So This Is Xmas? Look What You're Done

Coming from someone who doesn’t believe in god, it seems odd I still celebrate the yearly holiday known as Christmas. (That is the last time you will see me use that spelling.) Outside the reality of my disbelief, I can give you a number of reasons why it couldn’t have happened, some of which being: the North Star only appears in the sky in that part of the world in the spring, putting Jesus’ birth most likely in May; the shepherds who apparently were hanging out would not have been in the fields in the middle of winter; The Bible never mentions Jesus was born in a stable, only a manger, meaning he could have been born in a cave for all we know; etc, etc.

The main reason we celebrate on the twenty-fifth is because it masks the pagan holiday of the celebration of the winter solstice. The twenty-fifth is the first day the Egyptians noticed daylight was getting longer after the solstice, December twenty-first. Still, despite all of the negativity surrounded by such an arbitrary holiday, I still travel home every Xmas.

I think for me, Xmas (and by a larger extent, the entire holiday season i.e. Hanukkah, Festivus) has taken on a new meaning, a meaning, which I feel more people should embrace due to the over-religiousness and the over-commercialization of the true holiday season.

For me personally, I think the holidays are less and less about the celebration of the birth of a fictitious character, but more about the celebration of family. It’s one of the few times each year I get to sit down with every member of my immediate family and members of my extended family and see each other and spend time together. That’s the tradition I want to pass down to my family, if I ever get drunk enough to get conned into one. It’s less about how many courses there are in the holy supper, but more about sitting together, wishing each other a great forthcoming year, and reconnecting for one day regardless of where we live in the world and what we believe.

Thanksgiving has become more about good friends who are far from home spending time together and sharing in a shit ton of food, but the holidays are always about family. The city of Los Angeles empties out and rush hour on the 405 freeway is nonexistent. Everyone goes home to the their family to celebrate in whatever way makes them happy to see each other. The looks on my grandmothers’ faces when I return from the west coast, talking video games and cycling with my cousin Shawn, doing shots of Boilo with my dad and sister, and an infinite list of other great memories are what makes the holiday season important to me and gives me a reason to celebrate the Xmas every year.

A very merry Xmas and a happy New Year… Let's hope it's a good one… Without any fear…

Ten Seconds Left Until Midnight...

Okay, so we all have felt the effects of 2009. It was a shitty year for most, if not all of us. I know for me, despite working a good majority of the first part of the year, and getting to spend almost all of those hours working with some of my dearest friends, the year-end brought me back to a really tough place. Honestly, the only major, awe-inspiring moment of my entire year didn’t even take place in this country. Every day of this past year has kinda sucked in some way, except for the glorious alcohol induced euphoria I felt while in Ireland with Fever and Johnny.

However, I’m not here to dwell on the past. Well, yes I am. In the midst of all this crap hole of a year, I did stick to a few of my New Year’s Resolutions. Let’s recap:

1) Get my diet back into gear.

I was pretty successful here. I got it back on track, gave up eating pork, and amazingly, lowered my cholesterol to normal. My family has a history of high cholesterol, which I of course inherited from my dad, but I managed to eat well enough to fix it. Sadly, I put a little weight back on b/c I bruised a ligament in my right leg and couldn’t run for about four months. I began rowing again, but rowing a single just doesn’t recall the love I have for the sport of rowing. Find me a pair partner and I’m in.

2) Record a song/EP.

Okay, in all fairness, I’m going to say I achieved this one. I have written six complete songs and have another three or four, which are started. I am totally ready to record my album.

The reason it hasn’t been completed is because my good friend Pascual Murderface (who I was going to record with) was selected to be the new lead singer for the most brutal band, Pathology, and they recently got signed to my favorite label Victory Records. I say that is way more important than my bullshit, but once they are done in the studio this February, Mr. Murderface and I are going to start arranging the debut album from A War For All Seasons. (I copywrote that shit!)

3) Keep in touch with friends more.

I tried. It worked a little. Getting better. Gonna work on it more this year.

4) Ask Zooey Deschanel out on a date.

Never happened. I went to her yoga class to try to find her, but she never showed up. Oh well. I did have the most excellent pleasure of seeing her in concert earlier this year, and that was pretty awesome. And I’ll probably go see her play again this upcoming April.

But now 2010 has begun. It already has a better feel than last year. I was saying towards the end of last year that I needed a little break from LA, not like I’m over it, just felt like I needed a little rejuvination, and I got it. I am writing this post from Dooner’s couch in Brooklyn, New York, where I am working on a pilot with most of the Viva la Gang and a few new friends we’ve made along the way. I have high hopes for this year. So with no further adieu, here is my plan for the new year.

1) Run a marathon.

This is actually something I decided to do back in October. I am just about halfway thru my training. My good friend Bridget ran it last year, and she convinced me to give it a try along side her this year. My leg has healed, and I haven’t been this driven to compete in or complete something in a long time. I am so stoked on it, my training is going swimmingly, and not even the winter wind in New York can stop me.

2) Break my routine and try new things.

This is a little vague. One thing I promised myself when I moved to California, I was going to take up as many hobbies as I could and try things I couldn’t necessarily do easily growing up in Pennsylvania. Again, I acted on this one already too. I joined a softball team this year with a lot of old friends from Punk’d while making a grip of new friends along the way. Total Protonic Reversal was born and for once in my life, I look forward to Mondays. Maybe I’ll travel more, not necessarily aboard, but maybe more weekend trips, or maybe come home more. Just want to broaden my world a little bit more.

3) Stop taking the beach for granted.

Okay, I’m an asshole. I live four blocks from the ocean; seven minutes and forty seconds from my front door to the water’s edge. I was in the ocean twice last year. TWICE! And once was in Oceanside with the Holemans. That is sad. Growing up as the kid who would jump in the swimming pool on day one when the water was fifty-eight degrees, only to say he was the first one in the pool, it’s sad. Being the dude, who after the fall rowing season would go to the beach for a weekend and go body surfing mid-November, it’s no bueno. So this year I’m going to get off my ass, and do more than run along the boardwalk. I’m definitely going to relax and read more at the beach, take time to watch the sunset, definitely take the brand spanking new Magic Slipper to cruise some tasty waves, and soak up as much sun as humanly possible.

I think that’s a good start. Like last year, I’m sure I will end up picking up a few more things along the way to add to my list. But until that time arrives, I will push onward with my workouts, with my spontaneity, and with more frequent trips to the Pacific.

[My album reviews are on the way. Once I get some pesos from the job, I’ll go out and pick up all of the 2009 albums I’m behind on and I’ll give you definitive list. I know you are totally worried about my musical picks for best albums of this past year. Screw the Grammys.]

Nine chances to drown ourselves in black hair dye… Eight faces turned away from the shock… Seven windows and Six of them were locked… Five stories falling… Forever and ever… Three cheers to the mirror… Now there are Two of us…

Can we have One last chance?...