[Imported] 'Tis the Season

1. Tin Man

2. Kingdom Keepers

3. Tales of Beedle the Bard

4. Sleeping Beauty

My Christmas list this year reads like a list of (mostly) obscurities wanted by a 13-year-old D&D fanatic who hasn't quite yet come to terms with the fact that we all live in a little place called Reality.

Oh wait, that's it exactly. Well, not the D&D part. I don't know anything about D&D other than what the letters stand for. I was just using it to allude to the fantasy aspect of the nerd demographic that I so clearly belong to. The rest hits the nail on the head given that I emotionally peaked in my early teens, which explains the lack of adult-appropriate gift requested by me, despite my adult age.

Anyway, I also thought about asking for a box of reeds* for Christmas as well since I have been playing my clarinet a bit whenever my mom isn't around and since all my reeds are at LEAST 2 ½ years old (do you have any idea how gross that is? Imagine finding a 2 ½ year old used popsicle stick rotting away in a box AND THEN STICKING IT IN YOUR MOUTH FOR HOURS. Okay, show of hands - who still wants to make out with me after that information?). But as nice as would be to have some new fresh reeds for my secret musical rendezvous, I know that if I ask for anything even remotely related to music, my family will start hounding me to perform for them or… join a local orchestra or… 'stop wasting your talent, Natalie - remember how proud you used to make us?' I mean, they do that as it is – I can't even listen to classical music with my mom is in earshot lest she get all teary-eyed and say, 'Oh, boo hoo hoo, how mournful and glum I feel on hearing this piece as it reminds me of the happiness you once brought me with your own music,' though perhaps that's not quite how she words it (might as well be, though). Still, I'm just as quick to point out the fact that 95% of depression medication commercials use a lone clarinet as the background music, and HELLO! SHOULDN'T THAT TELL YOU SOMETHING? Anyway, all I'm saying is if they thought I was actually playing my clarinet again, they'd get all gloaty with their fawning and praising and thank-you-for-taking-on-the-responsibility-of-our-happiness attitude, and really now, can't I just play for me for once?

*Yes, I suppose I could just buy them myself, but they're TWENTY-THREE DOLLARS. Sure, it's not that much money, but in case you haven't noticed, I'm very frugal, very cheap, and I JUST DON'T EVER SPEND MONEY. Except for traveling, mostly. Think about it - how else do you think I managed all these theme park trips when I worked less than 15 hours a week and got paid not much more than minimum wage? I budget with the best of them, and reeds are just not something I can squeeze in right now, at least not until I get another job.

And as for Christmas this year, my family is actually celebrating the holiday this weekend. The reasons why are rather uninteresting and not worth getting into, so I won't bother; but due to our early festivities, my mom has decided to go to Florida over the official Christmas to attend her friend's son's wedding, one that I was invited to as well, but also one that I have no interest in going to since 1) I was just in Florida 2) I'm not a big fan of my mom's friends and 3) I'm not a big fan of weddings unless it's my own, in which case I would totally be there. So I guess that means that this will be the first Christmas I don't spend with at least one parent, which isn't that big a deal since we're having the actual celebration early as I previously mentioned, though I still expect the day to be slightly weird and drab. But before you all start feeling sorry for me, my aunt, uncle, and cousin who live in the area aren't going anywhere, so I'm sure they wouldn't let me stay home alone all Christmas day even if I wanted to. And I probably would want to, seeing as how I'm sure the four of us would do nothing but watch TV for hours on end, which is the only thing this family does when we get together any other time of year anyway (I love my family to death, and I think they're all hilarious people, but activity-wise, they can be as boring as watching dead grass grow.)

Now that I typed all that mess up, I just realized that I don't know where I was going with any of it. If I had a point to this post, I think lost it about two sentences in.

By the way, let me just take a moment to apologize for the slightly, oh, I dunno…melancholy? whiny? cynical? tone I suspect my blogs have taken lately. That teenage emotional peakage? Yeah, I wasn't foolin'.