south of the mason dixon line.

we just got back from our annual trip to Virginia Beach. oddly enough, i am not a really beach-y person. i burn pretty easily and prefer temperatures around 72 degrees. i did get a bit of sunburn even with SPF 45, but i fared a bit better than adam. he managed to sunburn his inner thighs (honestly there isn't a lurid explanation) which is understandably uncomfortable. it could have been worse considering he almost used Icy Hot instead of a similarly blue colored sunburn lotion as a pain reliever.
we drove down in the CR-V because it's still cheaper than flying. plus, you can't really get a feeling for distance and place if you don't drive. Stephen King's, Cell was our driving entertainment (what is up with that ending?!?!). we stopped at Shucker's Pier 13 in Dover, DE on the way down. i don't eat seafood, but they had grilled vegetable and cheese sandwiches and the food was cheap. the atmosphere was odd to say the least, topped off by what could only be explained as significant blood splatter on the inside of the women's bathroom stall door. on the way back home we stopped at the Dog House in New Castle, DE per the recommendation of Roadfood.com. again, i dined like a true vegetarian on the cheese fries (which were stellar), but adam got two of their famous foot long chili dogs. you can't get that on a plane!
we also ate well while in vb; mary's, captain george's, croc's, not to mention karen's home cooking, but i could go on forever about food...
i got to spend some good QT with my father; riding bicycles, chilling on the beach and staying up until all hours drinking and talking. adam partook a bit too heavily of the drinking part, but recovered enough to go to First Landing State Park the next day to check out the cypress swamps and ospreys.
to break up the trip back we got a hotel room in Paramus, NJ. at the hotel we watched 30 Days of Night, an incredibly creepy and disturbing flick which seemed pretty appropriate for our overall NJ experience. there is little to say about Paramus, except that there is a lot of shopping. and there's the atrocious Route 17. what is the urban planning logic behind this road? what is up with the u-turns?? why does this road inspire such hate???
anyway, before departing for home we stopped at IKEA and bought what seemed like enough to furnish a small apartment. we then went to CAMPMOR, where we got a new Ruffwear backpack and boots for crosbi (the dog).
an all around good time...thanks to dad and karen for their hospitality and to russell for watching the "kids"!

holiday spirit.

this time of year is often very conflicted for me.
it is such a confusing cloud of religion, consumerism and materialism.
although very loosely raised a lutheran, i don't hold any real attachment to christianity now. there was a time when i looked to find a religion that "fit" my beliefs but i never found much success.
basically, i believe that our job "here" is to be happy, live simply and improve life around us in whatever small way we can manage. respect everything and everyone's beliefs even if they seem to conflict with your own.
that's it. no judgments, threats, obligations, punishments, ceremonies, preaching, conversions, praying, idols, special hats, etc.
having said that, i respect christmas and what the core value of it is. but generally i don't think that christmas is about jesus for most folks who celebrate it. it's about the rush to buy stuff and show love through being a consumer.
does this stuff enrich us? does it make us happier? most importantly, does the stuff even matter?
it seems a bit twisted to me.
certainly, i am not even addressing the fact that the united states is a multicultural nation where not everyone is a christian (face it! it's not a bad thing!!!). and that by adopting christmas as a nationally celebrated holiday, we are unofficially adopting christianity as our unofficial religion. and that throwing in hanukkah is a very token attempt to be open minded. and that still ignores the multitude of other religions that exist. well, you get the point...
bah humbug, right?

shit disturbin'

sure.

it's propaganda.

but unlike theirs, it's correct.

and this dude is smart.

a little less caffeine. a little more psychotropics.

last night we watched starbucking; a documentary about winter. he's a guy who is obsessed (heavy emphasis on the obsession part) with going to every starbucks on the planet.
the documentary is not what i expected. adam laughed his ass off, but i thought it was kind of sad. in my non-professional opinion, this guy is mentally ill. (he does makes reference to having taken psych meds in the past)
but, then again, drinking upwards of 100+ ounces of coffee daily would make anyone crazy.
winter has his own website where he posts his logs and pictures of every location he's been to.
i guess i shouldn't be surprised that he has been to our local store.

boycott black friday.

save your money. consume responsibly.
don't mindlessly support exploitative transnational corporations. who's really behind that label? don't be fooled by the omnipresent pressure to love your friends and family with purchases.
giving doesn't mean buying things.
ignore advertising. be aware.
live smaller. live simply.
buy nothing.