Perspectives in a half a cup of coffee

So far this morning - morning being defined as the first half of my first coffee at 11am, Kim has been invited to the symphony with a friend and another friend is heading out looking for a Christmas tree. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

It's November 8th. Not even Remembrance Day yet. It's too early. At work we're busy getting the Gift Guides ready for print, along the main streets the lights are being strung on the trees, the leaves are falling, the wind is picking up, stores are starting to play Christmas elevator music, and the ads have begun. BUT IT'S TOO EARLY.

There are twelve days of Christmas - We all know that from the song. That of course is how we learn about these holidays, the commercialism of it all. Being that there are only twelve by my count the season should start on December 13th. IT'S TOO EARLY!

Last week was Hallowe'en, next week is the week of Remembrance, we still have to get through American Thanksgiving (in Canada we do this in early October). I'm not ready for Christmas yet. I look forward to the season, but not all the commercialism that comes with it and it seems that it starts earlier every year. With the economy in the toilet it seems that business is just trying to get the most out of the limited pool of cash out there. People this year will spend less. That's a fact. But with less money out there isn't it time we take advantage of the situation to get back to basics? Isn't a longer season commercialism going to have a negative effect on us by giving us more opportunity to realize we can't afford the things we want to give for Christmas?

Isn't this ridiculous?

I'm a cynic by nature, and it takes alot for me to see a positive spin on something. I'm all about Christmas day with the snow gently falling and the kids opening presents in the morning, and the carols playing, not to mention midnight mass. But I'm not all about blatant attempts at ripping my hard earned money from my pocket this early. I will shop for my family and friends and I will give what I can this year, but not yet. It's not cold enough and there's no snow.

In December I will begin to take notice, put coin in the Salvation Army kettles, pick my tree, pull out my ice skates, put up the lights, stock up on gift bags, etc. I will begin to rant about the reason for the season, and I will wish people Merry Christmas - even though it's not quite politically correct anymore. Screw that - December 25th is not called Holiday Day. It's frickin' Christmas Day. 

I will play carols and make snowmen. If someone buys me a sweater with snowflakes on it I may even think about wearing it. But not now. There's too many other things to think about now. My daughter's birthday is in three weeks. That's first. I'm also preparing my Remembrance Day post - it needs a lot of research and my hope is that it touches readers emotions - much more than a bunch of lights on trees at the beginning of November. 

Let's put things into perspective. Christmas should not last over two months. It should not overshadow the other important events that land in the run up. It should be about family and faith, it should be a happy time. It should be traditional. I plan on teaching my children the true meaning of the holiday - the birth of Christ, not the power of toys and trinkets. This year more than any other, it's the perfect message.

Cheers.

Storage

My brother and I were comparing notes tonight about things in the basement that we need to deal with and haven't quite gotten around to yet. Then it dawned on me - that's where my father lives. 

Just sayin'.

Nothing to see here, move along please

My daughter is standing behind me throwing a balloon in the air complaining there is nothing to do. Bad parents we are - Shut the TV off and now both kids are bored stupid. 

We have a house full of books, there are over 1000 on shelves behind me in the 'library'. Kim and I always wanted to have a room dedicated to reading, we chose not to have a dining room for that purpose. But there's nothing to read.

They're arguing upstairs now - yelling at each other. The older is telling the younger to zip it - she doesn't have the right to tell him what to do, or something like that, I'm only listening with half of one ear. I'm going up there in a minute and thumping heads. 

An argument is now in full blown shout mode. Kid yelling at us, us yelling at him - he's tired of reading books, none of his friends are home, blah blah blah. What did we do when we were young? We didn't have a room full of books to enjoy, We didn't have the internet, no PS2, no digital cable - I grew up with 3 channels and I was the remote control when my father wished it. We played. We used our imagination - drew pictures, played games, invented things, made up clubs, rode our bikes, played sports, got lost on long walks through the neighbourhood trying to find a new way to the park. We entertained ourselves in ways that today's kids just can't. Not even that they won't - they CAN'T. Their imaginations and innocence have been overshadowed and destroyed by modern conveniences. If I told my kids to go draw me a picture, they ask if they can use Photoshop. If I tell them to read a book they head for Google Books. Did I mention the shelves with 1000 books behind me?

This is ridiculous. He's sitting there complaining how bored he is. They think life is so rough on them when you crack down on their toys; their life falls apart without ipods, Nintendo, cell phones and the like. Wah wah. Cry me a frickin river. The other day I got fed up with the couch potato mentality and shut the TV off to kid's shows completely. So of course, they want to watch the shows online. Shit. The crap is there too, oh well, no computer now. Oldest got a comic book at hallowe'en. Remember comic books? Stories and artwork woven into a tapestry of colour and imagination. I wore mine out as a kid, even tried to redraw a bunch of them. I could draw as a kid - with get this - A PENCIL. Remember pencils? Those stick things with graphite in them and an eraser on the end that made cool shapes on paper. Now, paper only comes out of the printer after one uses Photoshop for something. Even writing is a chore - everything now has to be typed. That's fine for school and work, but kids can't write their own bloody names anymore. If they do it has to be with one of my work pens. Pencils are out. Little story - In the 60s NASA spend millions on developing a pen that would write in space. The Soviets used a frickin pencil. Don't believe me? Google it.

Remember lego? I used to spend hours in my room building things and playing with them until my eyes bled. When my son was growing up I would spend hours with him building cool models. He has tons of lego under his bed - one hell of a lot of money tied up in huge kits that provided all the creative incentive one could hope for. He even joined the lego robotics club at school. When do you think the last time the lego was pulled out? Right, TV. 'Nough said.

See.. I'm not so evil, the computer does have a purpose. Stupid useless facts that amuse us and make our lives easier. Not like the good old days where one had to remember these little stories from news clips and books. Now it's easy to google damn near anything. That's OK with me, I'm an information junkie. I admit that, and the kids are welcome to use this tool for their knowledge and amusement as well. But that does not include looking up cheat codes because they're stuck on their PS2 game!

I miss growing up around here. So much to explore, so much to do. We played. We were pirates, policemen, bad guys and good guys, girls had cooties and parents were the meanies who always yelled at us for missing our curfew, but fed whoever we brought home dinner. My friend and I got really good at having dinner at each other's houses within an hour of each other. We also played sports, rode bikes, built great snowforts, had snowball fights, we even played soccer in the snow. We went tobogganing, played baseball, chased girls - even the ones with cooties, and so much more. It was fun being a kid, and to think we did all that without unlimited TV, no internet, no electronic doo dads and gizmos. The best thing about being a kid was at the end of a long Saturday playing with my friends lost in our own imaginations was curling up in bed and having the half hour until lights out to read a book from the library that I would dream about having someday. 

The library that collects dust. The library with over 1000 books and nothing to read.

This blog is reflections on lost youth. This one actually is. 

Cheers.

The library in my home, we chose this in lieu of a dining room. This is about half the books here.

Good luck

To my American friends, good luck today and may the best man win. The world is watching.

Cheers.

Symbols

I drove by a house on the way home from work that displayed a Canadian and American flag. The American flag was flying tall, relatively new. The Canadian flag was ripped, weather beaten and droopy. It looked like it should have been disposed of years ago. I live in Canada. I have pride. I fly my flag high and clean, following military rules like never letting it touch the ground, etc. etc.

It seemed to me today that this guy needed a knock on the door. For all I know he just hadn't gotten around to replacing it yet, but the visual says volumes. The same argument could be said if we lived across the creek in Detroit. It doesn't matter - Flags are symbols of pride in your nation whether by birthright or chosen home. Fly the damn flag properly or not at all. I would not have been at all offended to see just the US flag there. At least that way it is simply denoting the person's homeland and their pride therein. 

What I say today says US is great, Canada blows. No pride at all. Just malice toward the country he or she resides in. 

Just ranting.

Cheers.