Hey everybody. I'm feeling pretty darn festive this week because I just started sorting through the songs for this year's Christmas CD's. Now you may be thinking, "Isn't it a bit early to start listening to Christmas music?" The answer is yes. It is a bit early. But here's the thing: the best time to look for Christmas music is right at or shortly after Christmas. It's too short a time for me to get a decent Christmas mix together and in all y'alls hands in time to enjoy it. So what do I do? I get all the songs I can during and after Christmas and then I use them for the next year's mix. So the songs you'll be hearing are all songs I actually found last year.
I throw everything that doesn't stink up the joint at first listen (the standards for what sounds good are pretty low when I'm at the stage in the process) into a playlist and let it sit for a year. Then I go through all that music and decide what's worthy and what ain't. Some songs get shuffled back in for next year when there are too many good songs to use in a single year. This year there are 271 songs in the running and only about 50 of them will get to be on the mix. So I decided to start my sorting now so I can have CD's to hand out to everybody at Thanksgiving. Unfortunately for me, the sorting is going faster than usual and I'm feeling myself slip into the Christmas spirit before we've even had Halloween. That just doesn't seem right.
The point of me explaining my holiday CD making process is to make you less likely to scratch your head at the title of today's entry. It comes from a Beach Boys song called "Mele Kalikimaka" and it's a fantastic/hilarious song. It actually didn't make the cut this year, so that ought to tell you how good the mix is going to be. You'll thank me later.
Oh, I should mention this: in one of the many podcasts I listen to (they keep me from getting bored at work...sort of)they were talking about the "Christmas Creep." It refers to the fact that stores are putting Christmas stuff out earlier and earlier every year. The term was actually coined in the 80s, but I just heard it a few weeks ago. Basically, retailers are trying to make as much money as possible from Christmas. I can't stand the commercialization of Christmas. Every year the people on the idiot box tell me I need to be spending more and more money on Christmas. They tell me I need to be buying new cars with big bows on them. They tell me I need to be buying diamonds. They try to sell me a grade A load of bull honky every single year and I get tired of it. But you know what I never get tired of? I never get tired of Christmas music (especially Christmas hymns), Christmas movies, giving and receiving goodie plates, caroling, spending quality time with the family, Christmas messages at church, reading the Christmas story, taking part in family traditions, peanut brittle...oh how I love the peanut brittle. I could go on and on about the things I love about Christmas (most of which don't cost a whole lot to enjoy), but I won't. The point is: I love Christmas. I can't wait for Christmas to roll around this year. The reason I can't wait isn't because I'm going to go crazy into debt so I can buy some love from friends and family by giving them extravagant presents. I'm looking forward to Christmas because I find that the older I get, the more the little things mean to me. So darn the Christmas creep and hooray for sorting through Christmas music in mid-October.
So I made a conscious effort to not write any entries this week. As you know, my lovely wife had several interviews this week, one that resulted in hilarious circumstances (I'll let her tell that story. It's a good'n). The interviews went well and she has a second interview lined up with one of the companies, so our faith and hopes are flying high as ever right now.
I've had a bit of a ridiculous week. Certain persons that I work for have really stepped up their efforts in trying to make me feel unwelcome in the liberry. I had no buffer yesterday and things got way out of hand. It is more clear now than it has ever been that I need to leave this place behind me. The only thing is: this is the only job Megan and I have between us. But rest assured: as soon as she's gainfully employed and we're back on our feet and rolling I'll be hitting the pavement looking high and low for any job that meets these two criteria: 1) They pay me better than this job, and 2) They aren't complete jerks. I don't imagine it would be too hard to find a job that meets those requirements even when factoring in the bad economy. But yeah, I think the point I was originally trying to make was this: there is a certain person who goes to great lengths to prove that there are no lengths to which they will not go to mess with me. Yeah, the boss man is a stinker.
One last thing I have to mention before I close this thing up: last week I missed the first Weezer concert of my life. I have seen them every single time they have been in Arizona from 1996 (the year I became old enough to go to concerts) onward. I have seen Weezer plenty of times, but I don't feel like I'm done seeing them. They are and will remain my favorite band of all time. Few bands have meant as much to me over the years (Jellyfish and The Band got me through some hard times, but I can't say that they have had as lasting an effect as Weezer). In many ways I wish I could have gone, but I'm okay that I didn't get to go. Megan and I are going through some of those hard times that define what a marriage is made of, and from what I can tell we're made of some reasonably strong stuff. I don't know if we've seen the worst of it yet or if there's more that will be required of us in the trials we're currently experiencing. But I can say that I'm proud of the choices I've made in the past year or two. I've had more joy and seen more improvement in my life than I've seen in a long time. So if I don't get to go to a Weezer concert because the wife and I are in the furnace of trial and affliction, that's okay. There are more important things in life, and I've already seen Weezer six times. This is not to say that I won't shoot for seven should the opportunity arise, but I'm acknowledging the fact that I'm a little more grown up than I used to be and that's not necessarily a bad thing.\
Okay, so I guess I've given you a hodgepodge of an entry today. Hopefully all y'all can figure out what I'm trying to say here. As always, thanks for your love and support. Megan and I appreciate it.