holiday madness

Perhaps I'm too much of a traditionalist. Despite being wholeheartedly atheistic, I believe in holidays. I believe that holidays are for celebrating. They're for gathering with friends, family, and neighbours. They're for random acts of kindness, smiling at strangers on the street, mending fences with old adversaries. I believe in the Norman Rockwell painting, or at least some version of it that has smiling people, copious amounts of food, and warm gatherings. I believe in hyggelig - a Danish concept that doesn't translate well, but involves getting cozy with food, drink and good company.

So it burns my wick to see the holidays turned into an excuse for saving money on cheap trinkets, new electronics and clothes. Really? It's more important to get a cheap tv than spend quality time with the people important to you? Is it really worth it to line up at Best Buy at 3am to get a new iPad when you could be at home enjoying a day off? and is it really worth it when some poor shop-person gets trampled to death by crazed shoppers trying to get to the cheap laptops? That it remains such a massive consumer event makes me sad for the state of our society.

I myself will choose to stay home curled up with my other half and my kitties and be thankful for the stuff that I have. The stuff that I want can wait for another day.

fish nerds FTW!

Even though they're molecular biologists, this is possibly the best fish video ever made: