All I got for Christmas

Okay so I'm updating before everyone else so as not to be the slacker in the group.

First, I hope that everyone had a great Christmas/Holiday break and got to do everything you wanted; as well as received everything you wanted.

I'll start with the visitation as that was really the most fun. Monday evening, the scene at Barnacles consisted of a team of 13. John's family (minus Jeff), myself and my parents, Crystal and Jason, Derek R., Crystal's sister Melody (I think I spelled that wrong), a friend of Crystal's named Les, and Matt Stites and Katie. So our team, named the Mistletoe Maurauders, was doing exceptionally well all evening; we were in fact tied for first place when it was time for the final question both teams had 57 pts. The last question concerned box-office gross for a movie. Feeling fairly confident we wagered the maximum of 15 points. We said that "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" out-performed "40-year-old virgin", "Sin City", and "War of the Worlds". We were wrong. "War of the Worlds" was the highest grossing of those four. What's bad is that the other team we were tied with also got it wrong and had wagered 15 points as well. We both dropped into 4th place which receives no prize. Had we bet nothing we would have taken first without trying. O well such is life. Moving on to happier thoughts of ripping open presents.

Christmas Eve at Grandmother's house (mom's side). I unfortunatly have not been able to open that present yet because the cousin who had drawn my name was sick and no one in their family came at all. However, I see this as benificial in that it makes me realize the season of giving lasts all year, rather than simply one day out of 365 (366). I still do not know what that present is and anticipation is driving me slowly insane.

At my house and my Grandfather's house (dad's side). I received "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" vols. 1-3. A most excellent anime show based off the classic. I got a few clothes. A phone that I can hook-up in the bathroom so that I can talk to all of you while I drop friends off at the pool. I also received a sudoku book, a little black book on poker, and "On Literature" by Umberto Eco. Gift certificates flowed as well with one from Best Buy and one for Barnes & Noble. The best gift I have saved for last. I am to receive an Apple I-Pod 30GB (capable of playing video). The coolest thing about not having it under the tree was that I learned Apple gives students a discount on this product (from 299.99 it drops to 269.99 for students). They also will provide free-shipping and free laser-engraving (27 chars x 2 lines). Now the hard part of deciding on what I shall engrave. For the moment I have settled on this "We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want." from the Tao te Ching . I will of course reduce that to "It is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want" fairly appropriate for an I-Pod in my opinion. If any of you have any suggestions please email them to me using the link over on the sidebar; I'd really appreciate it.

Overall some good loot this year. Additionally, I also got to drink a Yuengling and a Warsteiner from Matt Stites's and John's presents because they each got a holiday 5-pack. Anyways, continue having a great holiday and remember I updated first over the holidays so I can slack for a while now.


"How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people." - Albert Einstein



Image from NASA