Three days in...

Three days into this fortnight of Breakfast radio and I'm loving it. Rising at 4:50so far hasn't been too challenging, though this morning -post-Christmas conviviality - was a bit of a chore.

Ah, Christmas.

It was circa 1990 that I announced I was no longer celebrating Christmas on the basis that it was fundamentally a Christian capitalist feeding frenzy that at its core enshrined the heterosexual family above other social groups. Being neither religious or straight, and avowing anarchist politics at the time, I wanted nothing to do with Christmas, I said; telling my family that I would no longer be participating in their rituals, and that I neither wanted to be given nor intended to give, Christmas presents.

Yes,I was rather an insufferable idealist in my mid-20's, if you hadn'talready guessed.

I've mellowed since, but I confess that ever since those days, I've found it hard to re-engage with the spirit of Christmas, though I do still celebrate it in my own way. Yesterday, for instance, involved fruit, seafood,champagne and wine, and hanging out at different points of the day with three different sets of friends; all of them women, coincidentally.

It also involved brainstorming the basic plot for what may turn out to be a new young adult novel involving vampires, racisim and coming out with Jodie; walking out of the latest Wes Anderson film, The Darjeeling Limited, after about half an hour (sorry Karen - Anderson's humour and mine just don't mesh) and coming home to watch half of V For Vendetta before taking a nap; and ending the night at Cerise's eating freshly-shelled prawns dipped in lime juice and chili, and drinking more champagne while happily talking about nothing in particular.

Had I spent the day with my family, there invariably would have been an argument about religion or politics at some stage, which quite frankly, I can definitely live without and am glad I avoided.

The Christmas presents thing though, I'm still thinking through...

Comments

Anonymous said…
I don't think I had to guess, although I quite liked it actually -- Angry Dicky Watts recites poems of punk and damnation.. :). You must be getting old and mellow, and its good to see you turning your previous bothers and angst into something rather cool sounding -- angry gay vampires experiencing racism sounds great, although I suspect they'll be banned where they're most appropriate and perhaps most enjoyed (along with Moby Dick, purple teletubbies, and all the other things I never thought twice about until told). C'est la vie I guess. Or perhaps I'm just ignorant.

I'll try and wake up and listen to you in the morning.
26/12/07 17:17
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