Merry Xmas

It's Christmas Day, yet it doesn't feel like it. Right now the sun is shining and all of the snow has melted. It's gotten to the point where Xmas just feels like another day. Or maybe I lost the spirit of Xmas long ago, maybe after I realized there wasn't a Santa Claus (spoiler alert). And I'm getting sick of watching "The Christmas Story" which has been on constant rotation since last night.

I've been in Ohio since Saturday afternoon. My brother and his family were here on Saturday and left Sunday afternoon to celebrate an early Xmas with us. My sister-in-law and I exchanged mix cds. I'm suppose to gush how much I love my mix although the truth is I can't stand mainstream music, but I'm trying to keep an open mind about Bow Wow and the new Britney cd. Maybe it'll grow on me. Um, yeah. I do like making mixes for people and introducing them to what I think it "good" music. Expanding horizons is my forte. Despite this, I can't help but me a music snob. Sunday night I hung out with an old high school pal who I hadn't seen in a while. We saw Sweeney Todd which was probably the most violent/bloodiest musical I'd ever seen. I'm not one for musicals, but if there's blood involved, I think I can handle it better. Last night, my family and I ventured to Indiana to gamble at the Argosy casino. I kept thinking who in the hell gambles on Xmas Eve, but surprisingly, the place was packed. There were other families, a lot of middle-aged, down-on-their luck types trying to hit a Xmas miracle and such. I couldn't remember the last time I'd gambled. It had been a while. There were moments where I was up a good amount, then I just blew it away. I'm sorta mad at myself for doing that. I should've stopped when I was doing well, but I guess that's the point of gambling, thinking you're lucky and can make more. It's not like I lost a lot (afterall, it was my mom's money) but even having an extra $50 burning a hole in my pocket would've been nice. I guess gambling isn't the answer. I'd like to think you can gamble and get out of your financial problems, but I think it causes more. Oh well. I guess I'll have to make money the old fashioned way by working for it. Or marrying a rich guy. Whichever comes first. It's been good being home for a few days but I still can't relax. I'm too distracted all the time. All I really want to do is sleep, eat junk, watch movies, and read books but my mind won't stop racing. I will admit it's nice to have some time off but I still have deadlines. That's the life of a freelancer: never anytime off. I've also been fighting off a cold for the past couple of days. My throat won't stop hurting. Such is my life. Next year for Xmas I want to go somewhere. Screw this staying at home thing. I tried to talk my family into coming to Chicago, but they didn't want to it. Maybe next year we can do something different. I seriously don't have any expectations for Xmas anymore. I like the idea of it, though, but I don't think it's really a magical holiday.

Speaking of holidays, I need to figure out what I'm doing for New Year's Eve. I know there's going to be some parties and I want to spend it with a big group of friends. Maybe I have higher expectations for NYE. My past two NYE have consisted of uneventful activities. They were fun, but nothing spectacular. A friend invited me to a bar for NYE, but it costs like $65 and I can't afford it, although I would like to spend NYE with my friend. Two NYE ago I did the bar thing and just ended up throwing all my vodka drinks up at the stroke of midnight. A total waste. At least I didn't have a hangover the next day. So if I do it again this year, I'm really going to have to pace myself. For NYE I even got a nice outfit. Like I said, expectations.

Honestly, I'm looking forward to 2008. It's not that 2007 has been that bad of a year (I think last year was much worse in terms of incidents and drama) but I want to start over in the new year. I want things to be different for me. I need to set some goals. Financially, I gotta get stable. Careerwise, I gotta get it together. And travelling. I want to go to SXSW in Austin, Europe, Iran (which could happen); I'm going to LA in Feb. and I'm sure I'll get to NYC sometime, too. And I'm also trying to reevaluate other areas in my life, too. I also want to eat healthier and possibly (gasp) drink less. We'll see what happens.

I don't have much going on today so I'm probably just gonna watch movies and read and fight with my brother and open presents and whatever else comes to mind. Anyway, Merry Xmas dear readers and loved ones. I give you the gift of this hilarity. The first video stars Will Ferrell and the second one is a disturbing vid with John C. Reilly. Merry Xmas and goodnight.