An only slightly bitter diatribe...

Is there no escape from christmas songs anywhere anymore? Man, call me a scrooge...and on many levels it's a perfectly accurate assessment...but I thought there was at least still a treasured respite from holiday cheeriness on the Country radio stations, but alas! Even they have become so frittered with so-called heartfelt warmth and mistletoe junk that I haven't been able to listen to them all month. Glad it's finally over. A couple more days of Auld Lang Syne and we can all go back to a sane existence. That said, kudos to Salt Lake's Classic Rock station, The Arrow, for doing an A to Z Beattles marathon on Christmas Day. It kept me alert and, ironically, cheery all the way home from my parents'! Loved it. Only slightly more entertaining would be the 'let your New Year's resolution be more margaritas' Jimmy Buffet marathon, but I don't think the nation is ready for that! =)

But in all seriousness, I just don't love the hub-bub of the holiday season. Partly because change inevitably broke in on some of the fondest memories of my childhood and removed the extended family togetherness bonus, but also because I just don't see what the logic is in making the biggest shopping holiday fall during the most dangerous, icy, part of the year. It's like inviting tragedy into your home...perhaps you ought to leave cookies out for Death as well as Santa. On Discworld it'd be perfectly reasonable, but come on!

On a brighter note, fourteen people recently survived an Extended Version LOTR marathon which went from 7pm to 7am and produced way too many bizarre combinations of both committal and non-committal cuddle opportunities in an otherwise previously unattached group! I fell asleep on a couch cushion after breakfast and didn't resurface until after noon. So much for work, but whatever. It was an experience, to be sure, but I felt like an utter lump for the rest of the day. If I wasn't such a pansy about the ice I'd have gone running to make up for 12 hours alternating between a couch and the questionably clean floor of a guy's apartment.

Back to school in just over a week and it's gonna be a killer semester. Ish. But I suppose this is where I get all that character ppl say you ought to have, eh? Why did I think I could make it in a thesis program?!! Before I face Madam Guillotine in the form of Jim's Southwest Seminar, though, I'm taking a camping trip to the Grand Canyon with a couple of the guys in my ward and then flying to LA to visit a former roommate. Life is good so long as you don't get trapped! Hence my Frost addiction: something there is that doesn't love a wall, indeed! It's ME. I get it from my dad, so at least I can trace the wanderlust and feel better about myself, right?! =)

Well anyway, best put myself to sleep. It's been awfully quiet without roommates around...miss them, though the house has stayed a fair bit cleaner without them. (That said, you wouldn't believe how much crap has wandered out of my room into the hall as I've been building a new shelving unit to get control over all my books. It's strange that the room looks more crowded now, but it's way better organized)

Oh, I finally watched Casablanca! Not the story I expected, entirely, but really actually enjoyable. It'll never be a favorite, but Rick is a pretty cool character. So, eh hem, Mr Bogart, here's looking at you, kid!