Wow I'm on a Roll!

This will be the second blog entry in as many days for me!

I've just been thinking lately on how so many of the "special interest" type articles found in local newspapers really are not that substantial. They read like the semi-polished writings of bloggers. The topics are often promoted by the writer to the reader that you as the reader should view this as nostalgic or it should cause you to reflect and bask in my brilliance as a journalist / writer, for I have taken something that is mundane, and well, rehashed it yet again and still have failed to inspire.

I noticed this a lot during December, as columnists in our local papers (which we don't subscribe to but inevitably end up on our driveway a couple times a week) grappled with the meaning of the season, what Christmas is about, and examining quirkiness in others.

Through it all, what really struck me was these were the "professionals". They were ostensibly the ones who had gone to school and earned degrees in Journalism, or English, or Communications, or whatever. One columnist I can't stand reading is one that comes across as a pompous writing instructor at a local college. She (or the newspaper that pays her to contribute) is always sure to make it clear that she has a MFA, is a published author / poet, and teaches at the school. I inevitably find her writing to have a condescending tone to it. I'm sure she and the newspaper editors feel it is witty and insightful. But, come on... how important is it to waste the ink and paper and energy to send out a 1/3 to 1/2 page article on why she thinks there should be extra credit given to adult students who can come up with the most creative reason for why they don't have their writing portfolio ready to turn in on the assigned day in class?

So I wondered, how many of us in the blog world are essentially doing the same thing? There are probably many polished writers or those who earned a degree in Journalism, English, or Communications that have blogs and perhaps "journal" to it religiously because they are not part of the "inner circle" of that trade.

I admit, I do not have a degree in any of those, but I did consider becoming an English major early on in my undergraduate college career. A family friend advised against it, and I don't know if my following that piece of unsolicited advice has been a bane or blessing to me in life. Probably a little of both. But, I also admit that my blog is more or less an ego based thing for me... my place where I can be heard (yeah by all 2 or 3 of you who read it) without being interrupted or censored. Hey, at least I honestly say as much in the opening post and the subtitle to the blog. :)

So, what do you think? Why do you blog, or do you even blog? Are you living out the next best thing to being a published and respected journalist or author, or is there some other idealistic thing that you feel is being accomplished?

Post Christmas Ponderings...

I love the time after Christmas and before the start of the new year.

And, I hate the time after Christmas and before the start of the new year.

The time is good in that it provides, for some aspects in life, a bit of respite from the normal grind. A chance to be together with the family, to stay up late and to sleep in in the morning. In theory, it also provides a time where odd jobs can get finished around the house.

The time stinks though in that there has been a social and cultural build up to some "magical" moment the morning of December 25th, that depending on the number of presents under the tree and the quickness of children ripping the festive paper off can be over anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes (if they are forced to open one at a time taking turns). I guess I'll never quite understand why we do the build up, as the peak always means there will be a valley afterwards.

Then sets in the week or so of boredom, of being stuck in the same 4 walls with the rest of the family going stir crazy because the weather outside is dark and gray and just a bit too cold to let the kids work their energy out out there.

This year, we didn't even have any snow. I guess that is nice in some respects, but it certainly doesn't help the doldrums of a series of gray days where the sunlight outside never seems to get brighter than at 8 a.m.

Yesterday, I went in to the office to finish a couple things that couldn't be done until after the Christmas holiday. They needed to occur before the end of the year, even though all the people I owed the deliverables to would not be back in their office until after New Year's Day. After all, financial calenders do not recognize holidays or vacations, particularly when month end and year end closing periods occur the same time as the calender year and one of the US's major holiday week. Funny, I actually enjoyed the quite at the office, so stayed there the rest of the day instead of just the couple hours the tasks should have taken had I been efficient.

The last week of the year can be kind of rough in some respects. The house feels like it is in a constant state of mess until the Christmas decorations are taken down after New Years and furniture can be moved back to where it was before. It takes about a week for new presents like toys and clothes and books and games and movies to eventually migrate to their designated dust collecting location. And, there are so many bowl games these days for college football, that the whole novelty and excitement of watching them on TV is lost. Don't get me wrong, it was great watching BYU play like the BYU I know and love in a bowl game again, but come on, it was before Christmas Day for crying out loud!

Likewise to the realization that the house needs to be ordered physically, the state of affairs within the family needs to be put in order. One has to wonder how bills are going to be paid, assess the state of indebtedness (and the resulting chains of bondage it brings) the family is in financially and have we made progress to eliminating, stayed about the same, or are we one step closer to being in dire straits yet again. And, with that comes the knowledge that tax time is coming. Sure, we'll get a nice refund, but will it be enough to even put a dent in the debt built up since last year's tax refund? Sometimes it would sure be nice to have a basket full of money dumped on our table by friends and loved ones, but I guess you have to be George Bailey and have a guardian angel named Clarence for that to happen, huh?

One tends to reflect on the lack of quality or quantity time that was spent with extended family members, or in some cases worries about the words that some extended family members left unspoken that you know are going to cause them to stew and eventually stoke the fires that further damage closeness in the family.

One wishes for when things were simpler. When Christmas cards and greetings came by the mailbox full. When Mom decked the halls in festive trappings and played Christmas albums on the stereo's turntable and baked special goodies. When it was good just to be able to play with new toys until you were excited to go back to school. But, the reality is that each year, the number of cards and letters exponentially diminish (and yes, we're still working on our "Christmas" letter to send out), Mom is no longer around though we try to deck our halls in festive trappings and play Christmas music on the CD player. I tried to imitate some of Mom's baked goods this year, but gave up after one batch on Christmas Eve... the dough broke the hand mixer! And I really have to hand it to Dad... all those years of just getting socks, ties, and Old Spice aftershave for Christmas... not a toy to play with, and yet he was always happy. The toys I bought for the kids to give me just didn't seem to fill my need for fulfillment (I don't wear cologne, am very picky about my ties, and my socks always end up in my oldest son's drawer anyway).

Every year, we say we're going to change what we do for Christmas... spend less, do more for others, and focus on what is more important to remember. And every year, we realize we have not done so. I don't know. Maybe after getting worn out early on in the Christmas Season (say like by the time the first weekend of December is over), we just don't care anymore. Maybe it is because work schedules become so tight that we don't have time to think or plan effectively, let alone carry out any plans. This year, maybe it was a combination of those two and the fact we had to make ready for two seperate events wtih the family... one for each side of the extended family, both the last week before Christmas. That effectively took 4 or 5 days out of our ability to do anything else.

But, there are the good things too that come after Christmas! I can be truely grateful for the gift of The Son, that even though in the latter part of the season's hustle and bustle, He kind of does get swept to the side, I have a certain level of testimony and knowledge of His existence, and that all the things that are bad in this life are only temporary, and that through Him we can be forgiven when we repent, and that even when the post Christmas festivity blahs set in, I won't hit rock bottom because of this knowledge (and boy does it pain me to think that there are so many people out there that don't have this understanding and for them this time of year really does stink worse than the most putrid of rotten eggs).

This year, I kept the beard I started growing in early October for the Christmas play at Church until after Christmas. It was fun to see the initial confused look from the two year old as I was cleaning my face of it, and even funnier to see her try to imitate me as she watched me clip it and shave the stubble. Yes, she needed several dabs of aftershave balm to be like Daddy too. And then there was the giggles when I'd rub my cheeks up against her cheeks and there was no more scratchy whiskers or beard... Oh, lest I forget, the giggles were from the Mrs. and not the two year old. The two year old still prefers giving Mommy kisses over me... And the Mrs. giggles pretty good when I rub my clean shaven cheeks up against hers now too!