The holidays
Happy day... I hope everyone's Christmas was joyous. The holidays and recent events have got me thinking...

First, I appreciate the gifts I've received and wish I was able to get gifts out to everyone before Christmas day. I should have just gone out one day and looked around a mall, I'll try to do that this week. The scheduled traditional giftgiving is fun and all, but the best part about this time of year is the opportunity to get together, catch up with each other, and have some fun times. This is exemplified by the last week or so:

Monkey Ball
It was a whole lotta fun playing Monkey Ball 2 with the gang at Brendan's. And continuing on til morning, against seemingly impossible odds. We'll beat it yet.

Nights out
Even though I didn't get any numbers, didn't dance quite as much as I'd hoped to, and had a very late work day Monday, I'm glad we went out "partying"/clubbing/partying. I think it's safe to say we have some memorable stories from these three outings. Steve, thanks for inviting us out, we should do it again.

The keys
I appreciate you guys who came out with me to get my keys up in SF. It was a long drive both ways and would have been really boring (and maybe even dangerous) on my own. But Steve was willing, Brendan came along despite work early the next morning, and Bryant came and even drove on very short notice. I may have mentioned "bonding in the car" in a joking tone, but that's really what it's about. Friends helping each other and just being there in times of need. Thanks.

On a related note, Christmas Eve was spent playing video games with Steve and Bryant. At first this seemed like a silly plan, since we didn't meet up until it was almost midnight, and I was already tired. But I thought to myself, Steve is only here a few more days, so we should hang out while we can. I was so tired I took a little nap while I was there, but we still had a few good laughs.

So the point of all this is that just spending time together and interacting is what makes the holidays worthwhile. But I'll still try to get some gifts for you guys too.

The lighter note
I have a new favorite song, at least for the moment because it cracks me up. I watched South Park today--it was a Christmas episode, and for the first time I saw the dreidel song scene. If you haven't seen it, Kyle is singing "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel" and Cartman, Stan, and Kyle's parents join in, singing-in-rounds style. It's very well arranged, but I love it mostly because of Cartman's contribution (imagine these words to the dreidel song tune):
Here's a little dreidel, that's small and made of clay
but I'm not gonna play with it cause dreidel's fuckin gay
... Jews... play stupid games
... Jews... that's why they're lame.
I don't necessarily agree with the lyrics, but the way Cartman sings and dances is great, and the fact that he sings this in front of Kyle and his family of course adds some humor value.