It seemed like a good idea at the time

'But I don't want to go among mad people,' said Alice. 'Oh, you can't help that,' said the cat. 'We're all mad here.' -Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland-

So I went down to the mall today to pick up a few things. I was fairly sure it would be busy, and I wasn't disappointed.
What would have otherwise taken a little over an hour, including a stop for food, turned into a 4.5 hour event. I was hoping for more of a 2-2.5 hour outing, but wasn't getting my heart set on that.
After we ate, my wife and I decided on the divide and conquer approach. She took 3 stops in one direction, and I took 3 in the other. This was the plan we should have went with in the first place, I think. We met back at the van, and bolted from the mall an hour later.
What actually impressed me the most about today's voyage,was the people. Generally speaking, any other time I've gone out in similar situations, everyone seemed to have left their manners at home, and loaded up on attitude before going out. Today was a very nice exception to that. With the exception of one couple, everyone down at the mall was pleasant, and polite. This includes the young people on their Christmas break, I might add.
The general atmosphere in the mall today made our longish day a lot more tolerable. Thank-you to everyone who was at the Station Mall today!

Pax, all.

Here comes Santa Clause...Almost

Cloud nine gets all the publicity, but cloud eight actually is cheaper, less crowded, and has a better view. -George Carlin-


The snow was melting. The rain was falling. It was starting to look like we were going to have another green Christmas. Christmas just isn't the same without snow.
Today, the rain stopped, and the snow started. It's nice to see snow on the ground. The fresh snow is covering up the mess that the melting created. It looked dirty. It looked ugly. It wasn't the way Christmas was supposed to look.
Speaking of how Christmas should look, we got a ton of gifts wrapped, and under the tree. It looks awesome! It feels like Christmas. We have baking done, and we have the fridge and freezer stuffed. I can't wait!
Until Christmas,
Pax All!

Slowly I turned. Step by Step....

He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it. -Douglas Adams-

In trying to keep up with my tradition of panic shopping, I decided to go down to the mall today. It's not that I actually had to buy anything. I've been done my shopping for allmost 2 weeks now. I was just so used to doing my shopping in the last 2-3 days before Christmas, that I didn't feel right just relaxing at home. Besides, it gave me a chance to watch and snicker/laugh inwardly at all the people scampering about the mall trying to buy everything they need in this single, mad expedition to the mall.
I admit that I did make a few purchases, though. I battled the line-up, finished up at the cashier, and went back to the food court to find a seat (another adventure unto itself, I might add). It was an outstanding coffee though, and I enjoyed it immensely. And not only did I watch the shoppers scurry about the mall, but I also managed to read the paper I bought........
What? You didn't think I would actually angage in the combat shopping, did you?
I have definitely decided that finishing my shopping early is the way to go. My trip to the mall today absolutely reafirmed that for me. I think I was the most relaxed person in there. ;)
Yup....Shopping early is definitley the way to go. I am officially convinced and converted.

I think I must be sick...

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be." -Douglas Adams-


As of Saturday, the 15th of all things, I was done my Christmas shopping. ALL my Christmas shopping. My wife and I were done for everyone else, around the 12th, and I just had to shop for her. Normally, I start thinking about going around the 20-21st. It was not unusual for me to start/finish my shopping on the 23rd or 24th. Ok, the 24th.
And here I am, done on the 15th. Over a week early, basically.

Did I suffer some sort of breakdown? Am I delerious from fever? I mean, WTF?

Not that I'm complaining...... No, no, no. It is a damn good feeling to have beat the panicked masses you see shopping December 20th-24th. It's nice to know that I don't have to battle the throngs of bargain hunters. I can't figure out why I didn't start doing this years ago.

My brain hurts too.

"I think that the vice president is a person reflecting a half-glass-full mentality." --George W. Bush, interview on National Public Radio, Jan. 29, 2007

Pure Evil. here's no other way to describe this instrument of torture.

Yes...It's a dart board. A simple dart board.

This is perhaps one of the most fiendish and subtle "self torture" devices ever invented.

"A Dart board" you say? "Harmless. Simple fun." BAH!!

The game of darts is deceptively simple. You're only throwing little, light weight darts at a board 6 feet away, so how hard can it be?

Well, if you want an idea of your mind set for the day, pick up a set of darts and play a few games. Seriously. If your having a bad day and can't stop thinking about it, it can affect your play. Got issues on your mind, get ready for a bad series of games. ... But wait...It doesn't stop there.....

The bad shots weigh on your mind too, adding to your concerns. You end up messing with your own mind, so to speak. It's a truly evil game. I believe it was designed by a self loathing individual, hwo sought a way to spread his own personal feelings to the world.

This is not to say that it is not a fun game. Oh no..Completely to the contrary. It is generally a lot of fun to play. You can have average nights, and you can have amazing nights. I've been coming back to play for 15+ years now, so either I'm some sadistic masochist, or I enjoy it (although this may be due to masochism, so I can't be certain).

The problem is completely one of your mindset. We can generally shake off the perils of the day and enjoy ourselves when playing darts, but then there are those days that just go horribly wrong and keep going that direction for the enire day. Those are VERY difficult to shake off.

Days that start with you being called what amounts to a lying bastard, and go downhill from there, for example, are hard to move past. I am a a firm believer in the affect a positive attitude will have on your overall day. Beatdowns like that before you are even out of bed make it very hard to have and maintain a positive attitude towards the upcoming day.

And then, after things have gone wrong all day, you decide it is a good idea to challenge your skills against others in a game where mindset is paramount. You then go on to (no surprise here) to perform horibly. And with each bad shot your attitude drops even more, adding to your thought load, and further taking your mind off of the shots at hand.

An evil game. Definitely not a good end to a bad day. Not the best way to take your mind off the crappy happenings of the past 12 hours, if you ask me.

In the beginning.....

In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. -Douglas Adams-

This will be the 4th blog I have created. Two of my past blogs died a slow, painful death,one from neglect and the other malnutrition, and one, my first one, was a horrible beast that was as hideous to look at as it was to read. They were all learning experiences for me. They brought me here.
It is interesting to note that I actually got writers block getting this far. I am horribly out of practice. I used to write short stories and poetry fanatically, and yet here I am stuck after 1 paragraph. I suppose it will start coming back to me with a little practice.
I figure it will take a few weeks to get things looking the way I want, and to also get my writing skills back up to par, so please be patient.
Pax all.