Christmas makes me grumpy; it has for many years. Not surprising, really. I have issues with consumer culture, and Christmas is the big whammy of consumerism. I'm also broke, and have been for years, meaning that trying to find proper gifts in this consumerist melee on a budget is just too stressful. Plus I'm usually overworked at Christmas, grading and working on shows and all the rest (not this year - just full time dissertating - a whole different kind of stress), so I'm usually exhausted and sick and in no mood to deal, and to top it all off I'm a non-believer. So Christmas equals pagan ceremony usurped by Christianity usurped by capitalism equals Karen is a big grouchy bitch.
In my first year of grad school at the U, my nephew gave my whole family the stomach flu. I spent two days after Christmas vomiting every hour on the hour (with some diarrhea thrown in for fun), sucking on ice cubes because I couldn't keep water down. When I got better, I spent another day on the couch watching a Quantum Leap marathon on the Sci Fi channel. This is most appropriate emobidiment of my "Holiday Spirit" that I can imagine.
I am happy to report that this year, I am not celebrating Christmas in any traditional sense. Since I am going to attend a workshop in MN in January, I've made the decision to skip the holdiay travel horrors and not head inland for the holiday. And since I now live in sunny California where there is no snow, it doesn't even feel Christmassy at all, so I won't have to be burden with the guilt of being a Grinch or a Scrooge. And my honey and I decided to skip the present buying, so we don't even have to deal with the angry masses out shopping. Perfect.
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