Christmas booty 2006

[grrgoyl]

Christmas was a smashing success this year for us. In spite of the Great Blizzard, we had a really fantastic day, materialistically speaking. Here's a list of my booty, cut because I'm aware that lists aren't very interesting to read (though there is some commentary that's not to be missed):



From Tery I received many, many of my favorite-shaped presents. So many, in fact, that we're looking to expand our wall shelving system very, very soon:

• Little Miss Sunshine. Neither of us had seen this, had only the rabid insistence of my sister Amy that we had to see it ASAP. Turns out my sister's instincts again prove correct. I love this movie more and more each time I see it.



• Greg the Bunny: Best of IFC Episodes. Because Greg the Bunny is simply the funniest thing I've ever seen. Ever.



• Venture Bros: Season One. Oh, except for this.



• A Life Less Ordinary. Not much of a coup here. Tery was replacing the copy she lost on me. >: (



• The Princess Bride: Dread Pirate Edition. Fortunately I cleverly held out on owning this DVD, knowing that someday they would come out with a super-special edition like this one. That and the fact that I see it on TV so much I didn't really feel the need to own it. The extras here rock my ass. Cary Elwes is a beautiful, beautiful man, even if he did get bloated and untalented in Saw.

I also got some stuff that wasn't my favorite-shaped box, but lovely nonetheless.

• Two longtime residents of my Amazon wishlist, the book Dilbert: The Way of the Weasel and the CD Empires by VNV Nation. Sweet!!!



• One fairly new addition to my wishlist, the book Goth-Icky. If you haven't heard of this series of "Pop-Ink" books with text by Michael J. Nelson, then hasten now to ye olde bookstore. Though admittedly after you've been through them once, they might not hold up well to repeat readings.



• Also new, two Tom Robbins books, Villa Incognito andWild Ducks Flying Backward, which he quietly released without my knowledge until just recently.
  
  
• So new it never made it to my list, Amy Sedaris' I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence. She might surpass her more prolific brother David in sales with the staggeringly weighty price of this book alone.



• A Donnie Darko watch and set of buttons. Because my love for that movie knows no bounds.



• From my friend Laura I got A Bug's Life on DVD -- only half a coup there. I loaned her my old skool copy from 1998, she lost it, and replaced it with the new 2-disc special collector's edition. SWEET. I should start loaning out my entire library and see how many titles I can get replaced in this way.



• And of course let's not forget the silver 2nd generation iPod Nano from my favorite sister in the whole entire world.

But of course only half the season is about receiving. I did more than my share of giving as well.

• A brand new Razor (sic) phone, with awesome black rubber case that has already caught the envious eye of Tabby.



• A Kevin Harvick pit crew style shirt, right up her alley with all the various sponsor patches on it. Much as I hate to be associated with a NASCAR fan.



• A miscellany of Boston Red Sox paraphenalia that I will not get into here.



• A miscellany of kitchen items from Boston's IKEA, because Tery feels orgasmic about anything sold in IKEA.



• A Reducers T-shirt, Tery's favorite Connecticut-based punk band growing up. She attended a free concert on her recent trip back there that rekindled her interest.



• Old Navy slippers. These can't have been much of a surprise, she's been hinting at needing them virtually every day for a month. Meanwhile the battle rages on between me and the ferrets to maintain one complete matching pair of slippers for myself. As of this writing, mustelids: 1. Human: 0.



• Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series. She asked for this two years ago and I refused, citing the number of DVDs I have given to her that remain in the original plastic wrap. This year something made me get it, and to her credit it seems to be the gift she's the most excited about. We're now watching it together from the beginning.
  
  
• Of course let's not forget the iKaraoke, the acquisition of which I've gone on about at great length already. It's not as awesome as expected: It doesn't remove the lyrics entirely (transmits on a mono channel) and you have to keep the unit so close to the receiver you're practically sitting on top of it (but I blame that on using my receiver's internal antenna only). Also it's surprisingly easy to forget the words to even songs you thought you knew backwards and forwards. Still, for the money you save on collecting karaoke CDs just to get a few good songs, well worth the price, and more fun than humiliating yourself at a bar.

Before you think me a capitalistic pig, keep in mind that last year we were so poor that Christmas was spent with some crusts of stale bread, a bottle of lukewarm water and a flickering candle stub, and we considered ourselves lucky.

But, holidays wouldn't be holidays without family. My older sister called from California and did her usual talking AT me for a solid hour. The problem is her stories blend so seamlessly into each other (by dint of never taking a breath, not because of skillful segues or anything) that there's no contributing anything of your own until the subject has long been abandoned. Not for lack of trying -- at one point I started to tell the tale of the bloodied hospital, but was interrupted so many times that Tery walked by and said exasperatedly, "It's YOUR story!!!!" as my end of the conversation was reduced to, "So I unlocked the front door and....uh-huh.....oh....right.....really?"

Yep, hectic weekends at the kennel, record-breaking snowfall and even Polo's death registered barely a blip on her radar screen. Not compared to story after story about her exciting life inventorying Home Depot. The good news is because of her, my sister Amy and I are hell-bent against turning into her and have become twice as thoughtful listeners to compensate. The other good news is her birthday is New Year's Day, so one phone call around this time of year covers two occasions. Am I a bad person to think this way?

MyFriendDeb came over for dinner, and we were later joined by Ryan and we all watched Little Miss Sunshine. The boys got their Christmas baths, so when Xandir emerged, he got his picture taken with everyone.

For being a shy boy, that Xandir does get around.

Happy New Year everyone!

Edit: Guess what? It's snowing again! Why does God hate Denver so?

Comments

[dopshoppe.livejournal.com]

Stupid, stupid Alicia got the lame-o boring old normal DVD of The Princess Bride roughly the same nanosecond it came out, never realizing for a second they'd have an actual good version out someday. The same mistake was made with Army of Darkness. Oh, when will I learn? The answer to that is, probably never, and I'll end up with two copies of every movie ever made that I like.

This iKaraoke intrigues me. As much as I like humiliating myself in bars, it would also be nice to be able to humiliate myself at home. Anywhere I can embarrass myself is okay with me.

[grrgoyl.livejournal.com]

Stupid, stupid Alicia. I might mock you more extensively if I too wasn't guilty of the exact same lack of foresight (most of the time). I honestly think it should be illegal for the movie industry to release several different editions of the same movie. Highway robbery, it is.

The iKaraoke is quite fun. I love to sing, but doing so in public is only slightly more difficult than dancing. You can get it for around $50 at Apple.com, though if you try searching for it outright you'll get nowhere. They make you click through first your iPod of choice, then from there you have to search accessories. Stupid Apple.

[kavieshana.livejournal.com]

If it makes you feel any better, my only copy of The Princess Bride is one I taped onto VHS from the ABC family channel. At least they don't seem to have cut any scenes for length, which is more than I can say for my new Clue DVD.

There's a karaoke night at a local club this Saturday. Why not embarrass yourself in Michigan?

[metatronis.livejournal.com]

I love all of the DVD's you got! Great taste, sir.
I want I Like You so much...I love Amy Sedaris to death. I actually spent about an hour looking through the book at Barnes and Noble last week, but I was there to get Christmas presents so I couldn't afford it. *sigh* Someday.

[grrgoyl.livejournal.com]

Thank YOU, sir. All I'm lacking is the new Muse, which my friend Jeffy promised me months and months ago so I am holding out patiently.

Amy Sedaris is a peach. Tery knew she had to get this book when the first page she opened to featured Amy facedown on a coffee table surrounded by lines of cocaine. Good times.