In the movie Pineapple Express, check out the scenes in Saul’s apartment when he’s standing in front of the door to his bedroom. There is a toy village splayed out on the bed which includes a tee-pee, like he was in there five minutes ago playing cowboys and Indians. I was hoping to find a picture online to post, but instead I found the blog of someone who dressed as Saul for Halloween. I’m so doing that next year. Two points of random awesomeness! God, I love James Franco.
working in schools is awesome because of the time off. i get every holiday, summer, and just random days off… it’s great! but it sucks to come back. today is my first day back since 12/23 and it’s kicking my asssss. it feels like i either didn’t have enough time off or had too much because getting back to the swing of things is pretty rough. thank god for paperwork! i don’t know how the teachers are handling this.
but for me, coming back and feeling like crap is exactly what i need to kick-start my self-employment machine. 2010 will be my hustle year, and i’m very excited about it… and i want it so bad that nothing will stop me.
Looking down Denver's 16th St. Mall, New Year's Eve 2009. Photo courtesy of denverpost.com
So, I pretty much had the best New Year’s Eve ever this year! How about you guys?
Lil Big Johnny John John and I decided to spend the night in downtown Denver. The were two fireworks displays (one at 9 pm, one at midnight) on the 16th St. Mall and hanging out with a lot of Denver on the street seemed like the perfect way to spend the holiday. We stayed at a really nice hotel (The Westin) and made reservations at an amazing French retsaurant (BistroVendôme). The fireworks, hotel, and restaurant were all within four blocks of each other, so we thought we’d check into the hotel early, “watch tv,” go to dinner, see the midnight fireworks show, then head back to the room to “drink tiny bottles of mini bar liquor.”
Dinner was tres bon! LBJJJ and I had mussels, a potato and leak amuse-bouche, quiche with a tossed spinach salad, squab with chicken sausage and cabbage, and a red wine poached pear stuffed with a gorgonzola cheese sauce. It was four courses all together and each of them were paired with a wonderful wine.
I made the dinner reservation for 10:30 in the hopes that we could have a nice, leisurely dinner then mosey/amble/saunter down to the fireworks. We got to the restaurant early, but we had to wait for 15 or 20 minutes before a table in the main room opened up, but I so didn’t care. The night had been going so well up until then and I was trapped in a glowing bubble of perfect night bliss.
We spent the dawn of the new decade (it’s weird to say that, bye 2000’s!) with funny hats and champagne in the restaurant, but again, didn’t care. No amount of fireworks or crowds could have overshadowed the romantic night we were having.
Actually, we did see fireworks that night. They shot them off the building right across the street from our hotel room and we watched the whole show from the window while we were “watching tv.” C’est Magnifique!
After dinner, we went to a nearby bar for a few vodka drinks before the short walk back to the hotel. There were more good times, but I’m going to wrap it up here. This is a family blog, y’all…use your imagination.
So yeah, Best.New Year’s.ever. It wasn’t what we’d initially planned, but it turned out to be an extremely memorable, romantic holiday.
In other news, John and I both changed our dating site profiles to “seeing someone” and told Facebook we’re “In a Relationship” with each other. So, I guess we’re like, official and stuff. Squeeeeeeeeee!!!
I’ve heard it said that we do things that support our image of ourself.
Like if I consider myself “loving” then I will act in a way that supports this view. Doing “loving” things.
The only problem I have with this view of self is that it makes it seem like there is really nothing “underneath” our own view of ourselves. I do think we, as humans, are less fluid than that. We get more engrained. We’re born with a general disposition and though it can be tweaked, it’s impossible to change.
That’s not what this post is about though, because on the flip side, I also see that we create the person we want to be.
So.
Me… as a person who likes to think of herself as “loving”…
How do I behave that supports that?
Part of me does not even want to know.
An indispensible ingredient of a relationship is involving the other party.
I mean, i didn’t have to check the Collins Dictionary to find the definition. It is implicitly designed into the construct of the term ‘relationship’ itself. And even if the cause may seem benevolent, without mutual agreement in the first place, it’d amount to quite bluntly, some what of a communist rule. And here i thought the fascist regime ended with World War II.
Going one step further back in this chain of thought, a mutual agreement requires prior discussion. There has to be a topic first, before we can agree on a topic. A tip on the male psyche – we like bring involved. if you’re thinking of a wedding photo shoot, talk to him about it. If you’re thinking of doing the ROM, ask his opinion first. If you want to plan for a wedding, I’m sure he’d need a certain degree of involvement. Someone’s got to drink all that alcohol after all.
But really, back to the topic. i think everyone could do with more asking. Unlike the austere boss with a heart of stone most of us probably have, men in a relationship don’t want to be simply dished the final product, with regards to most things – trips, wedding plans. Sure, surprises are a cardinal element. But I’m not talking gifts, where to put the bar counter, or surprise romps either. We’re talking life defining moments, not who prefers to be on top for tonight. With a little attention to the delivery of the message, the words used, every and any person can be coaxed into anything.
Maybe I’m being a tad sensitive. Perhaps your form of involvement was to lay out your suggestions to me, and see what i say to it. Or is it just me, spiraling amidst the frailty of a long distance relationship. Whatever the case, I’m finding it out myself – it’s not easy.
I do want it as much as you do, just in the right scheme of time, that’s all.
Krampus
Krampus is a mythical creature. In various regions of the world – especially Austria and Hungary – it is believed that Krampus accompanies St. Nicholas during the Christmas season, warning and punishing bad children, in contrast to St. Nicholas, who gives gifts to good children.
The word Krampus originates from the Old High German word forclaw (Krampen). In the Alpine regions, Krampus is represented by an incubus-like creature. Traditionally, young men dress up as the Krampus in the first two weeks of December, particularly on the evening of December 5, and roam the streets frightening children and women with rusty chains and bells.[1]
In some rural areas the tradition also includes birching – corporal punishment with a birch rod – by Krampus, especially of young girls. Images of Krampus usually show him with a basket on his back used to carry away bad children and dump them into the pits of Hell.
Yule
Yule or Yule-tide is a winter festival that was initially celebrated by the historical Germanic peoples as a pagan religious festival, though it was later absorbed into, and equated with, the Christian festival of Christmas.
The festival was originally celebrated from late December to early January on a date determined by the lunar Germanic calendar. The festival was placed on December 25 when the Christian calendar (Julian calendar) was adopted. Some historians claim it was influenced by Saturnalia, the Roman winter festival[3].
Terms with an etymological equivalent to “Yule” are still used in the Nordic Countries for the Christian Christmas, but also for other religious holidays of the season.
Customs such as the Yule log, Yule goat, Yule boar, Yule singing, and others stem from Yule. In modern times, Yule is observed as a cultural festival and also with religious rites by some Christians and by some Neopagans.
Christian churches recognized folk elements of the festival in various cultures within the past several hundred years, allowing much of the folklore and traditions of local pagan festivals to be appropriated. So today, the old festivals such as Jul, Коледа and Karácsony, are still celebrated in many parts of Europe, but the Christian Nativity is now often representational as the meaning behind the holiday. This is why Yule and Christmas are considered interchangeable in Anglo–Christendom.
Yule was an indigenous midwinter festival celebrated by the Germanic peoples, which was progressively absorbed into the Christian observations surrounding Christmas.[1]
Simek says that the Yule feast “had a pronounced religious character”, and Simek cites section 7 of Gulaþingslög, where Yule is described as celebrated “for a fertile and peaceful season” and consists of a fertility sacrifice. Simek says that focus was not on the gods of the Vanir, but instead the god Odin, and he notes that one of Odin’s many names is Jólnir (Old Norse “yule figure”[15]).
Saturnalia
Saturnalia became one of the most popular Roman festivals. It was marked by tomfoolery and reversal of social roles, in which slaves and masters ostensibly switched places, with humorous results.
Saturnalia was introduced around 217 BC to raise citizen morale after a crushing military defeat.[1] Originally celebrated for a day, on December 17, its popularity saw it grow until it became a week long extravaganza, ending on the 23rd. Efforts to shorten the celebration were unsuccessful.Augustus tried to reduce it to three days, and Caligula to five. These attempts caused for uproars and revolts among the Roman citizens.
Saturnalia involved the conventional sacrifices, a couch (lectisternium) set out in front of the temple of Saturn and the untying of the ropes that bound the statue of Saturn during the rest of the year. A Saturnalicius princeps was elected master of ceremonies for the proceedings. Besides the public rites there were a series of holidays and customs celebrated privately.
The celebrations included a school holiday, the making and giving of small presents (saturnalia et sigillaricia) and a special market (sigillaria).
It was a time to eat, drink, and be merry.
Winter Solstice
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of the Christian Deity God Incarnate or Messiah, Jesus Christ. The birth is observed on December 25, which was the Roman winter solstice upon establishment of the Julian Calendar.[11]
