Happy New Year

JANUARY 2, 2004 BY SUSAN J

Ack! Those of you who are careful readers will have noticed that my five lists of Christmas ended up as a one list of Christmas. As dear departed and much missed Buffy would say, “my bad”.

But here, for your edification, is a snapshot of our holiday. Sleeping. Eating. Writing. Thinking about blogging. But instead watching TV, eating and napping again. Reading. Repeat.

The things I will remember best about this holiday are:

#1: the five hours I spent watching Monster Garage loop on the Discovery Channel. I watched the episode where they turned the hotdog cart into a hotrod TWICE.

There is something oddly compelling about host Jesse James’ mix of boyish enthusiasm for patently stoopid (in a good way) automotive makeovers and his occasional thuggishness and intolerance for many of his guests. The episode in which the team made a mobile wedding chapel out of a Chevy Suburban was excruciating. The only female guest I saw in all those hours was pretty much brutalized by one of her teammates, a hostile jerk with no neck and a silly goatee. (The same guy later threatened to beat up the organ-maker on the team, so maybe he wasn’t just a sexist but more of an equal opportunity ass.) ANYWAY, as Chuck Klosterman would say, good luck to anyone getting married in that testament to negative male/female karma that is the Suburban Mobile Wedding Chapel.

2: The two hours we spent Christmas night judging and arguing over World Idol, and the exultation (I kid you not) I felt when the Norwegian Idol won.

3: Fargo Rock City by Chuck Klosterman. Easily the funniest and best book on rock and roll I have ever read. Of course, I’ve only read about five books on rock and roll. But still…

4: Three young boys dragging a small boat down a steep hill to reach the lake in Linley Valley. I particularly loved it when the little fellow with the earring hushed his brother when he swore.

5: The seven plus hours I spent watching the Jamie’s Kitchen Marathon. Jamie Oliver training a group of unemployed London kids to be chefs made for fatally excellent TV.

Not a lot of charity or personal growth in those things is there? No. I must admit the Christmas season has always been a little light in those areas for me.

I hereby resolve to have a more meaningful holiday next year.

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