Xmas Gifts

Does anyone else feel as they get older that their families are just "going through the motions" when it comes to the holidays.  That people are forgetting what is all about.  Tis better to give than receive and that whole mess.

I may be a rare breed but I really enjoy giving xmas presents.  I enjoy the whole process shopping, finding, wrapping, and finally watching people's expression of joy when they open up a truly thoughtful gift.  Now I understand that a lot of people receive crappy gifts and I will get to that later.  The purpose of the exercise of giving gifts is for you to demonstrate to the people you care about that you do actually care about them.  This is not accomplished through the monetary value of the gift but rather it is demonstrated in the thought and time that you put in to getting that gift for a person.  In my eyes, the perfect gift for someone is that thing that they really want but maybe aren't willing to spend $30 on that particular item.  There you have the perfect gift.  Purchasing something for someone they normally wouldn't purchased for themselves (but they want to).

My sisters give the lamest gifts every year and I swear that they walk in to a store and the first thing they see that has something that I may like on it.  For instance last year I purchased separate gifts for my sister and her fiance.  She wanted a special cake pan so that was easy.  For my brother in law, I purchased a hand drawn sketch depicting Mark Bavaro and Jeremy Shockey from the New York Giants.  I felt bad about not providing a frame so I framed it for him also.  From the 2 of them together I received the following ... one of those t-shirt/hat combos from Target.  Forget the fact that I only wear fitted hats and the T-shirt looked like it cost $3.  Now the discrepancy in cost I think is fairly obvious, and significant, but the I think the discrepancy in thought is even larger ... and that is where my problem lies.

This year they have decided to get a gift for me and my girlfriend together, something for the house, what the fuck is that shit.  This is the last thing that I would ever want.  Now my sister is about 4 months from being married and I am never getting married and have no idea how long this current relationship will last.  I discovered this when I emailed my sisters and explained to them that if we were just going to be exchanging gift cards this year (what they wanted to do) that we should all just keep our own damn money and exchange greetings cards instead.  She was pissed and I was not backing down.

Here is a rough translation of the meaning of a gift card ... I was just way to busy and had better things to do than put thought and time into finding you a meaningful gift so while I was buying tampons at the pharmacy I picked this gift card of that spinning rack they have there.  I hope you like it.  It was between Home Depot, Chilis, Outback or the Gap. 

Does anyone else get filled with the xmas spirit? Do you get frustrated when other people don't grasp the meaning of the holiday?

Posted by D3STRO @ 9:55 am EDT | Permalink | 2 Comments

Common Fucking Decency

Whatever happened to common decency in this world?  Where I live it seems as though it has been totally discarded and pretty much shat on by all who are here.  Now, I will admit that South Florida is a melting pot to say the least and different cultures have different standards but it seems as though everything is going to shit down here.

Here's just one example:

I work in a 12 story building and take the elevator up to the 12th floor probably 6 times a day.  I don't know about anyone else but I was raised to wait for the people to get off the elevator before I got on.  Here, the doors open and someone is standing right in front of the doors to rush on the elevator before you can even take 1 step towards the door. This is just fucking rude.  Not to mention, the guy who will stand inside the elevator right in front of the door and then act like you are asking him for his first born when you say "Excuse me" so that you can exit.  This morning I was waiting for the elevator with a woman and when the doors open a guy was just walking around the corner.  Instead of pausing to let the woman on (chivalry should not be dead) he cuts in front of both of us who had been waiting and gets on the elevator.  Did I mention that he was having one of these conversations on the elevator?

(in an elevated tone at 7:30 this morning)

"What?"

"No, I'm in the elevator."

"Reception is terrible in here"

"Hello"

"No I can't hear you"

"What?"

All the way to the 10th floor ... I felt like grabbing the phone, turning that son of a bitch sideways, and sticking it straight up his candyass.  (My apologies for the Rock reference)

It seems as though everyone down here is in such a rush and they are convinced that where they are going is way more important than what you are doing.

Donde esta COMMON FUCKING DECENCY?

Posted by D3STRO @ 9:00 am EDT | Permalink | 3 Comments

Full Contact Sports???

The past few years it seems as though professional sports (in particular the NFL and the NHL) have been turning these once proud sports of gladitorial combat into an empty shell of what they used to be. They are "protecting" players way too much these days and our watering down these sports to almost embarrassing levels.

Check out this hit by Steve Downey on Dean McAmmond in a professional full contact hockey game.

I guess you can't embed the video ... here's the link.  http://youtube.com/watch?v=322zqTkL0-c

Now, while I agree that Downey left his feet, which is a violation of the rules, McAmmond is breaking the cardinal rule of hockey ... "Keep ya head up". If you don't keep your head, then you get your bell rung. Like he did. While Downey deserved a penalty for his hit (because he left his feet) the NHL handed out the fourth longest suspension in league history (20 games) to a young kid who is just playing the game hard. He didn't use his stick a la Chris Simon (who btw received 25 games for his stick attack last year) or Marty McSorley. He didn't hit him from behind and drive his head into the ground ... like Bertuzzi did. He made the mistake of leaving his feet. Now if he didn't leave his feet, this play would have had a very similar ... I wonder if he would have been suspended anyways.

Same thing goes for football ... take this hit in the Wisconsin v. Michigan State Game

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rjG4p0YqVlk

Crossing router, head turned back ... safety is going to light you up. That is football. The only thing the announcers could talk about was how that hit would be illegal in the NFL and you can't hit defenseless receivers. WTF ... that is how you keep guys from catching the ball acrosse the middle ... a hit like that and they hear footsteps for the rest of the game. I will agree that his helmet did hit his helmet ... but he clearly did not lead with his head. Don't get me started about the QB's and how they can't be touched anymore. Just put some flags on them already.

DD

Posted by D3STRO @ 11:07 am EDT | Permalink | 1 Comments

Charity Boxing

Last night my best friend, who I don't get to hang out with much anymore because his "fiance" has been a douche (although last night she was remarkably personable so i give her credit) for the past year, was in a charity boxing match last night. My friend is a cop and it was a cops versus firefighters thing to benefit the PAL. Anyways, some of the fights were good but his was bullshit. The ref stopped it 1:44 into the match because allegedly he was getting hit. He was getting a hit a few times but not in the head and they were basically love taps. I was sitting relatively close to the ring so I let the ref have it. He was a jackass but he was old and probably somebody's grandpa, or granddad, or papa, or pop pop, or abuelo (to our spanish speakers) so I almost felt bad about it.

Afterwards, we did the same thing we would have done if he won ... had a few pints of the black, headed home, and strolled into the office a little after 9. I forgot to mention that the partners at my law firm are all playing golf this morning. Nice.

Thought of the day

Why are random old people so damn mean? I live in South Florida. Older relatives are generally sweet people but random old people are mean. I see them getting into fights at the horse track. Is life that annoying to them? They are the ones that drive slow, count 97 cents out in pennies at the grocery, and backup on the highway when they miss their exit ... maybe because they are just old, annoyed with life, and waiting to die. I think that is why it is so refreshing to meet an older person who is full of life and happy. That is how my grandfather was ... I miss him.

Everyone enjoy your day and I will see you on Halo 3 tonight.

Posted by D3STRO @ 10:00 am EDT | Permalink | 1 Comments

First Night on Halo 3

So after being out of town all weekend and the concert last I planned on picking up Halo 3 on the way from work yesterday.  After I got back from lunch, that was all I could think about and I was pretty much worthless at that point.  4:30 rolls around and I hit the door.  Swing by Gamestop, grab the game, run over to Chicken Kitchen and head home.   Just seeing the Bungie logo come up and that "Ahhhhahahahaha" gregorian chant-like thing was awesome enough.

I've got a ton of friends on and quickly jump in for some custom action with my boys.  Its like I'm 26 again.  We play a few games of "Rocket Race" which is a custom game type you can download from bungie and some multi-flag CTF which was pretty crazy.  The game runs smooth and looks beautiful.  I am only half excited because I realize that a lot of my free time will be devoted to this game.  I don't think I will be able to get on tonight but should get plenty in this weekend.

I thought it was amazing that there were over 650,000 people on playing H3 last night.

Happy hunting and I hope to play with you all.  If anyone even reads this.

DD

Posted by D3STRO @ 8:55 am EDT | Permalink | 3 Comments