Christmas Shopping

well that's what i always called it...

the so-called war on christmas has me in a state of blue agitation, that is beyond the annual angst that goes with accomodating the expectations of loved ones, especially those who say "don't get me anything"... but more so as i cannot now think the word "christmas" without the accompaniment of vaporous gargoyles dancing in my head and bearing the unpleasant likenesses of falwell, robertson and o'reilly - you know, that lot... ? and please don't mention "sugar plum fairies" to 'em; they'll have a snit...

and a happy happy 2 u 2... pass the pepto por favor... !!

hanyway... started out the beginning of the month with a mind toward gifting, my weekends being my own again and all... but this past coupla days had me buying for, uh, me... and that got me thinking that everybody ought to be made to spend - on themselves - for the holidays... that way little thought beyond impulse shopping shall prevail (and no returns accepted)... no stress, no dread, no dispepsia...

but more books for me, with every expectation of - heh! heh! - reading them:

• Bait and Switch, The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream - Barbara Ehrenreich;
  - how corporations have u jumping thru hoops w/no guarantees; the brass ring as myth...
  
• The Prophet - Kahlil Gibran
  - already read it, a gift from my brother-in-law many years ago (don't tell the dubyites he's >gasp< lebanese!)...
  
• Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
  - always wanted one of those...
  
• In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
  
• Breakfast at Tiffany's - Capote
  
• and Too Brief a Treat, The Letters of (yah!) Truman Capote - edited by Gerald Clarke

what can i say, was a good movie... and, man, he could write!

a good sunday too then...