Holiday List.
We've just celebrated Eid al Adha, and Christmas is around the corner, along with all manner of religious, traditional, and secular celebrations before the end of the year. It's a time of giving to others, and these lists we make are gifts to those who want to give gifts, by helping them to fulfill their desire for generosity.
But even more than last year, I'm having a hard time thinking of things I want. As I grow up, get older, and spend more time with ojouchan, I see list of things I want dwindle as I become more aware of the list of things I Have. Videogames? Not only am I wokring my way through a number of them (and trading them with cramerica, I've been itching to play more IF, which is generally free. When I go to a bookstore, even a used bookstore, I think about the books I have on shelves that I still want to read. When I go to a music or DVD store, I think about Pandora and Hulu and my own DVR. I've got gadgets and gizmos aplenty. I've got hoozits and whatzits galore. You want thingamabobs, I got twenty. But who cares, no big deal, I want . . .
Well, actually, I don't want more. How did I get off track?
The one thing I want by the end of this year is a new TV. I've been itching for a new TV, but I've been putting it off for a lot of good reasons. But now, the creeping splotch of green along the side of our living room TV is starting to get to me. The foci of entertainment in the house are the TV (and videogame systems) and the computer. Ojou got a brand-new computer for Eid/Christmas to replace her blowed-up laptop, and I was hoping to get a new TV for our house.
This is the model I've had my eye on for a while. It's cheap (and pre- and post-holiday sales are driving it cheaper) and of good quality. Ojou keeps pushing for a bigger and bigger screen, but I still maintain that this is as much as we need for our house. It also has picture-outside-picture which I hope to use to revive my videogaming-while-watching-television habit.
But the holidays have started looking a little tighter than we'd hoped. We're getting a $200 rebate on Ojou's new computer, but it's a mail-in, so we won't see it for a while. It's a byproduct of my semimonthly pay periods that we're always tighter in the beginning of the month (when the rent's due) than the end of the month (when we pay our other assorted bills). We're just going to have to look at how things fall once the bonus has come in. But it looks like we'll be giving the new shiny a pass for a while at least.
And all in all, not getting a new TV isn't anything to bemoan, even for those of us blessed enough to have stable incomes in the US. But when it comes to the things I want, that's pretty much the only thing on the list right now. I think I'll take some time tomorrow (if it's available) to flesh out that list of things I have, not just the intangible blessing, but the actual thigns in my house that are gifts waiting to be given to myself, once I have the gift of time.
WedNYTX: 9; WedLATX: 11:15; WedAVCX: 18. My crossword times have been slower because I haven't been removing distractions (podcasts, streaming video) while solving them, but I'm going to start reposting them again as long as they're reasonably accurate. (If I forget to stop the timer while I spend half an hour elsewhere, for example, I'll probably pass.)
But even more than last year, I'm having a hard time thinking of things I want. As I grow up, get older, and spend more time with ojouchan, I see list of things I want dwindle as I become more aware of the list of things I Have. Videogames? Not only am I wokring my way through a number of them (and trading them with cramerica, I've been itching to play more IF, which is generally free. When I go to a bookstore, even a used bookstore, I think about the books I have on shelves that I still want to read. When I go to a music or DVD store, I think about Pandora and Hulu and my own DVR. I've got gadgets and gizmos aplenty. I've got hoozits and whatzits galore. You want thingamabobs, I got twenty. But who cares, no big deal, I want . . .
Well, actually, I don't want more. How did I get off track?
The one thing I want by the end of this year is a new TV. I've been itching for a new TV, but I've been putting it off for a lot of good reasons. But now, the creeping splotch of green along the side of our living room TV is starting to get to me. The foci of entertainment in the house are the TV (and videogame systems) and the computer. Ojou got a brand-new computer for Eid/Christmas to replace her blowed-up laptop, and I was hoping to get a new TV for our house.
This is the model I've had my eye on for a while. It's cheap (and pre- and post-holiday sales are driving it cheaper) and of good quality. Ojou keeps pushing for a bigger and bigger screen, but I still maintain that this is as much as we need for our house. It also has picture-outside-picture which I hope to use to revive my videogaming-while-watching-television habit.
But the holidays have started looking a little tighter than we'd hoped. We're getting a $200 rebate on Ojou's new computer, but it's a mail-in, so we won't see it for a while. It's a byproduct of my semimonthly pay periods that we're always tighter in the beginning of the month (when the rent's due) than the end of the month (when we pay our other assorted bills). We're just going to have to look at how things fall once the bonus has come in. But it looks like we'll be giving the new shiny a pass for a while at least.
And all in all, not getting a new TV isn't anything to bemoan, even for those of us blessed enough to have stable incomes in the US. But when it comes to the things I want, that's pretty much the only thing on the list right now. I think I'll take some time tomorrow (if it's available) to flesh out that list of things I have, not just the intangible blessing, but the actual thigns in my house that are gifts waiting to be given to myself, once I have the gift of time.
WedNYTX: 9; WedLATX: 11:15; WedAVCX: 18. My crossword times have been slower because I haven't been removing distractions (podcasts, streaming video) while solving them, but I'm going to start reposting them again as long as they're reasonably accurate. (If I forget to stop the timer while I spend half an hour elsewhere, for example, I'll probably pass.)