But I was actually glad I had to put decorations today because it not only gave me something to do without the need to use mass media, but also because it meant I get to hang with my parents. My dad and I put up three deer with lights on them and a decorative Christmas tree that lights up, all of which created a little wintry scene on the front lawn. I have some neighbors who had their Christmas lights up the day after Thanksgiving, which I think is totally overachieving but whatevs. As someone who tends to view the holiday season as a stressful, consumer-centric time of year, it takes me a while to get in the holiday spirit.
Next was the Christmas tree, which we assembled in no time (it's an artificial one with lights and everything). Unfortunately, the TV was on in the living room while we were putting up the tree because, well, I learned very early on that when a five-year-old wants to watch her shows you let her. By the way, for the record Disney shows suck and Nick shows rock. (My five-year-old niece came along that day and that girl, God bless her, gets whatever she wants; unfortunately for me the show she was watching was The Suite Life on Deck).
So after everyone left I decided to take a nap. I was going to be heading out for a night out with my girlfriend so I wanted to be fully recharged. Oh, who am I kidding? I only really took a nap because I was unable to watch TV, surf the Internet or listen to music while grading, so burning some hours sleeping seemed like a great idea.
So three and half hours later I woke up feeling groggy as hell. Truth of the matter is I hate taking naps because I always feel more tired when I wake up. But hey, that was a good chunk of my day gone and I didn't have to be conscious to feel that media deprivation eating away at me. I had decided that feeling crappy and more tired was better than being awake and tempted to give in and use mass media somehow.
I still had a couple of hours to kill before heading out to Helotes for a concert at Josabi's. The band was Ghostland Observatory (my girlfriend's choice); I had heard them before but this was going to be my first time watching them. Basically, I was looking forward to going to the show because I'd be listening to live music surrounded by all kinds of people. The night was especially nice, too; crisp and cold, but not too cold. And being outside felt even cooler with a stage show such as this one:
In sum, day one wasn't all that bad. I was productive, got to spend some time with my parents, had a cool experience with my girlfriend out in Helotes (though I'm still not a huge fan of Ghostland; I think the vocals suck), all the while getting my much needed mass media fix. Oh, and apparently we're magnets for drunk idiots who like to jump into our conversations and caress my hair? What the hell was up with that anyway????
