I like giving people gifts, and sometimes, I can be quite good at it. What I don't like is having to get gifts out of obligation or get a gift for someone just because I need to get a gift for them, not because they particularly want anything that I can give them. I end up wandering around a store and getting something just to get something, and this, I realize, is one of the greatest problems with consumerism in our world.
So today we went shopping and luckily it didn't take too much time and we got things that more or less were thoughtful and not bought out of compulsion, but we had to do battle with about 50,000 other English people, all grabbing around like it was a rugby scrum. It seemed like if we had stayed any longer, some fat, angry, sweatshirt-wearing middle-aged woman with an inexplicable haircut would try to eat us by mistake. No kidding.
If you're not into the consumerism of Christmas, you can get hung up on the religious aspect of it, but I'm personally not too much into that and keep deleting Facebook new threads about keeping the Christ in Christmas. Yes, yes, everyone is out to get everyone else. Naomi and I are doing the advent calender, and every time we open a door, there's a little verse about Jesus being born. I'm not sure I will make it to the 25th. Don't get me wrong, we'll keep opening the windows and counting, but I'm pretty much done with the story--I'm all for the counting.
This all sounds terribly cynical, and it is. I miss the Japanese version of Christmas which was much more low key and centered on eating cake. And the religious people were actually religious about it and not angry at everyone and themselves for buying so much shit.
Anyway, in far more important news, I went to the tailor and am getting my winter coat taken in because I bought it when I was still fat and couldn't really wear it anymore. I asked the lady to take it in and give me, if she could, a bit of a waist. They pinned it up and let me say, it was hot. I'll post up a picture when I get it back.
So really, peace on earth and good will toward man, in a general, non-religious sort of way.