i'm having a crisis of confidence, and i blame jesus.

actually my crisis is not so much about the jesus as it is christians in general. the thing is, i don't really celebrate christmas. i'm just not that into it. i'm not religious so i miss out on the christ part of christmas. i'm also not a fan of another consumer driven holiday. it bothers me when i start seeing commercials in october for kmart pushing layaway. the idea of people spending money they don't have on things they don't need seems foolish to me. and while decorations and lights are sometimes pretty, at the same time i find them wasteful. in high school i went around with a bunch of friends unplugging christmas lights. at the time it was a way to prove what punks we were, but also i think a valid statement at the amount of resources wasted when people cover their homes/businesses/trees in lights and leave them on all night.

it's not that i hate jesus, or santa. i've just stopped being amused by their superstition. for the last three years i've managed to find ways to keep from taking part in the holiday. the thing i take so personally is that when i explain to people that i don't celebrate christmas it always ends with me seeming like an asshole. and sure i have a tendency to be selfish and occasionally hurt people's feelings, but overall these are unintentional habits. and not to sound self-righteous, though this is another bad habit of mine, i do just as many if not more good deeds as the people who claim to have better morals than i do.

that said, three things i do actively enjoy about christmas:

1.) the santaland diaries.

2.) national lampoon's christmas vacation - such a classic.

3.) tacky homemade sweaters.

scents for gents

i've got this theory, and so far it's proving to be true. all hetero identifying males (and a few gay boys i know who try and pass) use either old spice or axe body products. i blame both companies advertising campaigns. they create an illusion that (a) men are only men when they use these products and (b) the smell of men wearing these products drives women crazy. the irony- the guys usually reek of douche bag.

and who doesn't love boobs?

i may have had a mild rage stroke after watching a video kevin connolly recently made for the group men for women now. i tried- unsuccessfully- for about 10 minutes to post the video here but i kept running into "errors." anyway, i'd recommend checking out the highlighted links i've added. for now though, i'll give a run down of the video and website. in the video connolly suggestions adding a facebook application that will donate money to the noreen fraser foundation for women's cancer research. in theory this seems great, but there were about a hundren-thousand problems with the way he approached the topic.

this is a direct quote from connolly- "what is facebook all about? faces? i don't think so, it's about boobs. ladies go there to show them off, guys go there to check them out. i mean really when you think about it, it should be called boobbook." he ends the video by saying, "please do it. it's a matter of life and breast." just a few problematic things about this- (a) reinforcing aggressive heteronormative behaviors of objectifying women, (b) "women go there to show them off" ... really? out of the majority of my female friends on facebook i can confidently say they do not get on facebook to show off their breasts, (c) making light of a serious topic like cancer isn't funny, and neither is ignoring the face of a survivor. ask a woman who survived breast cancer i bet she'll tell you it isn't just "about the boobs."

several male celebrities have made videos for men for women now. i've watched videos from jack black, zach galifinaikis, and neil patrick harris, all of which weren't as problematic as the kevin connolly video. still yet, this is a subject i'm very torn on. sure, it's great that leading men are helping raise awareness about breast cancer research, but is it their place to be telling women to go get regular breast exams and pap smears? what are these male celebrities stance on the stupak amendment?

if this is a topic you're interested in and/or passionate about i would recommend checking out the noreen fraser foundation, watching her personal video and donating to the foundation directly from her site.

edit-- on a lighter note, i witnessed one of the strangest/most disturbing/hilarious things i think i've ever seen since living in columbia. nora and i were driving down worely street and a mediacom technician was holding a live wire, with his bare hand, across two lanes of traffic, waving people by. cars were going under the wire like we were in a game of limbo. wtf?

what do you do for a living?

so the thing about arbitrary small talk is that no one actually cares. people ask each other questions hoping to find something both can relate to and then an actual conversation can occur. asking a person what she or he does for a living is a particularly disappointing question. i have never met a person who has been able to really impress me with their occupation. no one ever answers: astronaut, under-water welder, glass blower, exotic animal dealer. recently i've had a lot of free time so my internet activity has increased to the point that it's the majority of my daily activities. i've been looking at easy part-time jobs i could take on to fill part of my days. one that i found was this add for sermon critics. if i weren't already busy on sunday mornings, and the fear that i might burst into flames when i walked through the door, i would sign up for this in a second. i really think i could give a more unbiased opinion than anyone else sitting before god, and i could get paid for it, too. in a related story, i was looking at TOMS shoes online the other day and noticed the chat feature. this is by far the best idea anyone has ever thought of for people who prefer online shopping. i had a handful of questions i needed answered and the person working my chat window was a tremendous help. i started to wonder later though how a person gets that type of job, and is it appropriate to ask that question via chat? now i really want to meet a person who can tell me they either a.) get paid to give church feedback, or b.)work as a troubleshooter in online retail chat rooms, or even better c.) both.