a happy belated christmas/hanukkah/kwanzaa to everyone who celebrates any one of or a combination of those holidays.

i came downstairs on christmas morning to see my dad watching the “roaring log fire” show on television. now, for those of you who aren’t hip to this jive, the “roaring log fire” is a channel that plays the video and sounds of a lovely yuletide log burning in a studio fireplace for the whole of christmas day. and for families such as mine, who have chosen to situate their widescreen television and multimedia centre in front of their never-been-touched stone fireplace, the “roaring log fire” is a welcomed addition to their virginal hearth.

this christmas, in general, was a lot better than last year’s. no really traumatizing familial disputes, no dad getting horribly smashed and ending up urinating on an aunt’s bush, no sisters tearing at each other’s hair… the absence of all these ritual items on my family’s christmas agenda makes the occasion so much more enjoyable. i’ve allowed myself to skip past my usual cynicism regarding the holidays and just enjoy the “roaring fire log”.

at the moment, i am enjoying my new green jacket (which lili says is the “new pink”), my simpsons clue gameboard, my book on how to be a villain, and my scant red packages. ah, christmas consumerism at its finest.

addendum: new review of return of the king.