December 2004 Archives

I've been ordained as a minister of the Universal Life Church, which means that starting from today I can legally officiate weddings, (yes, even gay weddings!) conduct funeral services, give baptisms and make blessings.

But that's where my spiritual connection with the season ends. I've renounced my celebration of Christmas. Not that I have anything against western holidays, but I think the whole concept of it is silly, especially since it has become such a commercialized event. Plus, I'm not even Christian. (I'll gladly take my paid statutory holidays, though.)

Just because I don't celebrate Christmas, it doesn't mean I'm going to act like Ebenezer Scrooge. When people unknowingly wish me a Merry Christmas, it doesn't hurt to pay them lip service in return. It's all about being respectful to the cultures of others.

Three nights ago, my family celebrated "dong-zhi" (the arrival of winter) by having a hot pot dinner. It was wonderful. No violent shopping experiences, no bad aftertaste from blah gifts. Only good times and good food with the family.

Speaking of Chinese food, I happened to stumble upon Gung Haggis Fat Choy. It's a Chinese/Scottish fusion banquet in Vancouver that also features cross-cultural performances. It looks like great fun. Mike's been asking me if we can go to a 10-course Chinese New Year banquet, because he rather enjoys them. I think I'll convince him to go to GHFC one year (even though he's only Scottish in name.) Plus, he's never had haggis before. Mmmmm... haggis!

I'd like to end this post with 3 subway posters with a meaningful message. The first one is my personal favourite. (Click each thumbnail to enlarge.) Happy Holidays!

On Xanga there were those pesky random proppers. Here, I have to put up with significantly more aggressive vandals. Over the past week or so, I've experienced an influx of comment, trackback and referral spam. The problem was so serious that I seriously considered taking shelter under Blogger or LiveJournal... but then I gave it some thought and decided that I was going to stay. No bully is going to get away with pushing me around on my own turf. I have an ingenious solution, but I need time to implement it. Until then, I have disabled commenting. If you feel an urge to contact me, email me... or call me up!

My brother has landed his first UW co-op job at ATI. Hooray! I'm so proud of him!

For tomorrow's company holiday party, everyone is supposed to bring a gift for the Salvation Army's Elf Tree Christmas Gift Program. My boss handed me a tag today with the age and gender of a child that will be receiving my gift: Girl, Age 12.

So what do you get for a 12-year-old girl? Every girl is unique! 12-year-olds these days have already established their identities within their social circles. They know the subtle differences between punk, emo, goth, etc. You can't just get them a Hilary Duff CD and expect them to like it. What if they don't like Hilary Duff? What if they like Britney Spears instead? Or Avril Lavigne? Or Beyoncé? And then there's the question of whether or not the child has a CD player at all.

12-year-old girls these days are a whole lot more developed than when I was that age. They already wear bras and thongs for heaven's sake! BRAS and THONGS! I didn't have to wear a training bra until I was 14. Okay, so I was a late bloomer. In any case, I have no idea what to get this child... (if she can even be considered as a child.)

If I can't come up with something brilliant that will appeal to any 12-year-old girl, I'll just get her a basket from the Body Shop. All 12-year-old girls bathe, right?

Party season begins today, starting with

1. the GTA Bloggers / Toronto Area Photoblogs Holiday Party.
2. Tomorrow night is Darkrave at the Big Bop. Mortr0n and I are still looking for more people to come with us.
3. Next Wednesday is my company's holiday party.
4. The IT department's holiday luncheon is next Friday.
5. I'll be having Brazilian BBQ at the Red Violin with my family a little closer to Christmas.
6. The Hammar holiday get-together will probably happen on New Year's Eve, in which case we will find ourselves at Nathan Phillips Square for the countdown.

All I'm missing is Mimming!