Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Fa La La La Blah



Today is December 12th, and I have just now begun to shop.

This is how it goes every year - a mad rush on my part to get it all done before the 25th.

I actually like Christmas. I just despise shopping.

Of course this year has a special set of obstacles. I have a final exam to study for and finish by Friday, and a paper on IT Security baselining for Sunday.

I think the problem is that I'm hopelessly unorganized (note the last minute studying mentioned above.....case in point). I start thinking about Christmas shopping in September, then remind myself in October that it's not far away and I should really start getting a few things early. After that, it's suddenly December and I'm running around with my hair on fire.

Also, I don't like crowds. Actually, I don't like crowds at malls. Crowds at the local Celtic festival are fine, because that usually involves Guinness which tends to make for a more relaxed atmosphere. Perhaps if I could have Guinness at the mall, I might not mind shopping.

The rudeness level of the holiday shopping crowd is unreal. The Mongol horde had better manners (and probably better fashion sense). Macy's is elbow-to-asshole making it impossible to move. How can you get anything done?

So I'm shopping online as much as possible, and expedited shipping is my friend. Now that I bought a few things on Amazon today, I almost feel like listening to Christmas music.

While on the 'Zon, I figured I'd update my wish list. Unfortunately, this is where I stick anything that I want to remember later, so taken collectively, it was pretty weird:

  • At least five different books on the history of Japan and/or the Tokugawa Shogunate
  • Certified Ethical Hacker Exam Guide
  • Pliny's Natural History
  • Vintage Guerlain Mitsuoko
  • Spinal Tap's last album
  • Hobbes' Leviathan
  • Likas Papaya soap
  • Herriot's Cat Stories
  • Book on String Theory
  • The Killing (Danish DVD version)

Which might be why I get some rather interesting “Recommended For You” items from Amazon.

So anyway, I'm sure I'll get into the spirit a bit closer to Christmas, once the shopping is done and the school work completed. I'll even bake a few things.

One thing I really have to make this year is “The Hot Pink Mess”:



It's actually called Cherry Walnut Bars, and contains everything I hated as a child: walnuts, shortbread, Maraschino cherry juice and coconut. Naturally, now that I'm an adult, these things are miraculously delicious.

The recipe is from an old copy of the Farm Journal Christmas Book:




I love this book. It is chock full of heinous 1960's technicolor vomit. And it is awesome:



Unfortunately, I probably can't post the recipe since it's copyrighted, but if anyone really wants it, just email me.







4 comments:

Wrinkled Weasel said...

That's an awful lot of pink stuff to get through.

Wrinkled Weasel said...

That's an awful lot of pink stuff.

Unknown said...

It really is...I need to gift it to relatives. Heh. It's much tastier than it looks though.

Alice said...

It's really pink....it's really addictive....and now I've discovered another addition to the family Christmas fat intake from that same cookbook - Toffee bars! Wait till you try it. Everybody will say "It's really brown". Brown and very excellent. Jen's Mom Alice