down to the riverside take off our shoes and wash these sins away

[ivy_chan]

I have silence of the mind. It's what happens when I look at paper or the keyboard, trying to write anything from a blog entry to a chapter of story. My mind goes utterly blank and refuses to throw me anything that might be an interesting comment. I'm not really sure how much of a conversationalist I'll be tonight, either. I've been pretty

Comments

[scdsam]

Textilesexual! I love it!

Sorry about cruddy holiday parties :( I have never understood ornament exchanges either. I think it's because if you say "gift" it makes people feel bad if they don't get something super expensive--because we've all been corrupted by materialism and competitive holiday spirit--so everybody ends up with ornaments that they didn't want at all. YAY HOLIDAYS.

[ivy_chan]

Seriously. I think the money limit helps the competitiveness, but ornaments are so useless. I still think candy exchange would be far superior.

[celarania]

Sorry that people are meddling in your personal life more than they should be. One of the unfortunate byproducts of evolution.

I think they choose ornament because it's a lot easier. You can't usually get a cheap gift (especially in the $5 range) that'll suit anyone who gets it, but if you choose to participate in the ornament exchange, you're getting an ornament. Also, it's a lot easier to shop for. I feel like it's a lot easier to bow out of an ornament exchange too, whereas with a gift/secret santa type thing, there's a lot more pressure as it's a major activity, or something you need to shop for on an individual basis.

It's not a perfect solution, but it's really good if you're going to 3-4 activities. It's cheap, it doesn't take time to shop for, it doesn't have to be individualized, and it's easier to opt out of without bringing up awkward issues (ex: an agnostic with a Christian family can just say they have nowhere to put it).

[ivy_chan]

I could maybe see it if it was a $5 range. It's a $10 range, and I still think ornaments are too Christian-centric. Gifts make it easy for anyone, especially when you can buy some candy for $5-$7 bucks and stick it in a bag.

No one really likes these ornaments, everyone likes candy. Why not a candy exchange? Those are cheap and affordable, too. And Wal-Mart has a lot of nifty things under $10 I'd prefer to this glittery choo choo train. O_o

[celarania]

That has the potential problem of allergies, diets, etc not to mention just getting a candy that you hate. No exchange is going to be perfect.

I actually like ornaments a lot better than candy which tends to just sit around and get stale for me. On the other hand we have a tradition of everything, no matter how hideous or tacky going on the tree to the point where it's fun. So, I'd rather get silly ornaments than candy.

[ivy_chan]

Eh. Working in a daycare, everyone knows each other's allergies, so we all have stuff written down about peanut/soy/whatehaveyou. Fortunately none of the teachers have any. No exchange is going to be perfect, but everyone hates this one except I swear to god my boss who loves kitschy anything. So there we go.

[rainydaymare]

Isn't that the most obnoxious thing ever. I wish people would realize it's not nice to shoot their mouths off about stuff like that, especially after it's been made clear you're not interested. :/

[ivy_chan]

Pretty much. I hate how the culture is so fixated on the idea that no one's complete until they meet some perfect heterosexual life mate and settle down. Bah.