dreaming of the tree of lights

Okay. I'll admit that I had one cocktail last night. But I don't think that's enough of an explanation and there must be more hidden under the surface. So I had this long dream, in which we're all standing around at the end of our shift wasting those last fifteen minutes and hoping we won't have to take a last minute call that will keep us there late. People are walking up and down the aisles, we're hiding from the boss of time management, etc. I'm hanging out on the window sill, and instead of the freeway out there we have a giant pond which resembles nothing so much as a drainage area surrounded by concrete. Long story short, three gigantic crocodiles come out of the water and begin destroying my office. By gigantic I mean fifty foot or so.

For some reason all this mayhem in the tree sparked an imaginary conversation in which I remembered it's been ten years since I was down at the Zilker Tree of Lights for Christmas. I honestly think the last time I went was high school. This is a shame that I must rectify this year. The Parks Department also puts up the Trail of Lights. But the best thing of all to do, and worth the cost of parking, is to hold hands with someone and spin around under the tree of lights until it's a big blur and you fall down. Kids do it, teenagers do it, adults do it, and I remember a very long time ago seeing someone spin an older man in a wheelchair around under the tree. It is just one of those ridiculous traditions my home has.

U2's "Christmas (Baby Please Come)" is one of my most favorite holiday songs ever. Well, I also like Good King Wenceslas and that is something that stems from childhood because it was one of the few non-religious sounding songs I learned at school. I didn't know until this morning when I googled the lyrics that Wenceslas was a king of Bohemia.

The words to the carol "Good King Wenceslas" were written by John Mason Neale and published in 1853, the music originates in Finland 300 years earlier. This Christmas carol is unusual as there is no reference in the lyrics to the nativity. Good King Wenceslas was the king of Bohemiain the 10th century. Good King Wenceslas was a Catholic martyred following his assassination by his brother Boleslaw and his supporters, his Saint's Day is September 28th, and he is the Patron Saint of the Czech Republic. St. Stephen's feast day was celebrated on 26th December which is why this song is sung as a Christmas carol.
- from http://www.carols.org.uk/good_king_wenceslas.htm

There's a fog in the trees outside, and it makes everything a little strange looking as the sky blends into the ground.

I woke up this morning and all I can think is that I want to live, I want to move, I want to put Snow Patrol's "Hands Open" on loud and spin around in circles just because I can. It's silly I know. I woke up this morning for the first time in quite awhile, and I felt good. Not just free of pain, or okay, or surviving. I felt real, and it felt good, and I am sad to say that such a thing has not always been my grace. But I feel it, and maybe it's a sign.

The things I'm listening to in my car these days:
Rock Kills Kid - Are You Nervous?
Snow Patrol - Eyes Open
Sugarcult - Lights Out
Our Lady Peace - A Decade
more mixed up mix cds than you could possibly imagine

world of warcraft geekery

When you get out of the shower in the morning, there's nothing better to do while eating cereal than to watch trailers off Blizzard's site. I realize I must be the last gamer on earth to see the Burning Crusade cinematic. Oh my god, the murlocs going down in hellfire, and the mage sheeping someone were hilarious. Really, is there anything better than the power to turn people into sheep?

I really need an icon of Sadpear. Hmmm.

You have no idea how much I want to buy this shirt for someone. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA MORE DOTS!

If I thought my cousin would not throw them out, I would buy the future Horde baby clothes.

Proof that I'm a terrible dork would be the fact that I really want to buy myself something from this page... but do I like my human mage or my undead warrior better? And we know i'm going to make a blood elf later. Sigh.

you could be happy, so much so that it scares you to think

Today I have been so productive. I made an appointment spur of the moment to get a haircut, because I was going to the mall to pick up Tyler's present for his spoiled, bratty cousin. I don't think the kid deserves a fourty dollar gift card to Claire's but whatever. It's full of the shiny. The hairdresser was running behind so I went to grab a cup of coffee and windowshop. I ended up buying a present because I saw something that made me laugh with the memory of it, and it seemed fitting. Hassling the sales clerk at said store was also a great deal of joy.

So my hair was cut, and it is so awesome. I love the back, with all its short layers. It's up off my neck, and I am rather fetching. Now, to get it dyed black again. Much love for the hair. If I could get my camera to send photos, I would take pictures for you all.

I love market research. Something about all those surveys amuses me. Maybe I just like ticky boxes. Anyhow, this very emo indie looking boy (that Sarah would have loved) approached me for a survey. Being a weirdo who enjoys this, I said yes and the poor guy looked so happy. I got $3, and a big glass of pineapple tangerine green tea. It was pretty good. Lipton is looking at marketing this new bottled green tea, and promoting the antioxidant/metabolism boost angle pretty hard. I have to wonder, because I spent the entire afternoon running around and doing stuff only to realize at 4:53pm that I forgot to eat lunch. I walked so much I have blisters on my feet. Hmmm. Anyhow, free drink!

While out today, I purchased presents not just for me. I picked up a bunch of toys for the Salvation Army shelter. Say what you will about the Salvation Army, but I have to send a lot of people to their shelters. They do some good work out there. The guy at the athletic store seemed bemused by the number of balls I was buying, which was kind of funny. He asked if they were for my kids, and I said something smart ass about being a guardian for all the children of Texas, which just made him look more confused until I told him what I did for a living.

I bought a present the other day for my cousin's baby Trevor, because it is easy to buy presents for babies. You get them things they can chew on. But I had no clue what to get my gandparents, my cousin and her husband, and my aunt. They have way more money than I will ever have, and all the things they could ever need. I really didn't want to buy bath products that would go unused, or gadgets that would just take up space in their frivolity. Honestly I don't know too much about the recreational habits of my cousin or aunt these days. So I wrote cards for them, and told them about how I spent their gift money on charitable donations. Gods above, I hope this flies and they appreciate it. I think it's a nice gift, and I would be so happy to get something like that. I made donations to a children's charity, our local paper's Season of Caring campaign, a women's shelter and domestic violence program, and to an organization that gets computers, phone cards and assistance to the families of soldiers. My grandfather was an Air Force man, so I know he will like that.

Speaking of the Air Force, I saw an F-16 barrel over my house half an hour ago. I was standing outside so I watched it race by, quite low. I wonder what that pilot was doing, and it made me laugh to think maybe they were joyriding a little. They make a sound you can't mistake for anything else.

In the mail this afternoon was a card from coyotegoth that I'll hang up on my desk for it's gold shine and beautiful flowers. I wrote some cards today, and one was entirely in Russian. Go me. I had to think to remember my cursive. I wrapped most all the presents as well, and put them under my tree. It's very festive. It's not a present if it doesn't have a bow is my theory of gift wrap, so I stuck bows on everything.

calledmara may win for the best card I've ever received, and I don't know where she finds these things! It's a postcard of a blonde woman leaning against a tree beside a lawn and flagstone path. She has 1940s hair, red lipstick, a black & white striped dress, and she's holding a sun hat with long red ribbon wrapped around her wrist. In her right hand is a lit cigarette. The text is black letters in white blocks and reads:

she had
not yet decided
whether
to use
her power
for good...
or for evil

There's a panda sticker on the back, and the stamp is a buckeye butterfly. I don't know if I can convey how fantastic this is. Daina is one of my oldest LJ friends, and has been with me through many journals and many lives. She's really good at those cards.

Today was a good day. Make this last as long as it can, make this feeling always stay in my memory as a light in dark places when all other lights go out.