you never know
Merry Christmas from Sydney!
From the top floor of the Queen Victoria Building, to be exact. The Christmas tree that goes down all three floors, adorned with fifteen hundred Swarovski crystals. Obviously I'm not there or even in Sydney at the moment but all the same, a glittery lovely Christmas to y'all.
We had an extremely traditional Christmas lunch, as in lovely bland AngloSaxon fare, at Braemar Lodge, prepared bizarrely enough by an Indian chef. We've decided next year it's Christmas lunch at Viva Goa and gah, my tastebuds are salivating already. The Aunt's off to do a Lifeline shift now and I plan to coddle myself with NIN Live and looking through Maggie Bear's fabulous galleries.
Last night was the first Christmas of my entire life that wasn't ushered in at midnight mass. In twenty-five years, the first time. And alone. It was very surreal, I'm not sure I liked it. On the other hand, it was nice not to be sitting in a pew, feeling my brain swell red hot with rage between my ears. A happy medium must be found.
The Aunt got me CK Euphoria. *beams* Well, I did message her and ask what she was getting me and when she rightly enough replied with "Why, dri, what is it you want me to get?" I told her and rationalised that she was the only person I knew who could afford to buy it ergo, yes, I am shameless that way. But she did, she didn't have to, and that just shows you how utterly lovely and generous my Aunt is. And aaaaaaaaaarrrgggghhhh it is soooo lovely! *fondles perfume bottle and cries a little*
Also she gave me magnolia scented drawer liners so I can finally unpack the last of the boxes and set my room up, and the godmother sent some money. Z gave me a purple teacloth thing and two coffee cups since I have none of my own, one of which was French Aquarian --- don't ask, it's too hysterical to explain --- and the other inadvertantly matches the CK Euphoria packaging perfectly. Candles and a beautiful but odd green hanging thing from the family friend we had Christmas lunch with. Mikey gave me and Ari a couple of lovely cushion covers, a very ethnicky tablecloth, and in the most incredible coincidence three Chinese coins with red ribbon to hang in feng shui style from the knob of our front door. Ari and I have been looking for exactly those for several weekends and hadn't said a word of this to him, it was unbelievable! We put them in place the very next morning.
Ari gave me a box of chocolates all lovely packaged up, an Aquarian keyring, and a truly fine calendar in our own AriDri/DriAri tradition complete wif particularly scanned images of Jeff from the Merri Cyr book and absolutely lovely art, even autographed defaced by our own Frank who is not a goat but a big surly alcoholic degenerate as depicted by Rufus Sewell so okay, he is kinda goatish in a satyr sort of way.
What did I give people? Mostly CDs. Ari, Z and I had charged each other to buy each other a present for only $5. Z got a green and brass bracelet, a copy of the newest Dolly Rocker Movement EP yet to be commercially available, and a commissioned mix entitled 'Warning Attached: Men Who Are/Sing Thexy' which may or may not have had a screencap of Patrick Bateman being cheesy at the stereo on the cover. Ari got a lil wooden pearlescent heart pendant on which someone may have inscribed the letter J wif permanent marker, and her own copy of the DRM EP. Mikey got four Robbie Williams albums and a mix of Rob B-sides and miscellaneous tracks, wif dri-style art covers. The Aunt got a Bowie mix as compiled by Ari wif a cover made by me in half an hour, a Tree of Life hemp bracelet for health since it's of some concern at the moment, a red hair tie that I forgot to give her for her birthday and actually forgot again last night until I discovered it this morning when scrabbling for a Christmas outfit, and dri-style sig art for her own online forum.
It's been a modest Christmas and that's all right. I'm on indefinite unemployment holiday until sometime in January when the courts start again and I'm called back in. Happily, I've already saved up the next rent. Money was and is being very carefully considered this Christmas. It happens. I'm neither hopeful nor dreading the vagaries of the year to come. I'll just take it as it comes.
As a certain goddess trills, you never know, you never know.