2005-11-25 - 12:10 p.m. The coffee cups at D-Donuts are festooned with purple wreaths, James Ingram is on the radio a-croonin' make-out music for the baby Jesus...it must be Christmas time! I like the idea of Christmas, both the spiritual and secular parts of it, and I'm a big believer in holidays, celebrations, traditions...but there is a fine line between "tradition" and "joyless, compulsive behavior," and the Christmas season is so booby-trapped with the latter. I've coped with this in the recent past by just trying to ignore Christmas...but this year, in an effort to counteract my usual holiday gloominess, I've decided to fully embrace the holiday, just short of the pernicious consumerism part. No gifts, but lots of enforced cheer, carols on the stereo, and red, shiny decorations...maybe even a small tree. An ad on the train: "Be an egg donor, and become a dreammaker!" Isn't that a Pat Benatar song? Egg donor! Dreammaker! Thirst-slaker! Don't you mess around with me! I finally have a My Space page. Now we can all relax. My other new toy is the pair of glasses I got today! I haven't worn glasses in years. They make everything seem sparkling and unreal--close-up but faraway and unreachable. I am making poor choices about when to cross the street and how many steps down the sidewalk actually is, but I imagine I'll adjust soon. thoughts? (9 comments so far) previous - next blog archive contact