose (verb): To inconsiderately, self-centeredly, or thoughtlessly complain to someone who is suffering much worse  from the same complaint.

"My twenty-something, size one, marathoner office-mate was totally being Rose, complaining to our middle-age coworkers that she put on two pounds over Thanksgiving."

-ORIGIN:
From Titanic (1997), where Kate Winslet's character Rose, floating on wood, complains that she's cold to Leonardo DiCaprio (Jack), who is at that time freezing to death in the water.




I've been using this with my girlfriend since at least 2007 after watching Titanic together one night, and we often tell each other now "don't be Rose" when one is complaining of something the other is suffering from much worse, such as complaining of being tired to the one who had to wake up at 5am.  The film's very corny dialogue set-up magnify this action to the absurd extreme.  As I saw from just looking up the scene on Youtube, many others have picked up on Rose's selfishness, and the exchange even inspired a Facebook page dedicated to what Leo should have said.

An Encomium to Martha Stewart

Although I've never met her, I like Martha Stewart.  I like her because she makes a big deal about things.  It's the idea she embodies, acknowledging and immersing one's self in the present season.  When you walk into a room Martha Stewart has touched, it's not just that you see Christmas.  You feel Christmas.

 - Or Thanksgiving, or Halloween.  As I get older I'm increasingly discouraged by the apathy I see in my peers and community regarding the holidays.  Halloween has fallen the farthest.  The sense I get from my friends' Facebook photos are that a Halloween party means a bowl of pretzels on an undecorated table in the corner, beer, and tasteless costumes that only looked good on the model advertising it.  What adults do in their apartment is their own business, I suppose, but I'm disheartened that Only a minority of homes in my neighborhood participated this year.  This neighborhood, new for me, was far more lively than last year, when I didn't get a single trick-or-treater.

Now, let me be clear: no one walking into any retail store or watching TV for more than 15 minutes can really miss it's Christmas.  But all that's more of a drumbeat proclaiming "buy, buy!, BUY!",  The only Black Friday shopping I did this year was to buy picks for a wreath I will make.  I won't even be in my apartment for the last half of December, but it's important to me to make something with my hands, Bing Crosby Christmas standards playing, soaking in the holiday season.  Thoreau told us to "live each season as it passes", and it's healthy to season our lives with something bigger than out daily routine.

Martha is written off as - why?  - a goody two-shoes?  An overachiever?  As she probably does not spend much time herself crafting, a hypocrite?  Maybe.  But that aside, she calls us to mark each holiday with something more than a bowl of pretzels on an undecorated table. To take the time to create something, be it food or decoration.  Indirectly, we'll create richer memories.

To become jaded is to being old inside.  We remain young by retaining our enthusiasm.  Living by Martha?  If there was a touch of doing simple things in our lives, making crafts by hand, marking the time of year, we'd all be happier and have healthier communities.

Thoughts after Jabbing Myself with a Pin

Does acupuncture work?  How does acupuncture work?  Could it be like sensory overload?  Could it be like eating really spicy food, that to compensate for pain your body unloads endorphines?   We call that The Indian Food High.

The numb feeling that occurs when blood circulation stops in a body part - what we call "pins and needles" in Brazil they call "ants crawling".  Which would be worse?  Poked with a thousand needles, or be covered in ants?

At what density could pins be lined together so that a person could walk over them without being punctured?

The booby trap in Home Alone where Marv steps on a nail is one of the more painful (It goes in so deep!).  The worst is when Harry touches the heated doorknob and burns an "M" into his hand.

At the doctors, I'd always preferred a shot in the arm to a finger prick for a blood sample.  Much less pain.

Sharpness is relative to size.  A needle sufficiently magnified would look like a plateau, yet it punctures.  Perhaps it fits 'between' something in the skin?

There's always one last pin in a new dress shirt you just don't see.

And I'm back....

Since last Thursday, I've been writing again.  It's been good to get to write something regularly, and be creative about what I could put up.

I'll hope to keep it up through this holiday season....and let's say the 12th day of Christmas: Three Kings Day