Inspiring Quotes of the Day: HOLIDAYS

I have every intention of getting some work done today....I promise! BUT FIRST! A little holiday-themed procrastination!

I talked a lot in my anthropology class about holidays. We had a whole class about Halloween traditions and horror movies. We spent another class making a "web of significance" (Oh, Geertz!) diagram on the board about Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Christmas. Holidays make for great class discussion because everyone always has something to say. However differently we all may feel about "the holiday season," it is something (in our culture) that unites us.

Whether you feel that holidays are a socially-constructed equilibrium maintenance mechanism (Oh, Harris!), a cultural celebration of history, tradition, and family, an excuse to gluttonously indulge in food and shopping, a semi-annual celebration of religious values....or just a day off of work, I really hope you enjoy your holidays! Make of them what you will! Here's what a few other folks think about them:

A perpetual holiday is a good working definition of hell. - George Bernard Shaw

Come, woo me, woo me, for now I am in a holiday humor, and like enough to consent.
- William Shakespeare

Christmas is a time when you get homesick -- even when you're home. - Carol Nelson

There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child. - Erma Bombeck

Isn't it funny that at Christmas something in you gets so lonely for - I don't know what exactly, but it's something that you don't mind so much not having at other times. ~Kate L. Bosher

There are some people who want to throw their arms round you just because it's Christmas, there are other people who want to strangle you just because its Christmas
- Robert Lynd

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. - Dr. Seuss

Probably the reason we all go so haywire at Christmas time with the endless unrestrained and often silly buying of gifts is that we don't quite know how to put our love into words - Harlan Miller

Shoe-A-Day Calendar

I have a shoe-a-day calendar on my office desk. For Sweet Pickles and the others working around me, my daily ritual of announcing what “sort” of day it will be is familiar and likely pretty annoying. Every morning I ask: "will it be a good shoe day?" Surprisingly, the calendar has way too many days of really boring or ugly shoes! Who wants to wake up on a Thursday morning to see a Lucite wedge with plastic sunflowers in their future?!?!? (Andrea Pfister, what the hell happened to you in the 90s???) Greeting the day with a bad shoe (albeit a photo of a bad shoe) is never good. I’ve never understood how so many people don’t notice this phenom…feeling crappy, are you? Look down! Maybe it has something to do with those puke-pink fake Uggs you have on…But I digress…

Today’s shoe predicts a mid-spectrum day: A metallic Michael Kors ankle strap pump. Though a little M.O.B. for my personal taste, it’s better than a technicolor Croc or, god forbid, an athletic shoe. This weather alone gets me down, I don’t need to look at ugly footwear all day to boot (pun definitely intended).

So, what do I plan to do on this rainy, grey, cold, Michael Kors day? I must grade approximately 40 essays instead of staying home to work on my new set of designs (working brand name: Polygamy Cult Slut); so, I’m going to make the most of every opportunity I find to utilize MK classic lines such as “it’s SO dowdy,” and “slutty, slutty, slutty!” and wave my hands around dramatically like a flaming New York yenta! Go find whatever you need to make the most of this crummy day! And if you happen by Wal-mart, let me know how well they’re stocked on calico…