Happy 2016

Well another year is mercifully coming to an end.  Another year is mercilessly coming (as years tend to do). 

I view New Years Day as one of the most worthless holidays out there.  The new year isn't going to get any better than the current year.  It won't be happy - because happiness is just a delusion.  Nothing really changes except for the calendar (and hey 2016 is a leap year, so 366 agonizing days instead of 365). 

Remember 2016 not 2015 (back in my school days that change used to mess me up for months).  Many people will give themselves totally impossible "goals" to achieve.  Life is failure and BS (at least 95% by volume). 

Maybe I'm too positive (I have to look into dealing with that in the new annum).



Windows 10 will still suck at the end of the year (and Edge will still be a crap browser, frequently greying out the tab and loading slowly).  It was supposed to be fast and stable. 

Xmas Full Moon

According to the local news monsters, there will be a full moon on Xmas.  Why is this notable?  According to said news monsters, this has not happened since 1977 (which really isn't that long ago, right?). 

My Winter Solstice Haul

So, this year i decided to make myself wait to open the stuff i got on Black Friday season (between the day before Thanksgiving to mid-December) until Winter Solstice.  Black Friday season is a pretty good time to get cheap Blu-rays and (sometimes) video games at retail.  i need to be a little more selective on what Blu-rays i get from Black Friday sales in the future.

So, this is stuff i bought for myself.  Maybe it is a little selfish, but isn't everyone.  i spent more on myself than usual (also using Bing credits throughout the year and using Coinstar) since this may be the last year i can do so. The most expensive thing is Rise of the Tomb Raider.  Only 3 thing were over $20.

Mental note, do not buy new releases stuff between September and the week after Black Friday (except for Black Friday era deals).

i used Xmas presents for "bookends".  notice how truly awful i am at wrapping.

Christmas: A Contrived Holiday

I was thinking that Christmas is such a contrived holiday.  No, i'm not talking about X-mas, which is awesome. i'm talking about the "religious" holiday.   Even though the word "holiday" comes from words meaning holy day. 

First off, Christmas was almost super-imposed on top of Winter Solstice (the real holiday).  They did the same thing with Eostre.  For some reason, Christians liked to use holidays as a form of subjugation.  They tried to replace the pagan (and much more fun) holidays with their manufactured religious ones.  Most of the things associated with Christmas (like a tree, mistletoe, holly, etc) were pagan in origin. 

Secondly: the Christ "origin story" is kind of ridiculous.  This seems like someone wrote an origin story after the fact (assuming a Christ existed, which I have my doubts).  They have to make him divinity somehow.  The Greeks, Romans, and probably even the Norse never had the god having children with humans - sarcasm.  Many nations at the time claimed a divine reason for rulership. 

A virgin birth, nope I don't buy it.  Well, a technical virgin birth is possible.  I wonder how many females have tried to use that as a reason. 

The time it would have taken people to see a star (or comet) would have this story happening over years (months at the earliest).  One night in a stable, inconceivable.  Then again, the bible is full of metaphors, allusions, coded messages. 

Thirdly: timing.  This whole Christ origin story wouldn't have happened near what is now considered Christmas, it would have been closer to Eostre. 

So,
* taking parts from other (pagan) cultures and giving them some pseudo-Christian meaning,
* placing a holiday, which even if it did happen, months away from when it would have happened
Christmas is a truly contrived holiday 

Butter Rum Lifesavers, i Finally Spotted Some at Retail (Sort of)

Remember when i said that i had not seen Butter Rum Lifesavers at retail for a really, really long time. Today at Target (my alleged sister's favorite place in the whole universe), i found some. Admittedly, this is a 6 roll assortment in a tin and only two rolls are Butter Rum, but it is better than nothing.  i would have purchased more, but it was a little pricey ($3.79).  Maybe i'll get a couple more if they go on sale for 50% off (who am i kidding, Target doesn't do 50% anymore).

Now i can assemble an old (but not that old) school Lifesavers Sweet Story Book (sort of).  The modern ones do so suck.  You rarely see Lifesavers rolls anymore.  i did see Pep-o-Mint or Wint-o-Green at 711 (to buy Winter Solstice lottery tickets, because "even a miracle needs a hand").  The other 2 flavors in the Butter Rum tin are Wild Cherry and 5 Flavor.  Not rolls for the other 2 flavors, but i'm going to count it.  Is it Winto-Green that sparks?