In the Midst of the Holidaze....

Well, folks, as the cold grips in (and yes I'm seriously about the cold), it's becoming more and more apparent that it is the Holiday season.

Let me first air my general malaise with this season, this week in particular. Sadly, it will mark the 5 year anniversary of losing my father, Mike Coughlin, aka "Daddy Doo-Doo." I don't revisit the events that lead up to his passing enough, and I suppose I should. Mostly because it's a healthy thing to do, and introspection is pivotal in growth, blah blah blah, but perhaps more importantly because I have a lot to be grateful for. I have my Boobah, my health (despite my desperate need to visit Healthsport), my friends, my families, a job (somehow) and as noted in my last post, good television. Hell, even the Eagles are doing well. Hell, even my apartment is clean. Things can be, and as of five years ago, were, much worse.

Still, it's an event that impacted me dramatically, and since it occurred when I still an immature moron, I probably could stand to grow up a bit. With that in mind, if I seem at all like an asshole in the next week or so to any of my faithful 4-7 readers, I apologize. As I tried to stress above, I do have a lot going on for me, and I am certainly avoiding the ever cheerful pity party. I also don't mean this week to be a carte blanche for me being a dick. I will do my best to channel any and all rage to those who deserve it (like Nazis).

And with my background out of the way, let me divulge some of the initial highlights and things I'm looking forward to of this holiday season.

Diwali 2010
I celebrated Diwali this year w/ LLK and her family in Sunnyvale. I know it seems weird that a Diwali party would occur in this clearly homogeneous community, but it managed to get off the ground. And it was awesome. Now, I could stumble through and try to explain what Diwali is, but as noted above, I'm still a moron, and will simply direct any and all seeking more information to the mecca of quick knowledge fixes.

And keeping the moron theme active, and specifically the moron of the "large" variety, it should not surprise anyone that one of my favorite things about celebrating this holiday was the food. Oh, the food. Oh, the delicious awesome non-bland food that can only be described with made up adjectives like "tastetastic!" And, as noted in a previous post, it was all vegetarian, so I was able to maintain my commitment to part-time vegetarianism.

And of course, the other thing that really cemented the celebration of this holiday: fireworks. To me, any holiday that combines good people, good food, and blowing shit up is something that should be cherished.

I genuinely hope that I get to share in celebrating this holiday with amazing people for many years to come.

(Sadly, I tried to find the Youtube clips from the episode of "The Office" about Diwali, but NBC put the stop on that mess. I would strongly encourage all to watch the season 3 episode highlighting the holiday. Michael Scott of course makes thing ridiculously awkward and hilarity ensues.)

Veteran's Day 2010
Not that I'm anti-The Troops, but this is not a holiday I generally get juiced for. Except when I finagle a four day weekend out of it. This Veteran's Day was very awesome and some highlights included: visits from my brother, an interesting trip to Fairfield, beer fests that involved randomly running in to people, visits from awesome people from San Diego, and a lovely brunch where I drank too much coffee.

Here's what I'm looking forward to this holiday season:

Thanksgiving 2010
It will be w/ great people, I'm sure the food will be awesome, and hopefully snow will not impede my ability to get down!

Friendsgiving 2010
This year, and quite ingeniously, LLK has suggested the annual Friendsgiving occur on Black Friday (a day in which little is done save 4 am shopping sprees), and where everyone brings leftovers. Which is brilliant b/c leftovers are usually awesome for Thanksgiving.

Xmas 2010
Sadly, my favorite person will not be in the USA for Xmas this year, but I'm hoping to get down to the OC (yeah I called it that) and see some family/friends and truly enjoy where the true commercial nature of the holiday gets highlighted the most. With no snow to get in the way, people can focus on the true materialism of Jesus' birth. I jest, but OC is an interesting place to spend Christmas. With its Megachurches and rampant mall culture, there's a paradoxical mix of Christmas spirit that no iconic Bing Crosby special can hold a candle to.

NYE
I am definitely looking forward to ringing in the new year (and new decade) with someone special, and hopefully getting better suited to find employ that will bring me closer to Yay Area. (Spoiler Alert: It's on of my New Year's resolutions.)