Winding Down, an After Christmas blog

So it's over. After all the build-up, after the months of Christmas music and the hours of shopping, after wasting our lives laughing at stupid puppet Santas on TV and waiting for the morning when we get to see those presents under the tree. I know it's all over and you probably don't want to hear about it any more, but I can't just let it go. How can you? I love the Christmas season so much that I can never just wake up the morning after and go on as if it never happened.

To me, the Christmas season is like the Empire Strikes Back. It's incredible the whole way through. Lots of suspense, lots of build up, and then you get the penultimate climax of pure uncut awesomeness, and then the credits role. It's a breathtaking ride, but at the end, you're still like, "wait, Han Solo got captured! And Vader is Luke's father? I need more! It can't be over!" But it is. To me, New Years is the time to cool off. New Years is like Return of the Jedi. Not quite as good* but it's fun, it ties up all the loose ends, and it leaves you feeling good about the end of the Star Wars saga. Just like New Years to Christmas.

The Top 8 Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials

We're knee deep in snow and less than ten days away from Christmas Day. The stores are packed, the decorations are in full bloom. I think it's safe to say that the Christmas season is here. Tonight, I've decided to take a break from reminiscing about my childhood to talk about one of my favorite parts of the season.

The Christmas Shows.

These are those little movies or TV specials that the station like to play in the evening just before Christmas. The fill the airwaves as we approach the greatest day of the year, entertaining us and getting us excited for what's to come. ABC Family even devotes their entire afternoon programming block to it during the month of December.

For me, they've always been a staple of the season. Just as much as eggnog and snow, it just can't be Christmas without these shows. I grew up watching these with my parents, who in turn grew up watching them with their families. They hold great nostalgic value for me. Some of them are entertaining, some hold special meaning, some are so cheesy that I honestly have no idea why I watch them. But I do, and I love every second of it.

An Essay About Video Game Violence That I Wrote For School

This was my last week of classes for the semester and I'm psyched. I hate school, I've always hated school, and the only reason I'm even in college is because I pretty much don't have a choice unless I want to be working at my crappy recycling job for the rest of my life.

For English 101, our final essay was an argumentative essay about anything we wanted to write about. Since I had to do it, I figured I might as well try to make the best of it and take the opportunity to write about something I actually care about. I decided to defend my position that video games don't cause violence, and that any claims of such are the result of a bunch stuck-up close minded media heads with no understanding of gaming who are just looking for a story. Since it's game-related, I figured I'd post it here, just for the heck of it.

Keep in mind it's an essay, so it's very formally written. There are also citations and references and all of that pointless academic stuff. Also, I rushed at the end because I was getting sick of writing it, so the ending is pretty shallow.

Anyway, here's my argumentative essay on why video games aren't bad and why the media can suck it.

Christmas Memories, Part 2

As awesome as Christmas Eve is, it's only the predecessor to Christmas day. Like the appetizer of the greatest meal of your life. Nay, more like the lunch to an entire five course dinner and dessert. Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Kathy's house was fun, but it ultimately only served as a slight thirst quencher for the excitement that lay ahead. The excitement of Christmas Morning.

Of all the days of the year, I can't think of one that is as saturated with joy and excitement and happiness. There are other fun days, like birthdays and Halloween and trips to Enchanted Forrest (a water park.) Christmas, however, is pure delight on the most basic level, the most complex level, and every layer in between.

Christmas Memories (Part 1?)

The woods are quiet. The daylight is long gone. Darkness shrouds everything; even the pristine, white, ocean of snow disappears in the black of Christmas Eve night. The only hint of light in the entire forest is the soft rainbow halo that paints the ground around the cabin. A chorus of jeers from inside breaks the silence of the woods. We are gathered behind its walls, laughing loving loud enough to shatter the peace on the other side.
It’s warm inside. The fire in the wood stove emanates throughout and the entire cabin feels like it’s wrapped in a quilt. It doesn’t hurt that there’s an entire gaggle of people packed into a space barely big enough for a couple. My entire family of five is there, along with my aunt and uncle and several cousins. My uncle’s tiny television is on in the corner, accompanying the fun with whatever Christmas cartoon was on at the time. My uncle hands me a present from under the tiny Christmas tree and I tear into it. It’s a plastic lightsaber, with a retractable green blade that lights up and makes noise, like the one used by Luke Skywalker in the movie Return of the Jedi.
I glance at my younger brother, who has just finished opening a similar package. He’s gotten same thing, except his is red and modeled after the one used by Darth Vader. Our eyes and hearts light up as we see each others’ new toys. We immediately tear open the packages and start to beg the grown-ups, hoping not to become victims of the infamous “batteries not included” scam. We’re lucky enough to secure some hulking D batteries, and with our weapons blazing, we lock ourselves in the bathroom and turn off the lights so that we can get the full effect during our duel.