Song Lyric of the Day:
It’s true that you / Are touched by something / That will grow and bloom in you
10,000 Maniacs / “These Are the Days”
7:15PM.
I’m a selfish person. I admit it. I’m such a selfish, greedy witch I even maintain a wish list year-round. Granted, it’s mostly due to my shoddy memory, an attempt at being organized, and wishful thinking that, should I ever play the lottery, I might land a windfall for a shopping spree, but damn if it doesn’t come in handy come birthday and Christmas time. While the spouse is also admittedly selfish, he’s not nearly as materialistic as I can be. I say “can be” because, contrary to all the things I want (but don’t necessarily need) and say, I do (a) exercise restraint and (b) get great deals when I do buy things.
That said, Rich and I first started buying gifts for Angel Tree children when I worked for a government contractor in Virginia. (See, we’re not complete heathens.) This year, like last, I picked three children’s tags (two girls and a boy) off the Angel Tree at West Town Mall and set about trying to find the toys they wanted. I found the first little girl’s gifts quickly enough. I ended up at Target the same day I picked up the tags, and, lo and behold, the Bratz dolls she wanted were on sale. At $6.98 each, I bought her three for the price of two. I have to say, the Baby Bratz are pretty damn cute; I bought her two of those and the Costume Party doll. One kid down, two more to go.
I ran around during a few of my lunch breaks last week and one night after work in search of Rescue Heroes action figures and Lisa Frank craft kits. At least the second girl had a standby present, Totally Me craft kits, in lieu of Lisa Frank ones. But I couldn’t find either of the craft kits or anything similar to the Rescue Heroes. By the end of the week, I was ready to pull my hair out. Either stores were sold out or didn’t carry these particular items. I got my first glimpse into what it must be like for parents shopping for Christmas presents for their kids. (Apologies to Mom and Dad for putting them through the same crap when I was younger.) I didn’t want to disappoint these kids, but I couldn’t find these toys anywhere; online buying was out of the question since I needed to turn the toys in today.
Enter Tamara. While talking on the phone yesterday and planning to meet up, Tamara mentioned that she was at Knoxville Centre Mall across town. As in, she was right next to another Toys ‘R Us. I begged her to check for these specific toys, and, happily, she found them. So she picked up two Rescue Heroes action figures and two Totally Me craft kits, and I paid her back when we met up for lunch. Then we hit the mall where I turned the gifts in; I went back today to turn in the Bratz dolls, which I hadn’t taken with me yesterday.
So I feel happy, relieved, and accomplished at having found the toys (with Tamara’s invaluable
help) these kids wanted. Rich and I are also donating last year’s Christmas tree to a needy family via our friend Benjamin. He runs group homes for mentally ill adult men and we’d originally asked him if one of the houses could use a tree. When he got back to us he said that, no, the houses didn’t need a tree, but he did know a family with seven children who could use one, which Rich and I are happy to give. While at Target today I picked up a 70+-piece ornament tree trimming kit to go with the tree, along with a star and strands of garland (the tree is prelit, so I didn’t need to buy lights). I’m also giving the kids my Hercules and Pocahontas Hallmark ornaments. I still like them and think they’re cute, but I’ve been over my Disney phase for some time now so I think it’s the right time to say goodbye to these ornaments. And who better to appreciate them than little kids, right? However, I’m still very fond of The Lion King, so those ornaments aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
I’ve been in an especially Christmasy mood this year, largely due to the fact that this year I have a job (yay!), so it feels good to help out where we can. Now if I could just finish my shopping for the year…
At the time of its release in 1972, Last House on the Left traumatized moviegoers. The tagline, advising viewers to keep repeating “It’s only a movie, it’s only a movie” only served to enhance the illusion that the movie was based on true events. Surely, only a documentary could be this disturbingly graphic, right? Well, in a true testament to how jaded my generation is thanks to the modern-day slasher movie, the movie fails to scare. Specifically, it fails to scare me. Make no mistake, though — the story of two teenage girls who come across violent criminals who torture, rape, and kill them, is without a doubt very disturbing; at times, the movie is hard to watch because the violence aimed at the girls is convincingly visceral. The parents’ revenge is almost as hard to watch in the last third of the movie. While this kind of story can take place at any time, the movie’s soundtrack kept reminding me (annoyingly so) that the movie was made in the early ’70s; a lyricless score would’ve fared much better over the years. But for a low-budget movie, the film definitely makes an impression.
