'Tis the Season...

...To read my blog!  Happy winter everyone.  I didn't think I'd actually be able to consistently wear sunglasses through December, but so far so good, and you will hear no complaints from me about that.  Although, I am sort of hoping for a White Christmas; not because I want one, but because one of my coworkers does.  He's from New Zealand, and is used to this whole sunglasses-at-Christmas thing, but with 30 degree weather on top of that.  So, you know, if anyone out there has Storm powers, maybe help him out a little in that department.  On a side-note, Storm's superpowers would be utterly wasted on me, as I would use them exclusively to create spring or summer conditions.

This is what mid-January would look like if I were Storm.

If you're like me, you are not quite done your Christmas shopping.  It's my project for tomorrow, as I can't really push it back any further than that.  Don't misunderstand my last-minute tendencies as me not liking giving gifts, it's just how I normally shop.  Giving presents is actually my favourite part of this time of year.  Again, don't misunderstand that; I don't really abide by the "giving is better than receiving" principle.  I know there are people out there who do truly believe this and I will take a quick moment here to say you are a better person than I am.  I applaud you, I really do.  But me, I like being able to give what I feel is a good gift.  I know that sentence is perhaps a tad unclear, so allow me to tell an anecdote to explain.

Two years ago, I was invited by my friend to go see a Muse concert with him and his sister.  Okay, you're thinking, he had an extra ticket, so what?  Well, the concert was in Vegas.  My friend took me to Vegas for a weekend so we could see Muse.  The tickets were a birthday (Christmas?) present from his parents.  I remember when he asked me if I wanted to go; we were in his car driving downtown to go for a run.
 "Do you like Muse?"
"Yeah," I replied.  "I mean, they're not among my favourites or anything, but yeah, I like them." (Quick side-note: Seeing Muse live will put them among your favourites; fantastic live performance.)
"Well would you like to come to Vegas to see them?"
"Um, yeah!"
"Cool, the opening act is Cage The Elephant, do you know anything about them?"

This is the point of this exchange at which I knew for a certainty that I would be going, as I liked Cage The Elephant more than I liked Muse at the time.

It was a great trip.  Vegas was neat, if a little restrictive (17 year olds don't really belong in Vegas), and the concert was phenomenal.

Fast forward 13 months, and it's the same friend's 19th birthday.  And wouldn't you know it, Cage The Elephant's second album is being released on that very day!  Not only that, but the freaking name of the album is Thank You Happy Birthday!

So his gift was the CD of the band that he has taken me to see a year ago, released on his birthday, whose title both wished him for said birthday AND thanked him for me for said concert.  Needless to say, I was extremely proud of this gift.  It's not as if I had to put any special work into it; I went down to the store and bought a CD.  But it was a perfect combination of everything that made me so pleased to be able to give him that album.

That's the type of gift I like to get someone; the kind where it works because it's from me to you, whether it's because I know it'll be special to you, or if it's an inside joke.  I get my family gifts every year, and as much as possible try to make them somewhat like that.  When I can come up such a gift for a friend, they will find a present from me under their tree that year; if not, there's a chance they won't get one.  I'd rather hold off until their birthday rather than get them a holiday themed gift card to Starbucks or something.

This year, I have two friends who will be getting gifts.  You may read that and think "Wow, he only got presents for his family and two friends?  What a fucking scrooge!"  However, I feel that it's quite impressive that I have two separate gifts that make me super happy to give to friends is quite fantastic.  I'm actually a fairly reclusive person; I have many acquaintances, but much fewer good friends.  Also, you can forget about getting a present from me for calling me a fucking Scrooge; that was rude.

Of the remaining gifts I need to buy, I know what they all are, with the exception of my dad's (That man is hard to shop for!). My last-minute shopping habit is going to come through for me in crunch time again!

If you're wondering what you can get me for Christmas, well, you can tell your friends to read my blog.  It's a thoughtful and affordable gift option.  Alternatively, feel free to get me Doctor Who T-Shirts.

I wear a M or L.

Oh, one more thing:  I mentioned earlier that I would be putting up writing of mine that is actually, you know, writing, instead of random blog entries, and I've decided that the first of such pieces will be sometime soon.  I'm going to re-write a french speech I did years back called "Why Santa's Real".  It'll take me a little bit to do it justice, so just thought I'd give a pre-Christmas heads up as to why I'll be posting about Santa after Christmas.