And so this is Christmas . . .

So Christmas Day is almost over and already I need a good drink. It must be so nice to be able to drink on the holidays--I'm looking forward to that one day. The older one gets, the more one realizes how stressful and disappointing holdiays are. I was woken up at seven am, and asked if I wanted to see what Santa brought me or sleep in. I wanted to sleep in, but every single year we children always come up the stairs together to see what we what amount of loot we made out with. Sleeping in had never been an option. So of course I got up, bleary-eyed and all, and with my brother and sister climbed the stairs to the living room where St. Nick had been. On a side night, he is very noisy--I had him puttering around all night long. Anyway, I got an iHome--which is a dock for my iPod and also functions as digital clock--alarm and everything. Santa made my monthly car payment for me and threw in a new cell phone, which is good because mine is trash. I also got a few gift cards and candy.

We made our traditional breakfast which focuses around turnovers. Then it was back into the ring to open family presents. My sister gave me the Garden State soundtrack and my brother gave me White Oleander which were both on my wish list. My married sister gave me an iTunes gift card which was not on my list--but I can use it to buy an album that was, so it works out. My parents, however, did their own thing as usual. And this is where I sound like a brat--or rather reveal that I am a brat. I did get this London 360* book I wanted, which is a coffee table photo book of London. I also got the MLA Style Guide and Manual for grad students, which I wanted when I thought I was going into English. However, I think my mother thought the L had something to do with libraries which, by the way, would be the ALA. So I'm not sure if I'll ever use it. I also got an iPod car stereo kit which I had resisted for a couple of reasons. My friends have these and the dock for the iPod is never stable and just a little ridiculous. My model doesn't have a dock, but uses a cord instead. Much nicer. I'll still have to find an available FM channel to playback on, but I suppose I can live with that. I really wanted The Absolute Sandman but I knew there was a very slim chance I would receive that. The other thing I really wanted this year is Into the Woods which I also didn't get. However, the cousin gift exchange is tomorrow, so hopefully I will get it then. My parents also gave me fifty dollars, so with that, Dixy's gift card, and my BN membership, I'll have to go buy all the books I wanted. Anyway, I didn't mean to go into a minute and ungrateful detail of all the gifts I received. However, I would like to thank Val for Watchmen which has been an interesting read so far. And also Melissa, who gave me the sixth season of The West Wing--I just have one more season to go! I do have to say that the first two seasons are my favorite. It's a pre-9/11 world, the cast is young and energized, and the sereies is just so fresh. The third and fourth seasons are strong, but the fifth season's a mess. So far the sixth season is all right, however it's very different. I have to say that I am enjoying Kristin Chenoweth's recurring guest role very much.

Anyway, after a light noon refreshment, family began descending upon us. First I would like to share this quote: "Maybe that's all family really is; a group of people who miss the same imaginary place." I just like it. My mother also got a tile today that reads "Friends are the Family you Choose." And my dear friends are my family, and at Christmastime I am reminded of these beautiful lyrics: "Faithful friends who are dear to us / Gather near to us once more. / Through the years / We all will be together / If the fates allow." I hope to spend the holidays together with my family of friends as often as possible, if only in my dreams. Anyway, by the afternoon my house was swarming with family which was not nearly as enjoyable as I had anticipated. I think it's because when I was younger, I was so excited to play with my cousins and my new loot. None of the cousins my age were here--they're coming tomorrow--and they're old and married and boring. And the younger cousins are exhausting. After dinner I had to find a quiet, solitary spot to take a nap, and that didn't stay quiet or solitary for very long.

We did play a lot of games which was nice. When we were younger, we spent the holidays playing lots of games, but as we got older, it turned into movie and video game marathons and we stoped playing card and board games. So it was nice to do that again instead of staring at a screen all day.

Today Christmas just seemed a little . . . empty. After we finished opening gifts, it was like, okay, another 365 days until next Christmas. And I wasn't overly excited by my presents, but there was nothing that I wanted that was overly exciting. In fact, there were very few things I really even wanted at all. So maybe I've gotten boring in my old age, or my life is in a rut right now. Both are quite likely. I have been thinking about grad school lately. Next year I could be coming home from New York or Seattle, Austin or North Carolina. I'm more excited to live somewhere new than scared. Though I'm sure the terror will come once this is actually a reality. What I've actually been thinking is come fall, I most likely will never live back at home with my parents again. Over the summer, I'll probably just stay wherever I land and work. And hopefully before I'll have a job lined up right after graduation. And by job I mean a full-time, salaried position where I can afford things like rent, and groceries, and insurance, and all that jazz. I may still need a roommate, but I'm not sure I'm ready to live on my very own--it seems very lonely. Anyway, I'm quite ready to call it a day now. I do hope you had a Happy Christmas. And I really hope 2009 is an excellent year. 2008 was--well it wasn't horrible, but it really wasn't a good year in any meaningful way.

A New Blog and a New Post

Hello all! I have started a new blog for several reasons. I have another one on blogger, but I hardly use it, preferring my MySpace blog feature. Now that most of my friends have left MySpace, and the rest visit it infrequently, I thought it best to start again with a fresh blog and new domain name, which if you noticed is grburbank.blogspot.com. The reason I never use my other blog here, which I will soon be deleting, is that I have no idea how to use this site and customize my blog. I am, after all, not the most techno-literate person. However, I hope to have friends teach me how make the most out of my blogger bloggy blogthing.

Today is Christmas Eve, and I wish everyone a Happy Christmas. (I love affecting British-isms.) I wanted to go to Midnight Mass at the Cathedral of the Madeleine, but alas all the seat passes are already gone. I remarked to my friend Kristyn that all the Catholics (and others such as myself) do come out of the woodwork for Christmas. I hope they have a lovely time.

Today does not feel like Christmas Eve, nor does it seem possible that tomorrow is Christmas day--and then it will all be over and a long winter will be upon us. The older we get the quicker time flies by, and Christmas feels less and less magical with each passing year. This is not to say I have not celebrated Christmas--and by celebrate I mean the Americanized festivity of giving gifts to friends and family and not the religious holiday marking Christ's birth--even though I wanted to go the mass tonight. I went to see the lights at Temple Square with my friends, and I also celebrated Apartment Christmas with them, even though we no longer live in the same complexes, in fact only Justin and Ellen live in an apartment at all. I received Watchmen by Alan Moore from Valerie and the complete sixth season of The West Wing from Melissa. Even Dixy gave me a BN gift card, and I felt really bad because I didn't get anything for her. Ellen is also making me a scarf. We also went caroling which was a failed endeavor. I went to a Christmas-themed concert by Voice Male--which is a Utah-based, male, a cappella group--with my family. Not exactly my cup of tea, but whatever. I saw my friend Elise in her play It's a Wondrous Life which is a spoof on It's a Wonderful Life which I also caught part of when it was broadcast on television. In addition, I attended Dain's annual Christmas party, complete with booze and all! Due to the major snowstorm that day, attendance was sparse compared to previous years. And instead of chatting up Megan (who was a no show) and Elise (who arrived very late) and other friends, we played Rock Band and then watched Arrested Development. It was fun, but not the same. So I feel I've participated in my share of yuletide festivities, and yet it doesn't feel like Christmas.

As I've gotten older, my anxious sleep on Christmas Eve has more or less subsided, though there has always been one or two gifts I desperately want that I'm not sure I'll get. This year I really want The Absolute Sandman vol. 1, but I've come to terms that I probably won't get it. I also want Into the Woods on DVD, and I'm pretty sure I'll get that. I would also like some dress boots and a new supply of Green Tea HP, but as neither were on my wish list, I probably won't get either of those. Everything else on my wish list is an assortment of books, movies, and CDs.

I'm fighting off a cold currently, so that isn't exactly inspiring Christmas joy. I woke up last Wednesday night with a tickle in my throat and knew I was getting sick. I woke up and took some Airborne and NyQuil and stole the humidifier from my brother's room. All in all, it hasn't been terrible, and I've been functioning just fine. Yay for my cocktail of drugs! I have woken up every morning with a cough, and it is that very cough that is still lingering--otherwise I feel perfectly well again. But I just started on some Mucinex--so hopefully that takes care of that.

I'm spending the rest of the day working on chores. We have family coming starting tomorrow and on Friday we're hosting the family party. It's the first time in a long time that every single member of our large and growing extended family will be together--so we're taking a group picture that day. It'll also be the last time too. My grandparents are getting old and while they still get around just fine, they're not exactly in the best of health. Three grandchildren got married this year, including my sister, making four total grandchildren with spouses. The first couple already has a daughter and the rest will get pregnant soon enough, I'm sure. And I'm sure in the next few years, we'll see a couple more marriages. So anyway, it'll be good to all be together again. But in the meantime I must finish my chores. This includes laundry and cleaning my room. With all this family, I'm being unceremoniously kicked out of my bedroom which will be given to one set of my aunts and uncles. My room exists in a continuous state of über entropy, so cleaning it is quite a task. When I (hopefully) move to grad school in the fall, moving is going to be a gargantuan pain. Anyway, I best be getting back to the room--it really is a disaster. I'm just glad I'm not rushing around buying last minute Christmas gifts as has been my wont in Christmases past. Once I finish, I should really start reading The Maltese Falcon as we're discussing it for book group on Tuesday. Anyway, I hope you really didn't read this whole blog as it's long and aimless and dull. I have great hope that future posts will be more focused and engaging. Oscar season is upon us and I am quite prepared to see a fleet of movies and discuss them here. If you did finish this blog, I hope life is treating you well. Have a Happy Christmas and may 2009 be a new and exciting chapter in all of our lives. Shalom.