Holidays

I really don't like holidays. Which is odd because growing up I sure loved them. I was the first the claim rights to decorating our house (which was a treat with its truly southern nature of having both a sitting room and a piano room; hospitality always in mind) and was a strong advocate of only playing Christmas music during the season(I was dubbed the Christmas Nazi by my sister, Heidi). Christmas, nowadays is a chore, really. It has always been a surface holiday and will continue to be a surface holiday for me. I think as a child I really loved it because I felt that beautiful objects and settings transformed people, if only for a day. And, you know, it kind of does. But, it seems very surface or at best, transient. I prefer something real. Something that can happen without the sparkling provocation of house lights and Christmas trees. I like to give gifts, but not on Christmas. And its heartbreaking to see people get stressed and depressed over it all.

That said, I do like a few holidays: Thanksgiving, New Years and Anniversaries of your own choice-relationships, accomplishments, etc. I like special days that involve food, family and friends.

2nd runner up to Christmas? Valentines Day. That god-awful tacky red ruins January/Feb for me.

I found this photo today randomly-which is awesome because I was thinking about this movie all morning and how much I used to LOVE it. It spoke to me as an angsty middle schooler, quite aware that I was different from "those stupid airhead girls"-what with my freckles and wiry hair that I tried so desperately to tame . It was a tragic sight, I am sure, for those who watched me grow up. :) So tragic. Kat, my protagonist, at least, was a vintage chevy driving, letters to cleo listening, simone de beauvoir reading, sarah lawrence hopeful- who I had a heart attack crush on. I still get giddy when I think about this film. She was angry-I was angry! She read Shakespeare-I read Shakespeare! She liked Letters to Cleo-I loved them! It was a friendship meant to be.

So this morning, a series of essays I was reading led me to feminism, to french feminism, to simone de beauvoir and naturally to Kat Stratford from "10 Things I Hate About You."

And to find this photo while searching for an "I Hate Christmas" photo. Fate.