COVER -> DAY ONE
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So this is Christmas
and what have you done?
Another year over,
and a new one just begun.And so this is Christmas,
I hope you have fun!
The near and the dear ones,
the old and the young.
A very merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year!
Let's hope it's good one,
without any fear.And so this is Christmas (war is over)
for weak and for strong (if you want it).
The rich and the poor ones,
the world is so young!And so Happy Christmas
for black and for white,
for yellow and red ones,
let's stop all the fight!
A very Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year,
let's hope it's a good one
without any fear." - John Lennon....
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Editors succeed where writers fear to tread. CLICK HERE! -- RA]
The Plan this year is that Tanya and I are gonnah do our first big Christmas deal at my crib. Thanksgiving weekend we went out and bought lights and decorations and all that kind of stuff. Tanya has some cloth-like decorations that her Moms knitted up which she has kept over the years for her first tree. Our first party is going to be having some friends of ours come over for egg-nog and brandy later this month and help us string popcorn and cranberries for the tree.
We decided that we are gonnah do it up in a down-home kind of way. Other than the lights, everything will be handmade. When my girl started talkin' to me about it, I groused a little, but I thought it was a jammin' idea and on-the -cheap, which I can't complain about. The real idea is to be able to get together with the folks we love, after all...
So, for the first time in my life --- and I'm pushin' thirty-five now --- my crib is gonnah be one of the stops on peoples' Christmas rounds this year. I'm kindah excited about it. I guess it means that I'm finally becoming a kind of adult. (Don't ask what kind, sucker!)
So me and Tanya are gonnah do the Big Cookin' thang, too, so the folks who decide to drop over, family and friends, have something to eat when they get here. I ain't never cooked a turkey in my damned life, so I feel a bit intimidated by the prospect, but I'm willing to give it a shot. It's just a big bird. It can't be that hard, can it? (Any of ya'll out there got a good turkey recipe, send it my way.)
I've lived here in this house, out in the flats, for about four years now. So I'm starting to feel comfortable with the idea that I can handle doing the entertaining thang here. I finally got all the furniture I like, I'm proud of my CD collection, I feel as secure in my job as anybody can and I like a lot of the folks I work with. Some of them have become regular runnin' buddies, too.
Thinking about this t'other night, I had the idea that this is part of what "growing up" and being an adult is probably all about. You reach that point where you feel comfortable in your own skin, where you develop of circle of people who aren't there just because they fit some high school-style clique, but because you genuinely like being around them. You share stuff with them, get to know their old ladies, do stuff together. When you think of your "place" in the world, like your family, they become part of what that place is all about. I'm used to them and that now.
The running joke among my Homies nowadays is that I have been on the Internet these last few years --- mostly because I met my bud Rotney, our Esteemed Editor, while he lived here in the Bay Area and he wouldn't leave me alone about this computer shit --- and so now I have a few "cyber friends," too. I don't mind. I don't "live" on the Internet. I just pays some visits and send out a few words when I can. Maybe I can add some color to this whiter-shade-of-pale online world. I like to think so.
So this is Christmas. Other than the long lines at the shopping mall, tryin' to remember where the Hell we parked the car, I'm lookin' forward to it. I plan to get a nice set of gold earrings for my girl; if I can sneak some way to find out what her dress size, I found this shop in San Franciso that specializes in silk and there is this bronze-colored silk dress that I know she'd look fabulous in --- she's got the hips.... Got some ideas for my nieces and nephews, too. Don't know if I can swing the new PlayStation, but I'm gonnah try.
But the gifts are just the icing, you know. Having folks come to my crib for the first time is the cake.
Peace out.
