JDTAY
Half Pepperoni, All Cheese
I haven't been to church in years, but I still do Christmas, because hey, free stuff.
It's the most wonderful time of the year...
- Thread starter JDTAY
- Start date
Caine
Hardcore Member
No, not really. I no longer celebrate it these days.
I hate the music, I abhor religion and I detest shopping for gifts. I don't really like getting them either.
I hate the music, I abhor religion and I detest shopping for gifts. I don't really like getting them either.
JDTAY
Half Pepperoni, All Cheese
Well, this might be a good year to get back into Christmas. You might get one of these:
https://www.fingerlings.com
Your finger will never be lonely again.
https://www.fingerlings.com
Your finger will never be lonely again.
wait... each and every finger of mine has 4 bretheren. Which means the lonely finger is... is... *censored*.
Once you are older, you will see that nothing is "free", you have to reciprocate, and indeed, PAY for gifts to the others that get stuff "free". Even if your wife does the shopping... you still pay for it.
Now who is the big winner? That's right: Commerce.
I started finding this whole gifting stuff quite pointless several years ago, when I was around 16. When I saved up money for something, I always had to calculate all the gifting stuff, slowing down the process of getting things I wanted so badly.
From my point of view, I pay for things I don't really want. I tried explaining that to my parents, but that was a bit unsuccessful. It ended up that they mostly buy amazon gift cards for me, at least to preserve this kind of gifting atmosphere. This solution is okay, but it is still not perfect, as these gifting cards limit you to specific stores, effectively preventing one from placing a Pyra Preorder here for example.
Caine
Hardcore Member
According to his profile he is 30 years old. If it is age related then he should know by now.
See, some get it much earlier in their life.
Back when I was still a kid, a friend of mine and I did not really go gift shopping either for birthdays. For a while I gave him 10 bucks and a short while later he would return them to me. We only did that a couple of times before realizing how futile it was and stopped giving gifts.
For some events, such as Christmas there was some more family pressure to participate (and my parents spent way more than my brother and I, so the cost/benefit ratio was advantageous), so we just utilized wish-lists instead. It eliminates a large part of the surprise but at least you don't end up with a drawer or box of unused junk.
These days I just buy what I need, when I need it instead of putting it on wish-lists. Besides, I would rather have less stuff than more.
TeDaDeS
Forum Addict!
If you don't get gifts for others you don't get gifts from others.
So get your own gifts and you always get something you want.
Even when it isn't Christmas.
Would be a great solution if I would take time/money to spend on gifts.
Celebrating Christmas is more of a social thing, no physical gifts required.
So get your own gifts and you always get something you want.
Even when it isn't Christmas.
Would be a great solution if I would take time/money to spend on gifts.
Celebrating Christmas is more of a social thing, no physical gifts required.
rygD
Nihilistic Mystic
So the title of this thread is wrong. In the upper regions of the northern hemisphere this is traditionally the worst time of the year in many areas. It is cold and dark, with many things dead/dying, or at least hiding until it is warm again.
Surely this is a time to get together and feast (well, maybe not the Donner Party) and try to have fun. What better time to do it than on/after the solstice when you can see that the days are getting longer, or coming back, so the church found that a convenient thing to borrow/replace.
The gift giving and craziness (maybe a remnant of Saturnalia?) has never been my thing. I only participate as much as my family requires, including wearing a Santa hat embroidered with "Bah Humbug!". In recent years we haven't done anything, although I do have things I do alone. This year I said we should get rid of all that decorating stuff if we won't use it...right after somebody asked if we could decorate and celebrate, so I guess we are bringing back ourpagan Christmas tradition stuff.
The person that wants us to participate asked for the Communist Manifesto as a gift. How appropriate! I moved a handful of the more affordable books from my personal list to an Xmas one, and added the only toy I could find that I want. I also made one on Etsy, featuring items such as a few options for casts of human skulls (because I am forbidden from having pieces of dead strangers in the house, plus these are way cheaper), replicas of tokens depicting acts from ancient Roman brothels, and some Lovecraft inspired art. Alien monster gods, sex, and death, plus an excuse to get drunk...sounds like fun to me! I also mentioned a game I am interested in.
The problem is when I asked my other half for gift ideas I was directed to around a dozen old Amazon lists containing results from searches while shopping that were never cleaned up, plus random things that may or may not still be desired. Maybe I should stick with what I know and order from somebody that specializes in combining the themes from my Etsy list. Actually, I already have something that combines those, but that is artsy, not, um, practical.
Even though I try to participate for them, it prevents me from being able to buy a handful of books for a month. The ones I can get I don't particularly need/want, or are expensive. I would be content if I was not given anything. Luckily a century old book was recommended to me, so I have 700+ public domain pages to read, and research to see if anything significant has been found that changes things, plus other opinions, and that should keep me busy when I have time to read.
BTW, there is no Santa Claus.
Surely this is a time to get together and feast (well, maybe not the Donner Party) and try to have fun. What better time to do it than on/after the solstice when you can see that the days are getting longer, or coming back, so the church found that a convenient thing to borrow/replace.
The gift giving and craziness (maybe a remnant of Saturnalia?) has never been my thing. I only participate as much as my family requires, including wearing a Santa hat embroidered with "Bah Humbug!". In recent years we haven't done anything, although I do have things I do alone. This year I said we should get rid of all that decorating stuff if we won't use it...right after somebody asked if we could decorate and celebrate, so I guess we are bringing back our
The person that wants us to participate asked for the Communist Manifesto as a gift. How appropriate! I moved a handful of the more affordable books from my personal list to an Xmas one, and added the only toy I could find that I want. I also made one on Etsy, featuring items such as a few options for casts of human skulls (because I am forbidden from having pieces of dead strangers in the house, plus these are way cheaper), replicas of tokens depicting acts from ancient Roman brothels, and some Lovecraft inspired art. Alien monster gods, sex, and death, plus an excuse to get drunk...sounds like fun to me! I also mentioned a game I am interested in.
The problem is when I asked my other half for gift ideas I was directed to around a dozen old Amazon lists containing results from searches while shopping that were never cleaned up, plus random things that may or may not still be desired. Maybe I should stick with what I know and order from somebody that specializes in combining the themes from my Etsy list. Actually, I already have something that combines those, but that is artsy, not, um, practical.
Even though I try to participate for them, it prevents me from being able to buy a handful of books for a month. The ones I can get I don't particularly need/want, or are expensive. I would be content if I was not given anything. Luckily a century old book was recommended to me, so I have 700+ public domain pages to read, and research to see if anything significant has been found that changes things, plus other opinions, and that should keep me busy when I have time to read.
BTW, there is no Santa Claus.
JDTAY
Half Pepperoni, All Cheese
JDTAY
Half Pepperoni, All Cheese
Hey guys, apparently Humble is teaming up with Yogscast for a huge bundle again this year.
Get ready for over 20 days of disappointment. Yesss.
Get ready for over 20 days of disappointment. Yesss.
T.T.
Master of Lightning
I like Christmas (granted, I am a religious person), I like the getting together of family and friends, plus it's a good excuse to make neat things for the people I care about.
I guess you could do that anytime really, but I like Christmas regardless
I guess you could do that anytime really, but I like Christmas regardless
ible
professional vim user
the gift-giving part of it is super commercialized. it's not worth it to exchange gift cards/money, either, and it would be nice to do something thoughtful, but there's a lot of weird angst about that, too...
Null
Snug
I love Christmas, it's the only time of year that I get to sneak into people's bedrooms without the police getting involved.
WizardStan
Mega GP Mania
- Joined
- May 24, 2008
- Messages
- 16,731
I used to like Christmas. I didn't like going out shopping, but finding that perfect gift for someone, that thing they didn't even know they wanted, made it all worthwhile.
Then, three years ago, someone in my family decided that we'd do name draws so we'd only buy for one person, and not spend so much. Binch, I never spent very much. It is literally the thought that counts. Now we get one person, and a list of things, and all the magic of finding perfect gifts is gone.
I'm sad now.
Then, three years ago, someone in my family decided that we'd do name draws so we'd only buy for one person, and not spend so much. Binch, I never spent very much. It is literally the thought that counts. Now we get one person, and a list of things, and all the magic of finding perfect gifts is gone.
I'm sad now.
rygD
Nihilistic Mystic
comradekingu
Glowing ember
Congratulations, you have unlocked YULETIDE™. At-least you can do without the delusion of it being judeo christian.
Underneath the vein layer of commercialism, this is celebrated as a token of gratitude for surviving the winter.
This is the time of year you appreciate the social constructions that made it happen, outside of just blind luck of not falling ill, or being born one of the many things that go under. Lift your glass to share in the "skål" (toast/cheers), reminiscent of the days the bowl (skål), or helmet was sent around at mass. The idea being to not drink more blood than there is to go around.
The food is also regenerating in the sagas, as this is the time for appreciating balance. Down with greed, humanity is what you make of it. To the gods!
ible
professional vim user
that's the spirit!
A spirit, swathed in wrapping paper and bound with ribbons, approaches. Hanging from his neck is a small tag bearing a single name. He speaks.
Apparition: "I am the ghost of Christmas present."
txus
Member
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2014
- Messages
- 115
I feel this statement is more than relevant here...
Thank you for this quote. If you want humanity to live by some principles, stop looking around you and start living by those principles: humans mimic other humans more than we would dare to accept, so maybe (and, also, maybe not) some people around you will follow. I would add "Lead and convince by example, not by force" to round it up.
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