Holiday "Activities"

Where has the time gone? The past four days are a giant blur of visits, Ultraman, and alcohol. And Ultraman is due back tomorrow I just realized, even though we've only watched ten of the 39 episodes. Oh well -- I'm starting to perceive a bit of a pattern to the plots. The Science Patrol gets a call about a giant rubber monster that appears from the sea/a lake/the earth. They put on their helmets and race to the scene, leaving Fuji the lone female member to hold down the fort/look after their child-mascot/make coffee. Once there, they generally stand around/formulate ineffective plans/otherwise act useless, and finally are saved when one of them secretly turns into Ultraman, who clumsily wrestles the monster for three minutes before blowing it up with a beam of dotted lines that comes out of his hand.

On Monday night we had a few friends over, including Jeff, who had to go back to Toronto the next day. It was a real nice time, but I stayed up way too late debating and theorizing with Johanna after everyone else had sensibly gone off to bed. Topics discussed: Christmas tree aesthetics, kitsch, the Japanese, political correctness, hippies, religion, parental influence real and imagined, Supreme Court rulings on sexual deviancy in public places, the Narnia Chronicles, non-judgment of others, judgment of others, political corruption, dealing with requests for immoral favours. Alcohol consumed: wine, rum & eggnog, rum & coke, beer.

Charles dropped by on Tuesday afternoon and we gossiped for awhile, then put together the artwork for an album of songs he's been working on for sometime and is just finalizing. I can't wait to hear the finished product! I also completed Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door, which Erika gave me for Christmas. It's by Lynne Truss, author of Eats, Shoots and Leaves, and is very much in the same hilarious, if slightly heavy-handed, style. I think I like this one a little better, actually, as the subject seems a little more worth getting worked up over. A sample:

"Those of us who automatically deal out politeness words in suitable contexts are becoming uncomfortably aware that we earn less credit for it than we used to. It is becoming obvious that we are the exception rather than the rule, and that our beautiful manners fall on stony ground. People who serve the public are becoming impervious to rudeness, either because they are young and don't care, or because they are older and have learned to toughen up or suffer a nervous breakdown. Either way, if you attempt to sympathise with a shop-worker who has just served a rude customer, the response is rarely the one you expect. Mainly you will get a blank shrug, which carries the worrying implication: this person doesn't care whether customers are polite or not. This makes it quite hard to go through the ensuing politeness display without feeling self-conscious, or even quaint. 'May I please have it wrapped separately?' you ask, with your smile fading. 'Thank you, that's perfect, how kind you are.' The ground starts to slip from under you, as no validating response comes your way, yet you are powerless to stop being polite and old-fashioned. 'And what a fine morning, forsooth!' you exclaim. 'Ha. By God's breath, thou hast a cunning way with yon mechanical abacus! Hast thou a quill-pen prithee? Or mayhap I must digitate upon yon artful keypad?'"

Yesterday I had to actually do some work at the office, as the bi-weekly used car supplement which I produce is due at the newspaper by 9:00 Wednesday morning and we're closed until Tuesday. This thing is usually about a day and a half of work, but I got it done yesterday in under four hours. Mind you, the changes this time around were pretty minimal, but still it's amazing what a little lack of distraction and some motivation to get out of the office can do.

Then Ali and I went to my boss's place for an incredible dinner with his family and a few other people. It was a fantastic smorgasbord of delicacies, and we had a great time talking mostly about bugs, cats, and people's most hated jobs. Unfortunately it went on until almost 11:30, and we were supposed to be meeting up with our friends Matt and Laura for drinks at 9:00(!), as they had to go back to Toronto the next day (a recurring theme at Christmastime in Halifax). Oops. We felt terrible about it when we finally showed up, but were glad to get to talk with them for a couple of hours before the bar closed. They're really sweet, funny, wonderful people, and it's ALMOST not worth seeing them for such a short time when it means having to say goodbye again. But things seem to be going really well for them in the big smoke, and we were plenty drunk by that point, so nothing but happiness and good times came out of it.

So today was a bit of a hangover, catching our breath day with little to no activity. I did a tiny bit of freelance design work and read some rock books which Charles loaned me as bribery for doing his CD artwork. Besides that, a couple of episodes of Lost over ordered-in manicotti was about all that happened. It really is a pretty lame show. As crappy TV goes, it's no Ultraman.

- Andrew