151 - Christmas Eve and humbuggery

Watching Sandra Lee put together a holiday party and wondering how anyone can be so damn creative. She took white pearl-tipped straight pins, threaded on a colorful bead and a sequin, stuck it into a candle, and voila, fancy candle (well, there was some repetition of this maneuver... one didn't do much to fancify it). It's pretty.

Had a couple of 'these people are real dumbshits' moments over the last couple of nights as I watched television... no better place to find dumbshits than on the television (unless you're on the freeway)... First off... doesn't matter if you believe or not, you can still find the irony in this one... Paranormal State (my favorite show, don't judge), these people are seeing shadowy figures, the claim their toddler is spouting expletives, and that her bed is levitating. Is it happening? I don't know. Anyway, Ryan asks when this activity started happening. About a year ago. Any idea why it all of a sudden started happening a year ago? No... no idea. He talks to a relative, who stayed with them about that time, and asks if he has any idea. Nope. No idea. Ryan notices a pentagram tattoo on his forearm... sigh... He asks if he's into witchcraft. Yes, he used to be. He asks if they ever practiced in the house. He says, yeah, one time... about a year ago... they did some kind of circle and summoned a demon, and before they could close the circle, those two ran out of the house screaming. Hmm. Ya think maybe that's why there's a problem? Think maybe you did this? Dumbshits.

Then last night I'm watching a show about three people who are addicted to plastic surgery. It's like a train wreck... can't look away... This guy has spent a quarter of a million dollars making himself look 'good' (lucky you, in the video you get to see 'Barbie' too). Last night he had more surgery... wires drilled through his cheek (yes! like the Blue October song!) under twilight anesthesia (Twilight world domination continues)... he's moaning, says it hurts... doctor says 'he won't remember the pain.' Comforting that he won't remember it... better if he just doesn't feel it, eh doc? I don't understand how anyone can look that plastic and not be upset about it... I'd never leave the damn house, but he was happy as a lark... except that by the end of the show all three of these people had already scheduled more surgery. Dumbshits. Leave well enough alone. You claim you haven't overdone it, you claim to look natural (?), but you do not look natural, your eyes and your lips and the fact that your forehead never moves give you away... and shame on you Dr. Chugay (with the ironic name) for continuuing to butcher this guy's face. For all his grotesque out appearance, he seems like a genuinely good-hearted man, and you're just a leech who sees dollar signs -- you should be stripped of your license.

So I'm reading Terry Goodkind's Law of Nines (short cheesy book trailer that looked better when I first saw it). I had no idea what it was about going into it, just that I loved his last series and when I like an author I continue to read their books. This turned out to be a continuation of that series, but on this side of the magical barrier. It's been difficult for me to get into it. There are a lot of question and answer sessions, rife with 'we don't really know that yets' which mean the author really doesn't know that yet and that frustrates the crap out of me. For one thing, it gets tiresome to read a litany of questions, but mostly, if the author doesn't know the answers, the there's no point in reading the book. So I'm wading through it, but I'm about halfway through and feel like it's just now starting to go somewhere... though I'm not entirely sure it is. What bothers me is that for whatever reason, his writing seems less polished, like it wasn't as thoroughly edited... I find myself changing words around in my head, or substituting them, and I don't usually do that with books I paid money for. All in all, I haven't been impressed by this one, and it pains me to say it, because I was such a big fan or the Sword of Truth series.

It still doesn't feel like Christmas to me. I'm just not in the mood. Doesn't help that it's still 60 degrees outside... Right now it feels like any other day when it should feel special. I should be feeling some anticipation, some excitement. Maybe watching my parents open their gifts will help, but honestly, there's nothing really special under that tree to light their faces up. I didn't manage to come up with any surprises this year... Hey mom, here are those dvds you wanted... There you go dad, here's some money. Woo. Hoo. But it's nice to hang out and spend time together, so Christmas or not, it's still a good day.