It's Christmas Day!! we've unwrapped our gifts, attended the christmas day service, stuffed ourselves beyond the comfort level with turkey and stuffing, visited with family, but more importantly, remember the reason for celebration: the birthday of Christ. what an amazing gift!

the past weeks (or week for some) of beating through crowded malls, searching for the perfect gifts is over. life can resume its normality. from a retail perspective, i am very excited about the prospect of the consumer rush and especially boxing day being over. only a couple more weeks and i'll be able to enjoy the 'slow season'. i look forward to this for a couple of reasons 1. obviously work will be less insane, and 2. i'll be able to get some time off to go snowboarding and try out my new gear.

i'll admit that shopping on boxing day gives me quite the adrenaline rush. racing through the stores, dodging the slow-walkers, competing for the best deals.. could almost be considered a sport. but i also struggle to keep my consumeristic mentality in check.

All-in-all, Christmas is a wonderful time of year. So Merry Christmas, and in the words of Tiny Tim, "And God bless us, everyone."

:: Posted zaterdag, december 25, 2004

sometimes i wonder what a life without relationships would be. of course, its pretty much impossible to not have any interaction of any kind with another human being during a lifetime on this earth. i mean, you even make some kind of connection with the grocer at the checkout. i suppose you could live in a cabin out in the middle of nowhere and grow/hunt your own food and not own a television... there would certainly be a lot less drama , if any at all. but i would also imagine anyone brave enough to attempt such a lifestyle would die at a young age of lonliness (or by a bear, but no one would know).

and so i have no doubt that we thrive on drama. that would explain the high ratings soap operas seem to achieve, or the heartbreak of a twelve- year- old after the two day relationship ends abruptly, or the ending of a 10yr relationship between best friends because one went on a date with a mutual crush without consent from the other (what a b****!), or the latest rumour that so 'n so broke up with so 'n so... the examples are endless. seems our lives in general are just that dull we need the distraction of our own misery, or someone else's to keep us occupied. but i accept this as human nature and the whole sin aspect that does crazy things to ppl. i am not one who will live a life in solitude or die by the bear, but i also don't want to live on General Hospital so gimme a break, is there no medium?

i've recently experienced how fragile relationships can be. the tongue truly is a double-edged sword, and that's a powerful weapon to be used either to build or destroy. but in the case where words were allegedly spoken by Friend1 to some third party(you ass) that construed them harmfully to Friend2... if the friendship was worth anything in the first place, Friend2 has a couple choices: A) confront Friend1 about the alleged harmfully spoken words or B) block friend from messaging you and have no further contact with Friend1 (harsh but true).

in my own humble opinion, i think B would only be frustrating for Friend1 who has no knowledge of the alleged harmfully spoken words, and hurtful to Friend2 who believed such lies in the first place without further confrontation, and cause more damage...

tip from the green team: there's always going to be drama, but let's try and keep it at a minimum...

peace

:: Posted zaterdag, december 11, 2004