Random Thoughts, Notes, & Incidents

Those of you who celebrate Christmas probably will never understand just how odd this day is for the rest of us. It's a day off - that's good - but with nothing to do.

We wander the streets looking for any restaurant or shop that might be open, and find our towns and cities to be deserted - ghost towns. Maybe we find a movie theatre that's opened, and have a private screening of some hit film. Have you ever seen "The Omega Man?" Rent it. That's what life is like for non-Christians on Christmas day.

Usually, we find the only public place that's opened for business is Denny's, or some other national chain. Then we realize that they're only open because they don't care about giving their employees a holiday off. Which only ends up making us feel guilty about going out and expecting life to go on as usual. Sure, it's just another day to us, but it's an important religious and cultural observation to most everybody else.

I don't know what our plan is yet for today, but I'm sure it will take some variation of the above. Just in case, we are prepared with several rental movies to watch on DVD, a cheese ball, a stick of salami, a fresh loaf of sourdough, and plenty of wine. I'll speak with you again when it's all over.

And now, the news: Man Exits Bunker When Beer Thirst Overtakes Xmas Dread

"So this is Christmas, And what have you done?
War is over, If you want it." - John & Yoko