I was going to do a round up Wednesday of my favorite Holiday Specials / Shows. Then yesterday I was going to do something that rounded up my favorite Christmas moments in general. I never got around to either. Christmas for me is perhaps a little off; I'm not a religious man or a believer, so the whole "Miracle of Christ" is lost on me. But it's not just another day on the Calendar. I like Christmas, always have and always will, I suppose. I like the decorations that go with it, the white lights that shine brightly or even the reds and greens. The way the trees all twinkle when you're driving down the road at night, the comfort that it brings on those winter nights (albeit, lately it's been more like Early Spring here in Jersey). I like buying gifts. I like when people enjoy the gifts that I buy, because that means I was able to find something useful.
And sure, I love receiving gifts, but as I've gotten older that excitement has waned. My parents ask what we want every year, so I provide them a list. The excitement isn't really there anymore. Perhaps I have myself to blame? In an effort to make things as easy as possible, I ruined the entire surprise of the holiday for myself. Opening gifts is now more an inventory of what I *didn't* get. But still, I'm not suffering; maybe I am not as excited as I used to be, but I get to watch my nephew open his gifts. That's still fun.
I like the Holiday Specials, well at least some of them. There's an episode from the Batman Animated Series from years past that I enjoy; Joker breaks out and ends up taking a Studio Audience hostage. Batman and Robin, who want nothing more than to watch "It's a Wonderful Life", have to go downtown and defeat him. There's a cute little jingle in the beginning that plays completely off on the old "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells" song we all learned when we were naughty little children.
I love Elf; I adore the movie because it celebrates the things I enjoy about the holiday. The spirit of giving and the decorations and the feeling that being serious is a waste. It's about family and spending time with one another and making others happy. I love Love Actually because it touches upon the holidays in relation to all those relationships; there are moments in that movie which make me smile and cry. Despite it's marathon run, I still even love "A Christmas Tale." I get teary eyed when I read the "Dear Virginia" letter that's often reprinted around this time of year in newspapers around the country.
I like Christmas, even if I may have robbed it of the religious importance that some place on it. It doesn't matter to me that they say Christ was born this day (which... isn't entirely true). I like the family, the love, the presents (shared and given), the decorations, the day off from work, the time spent sharing with friends, hot chocolate, candy canes, ham, fireplaces, and everything about this time of year. Sappy? Sure, I'll accept that.
December 22, 2008 10:03 AMOh the Prop 8 madness, she's gonna continue...
The Proposition 8 folks wanted to end Gay Marriage. They saw it as an affront to traditional marriage within this state, an attack on their family values. Ok, let's be real, they got their religion all mixed up in the civil rights of others; they are trying to regulate the state of California based upon the power of the majority (which the Constitution was designed to prevent). Their arguments usually end up involving some form of religious preaching or GOD; the separation of Church and State kinda means jack to them. But whatever, that's there bag; the thing passed and it might take a few years to overthrow it. I'm angry, I want to fight it, but I think i might start within my own state first. HOWEVER, what bothers me is that these people, even their lawyers, seem to be completely disregarding the laws of our nation in their fight for bigotry.
I remember, way back in 8th grade, learning about the Constitution. An important component were the protections afforded to the citizens of the United States (Sometimes called the Bill of Rights). You cannot be retroactively charged or affected by a law that wasn't previously on the books. For instance, if I was driving 50 one day, a cop saw me, but the speed limit was 50, I'm all good; If overnight, the speed limit drops down to 35, and I am driving 35, but the cops pulls me over, he can't give me a ticket for driving 50 the day before. SO... if a state were to pass a proposition that says "Gay Marriage is banned", it cannot retroactively go back and take away the rights of 18,000 couples who married while it was still legal. YOU CANT DO IT. IT'S NOT ALLOWED! Besides, that's not what your PropH8te said. It wanted to change the definition of marriage within the state. It never said "And take away the rights of someone else." Because if it did and had, if there was the mention of FORCING DIVORCE on 18,000 people... it would have been unconstitutional. That would have infringed on others rights.