Christmas, shopping, and Christmas shopping

Today i tackled a major part of this year's Christmas shopping. I had a good idea for my bro and sil, and after running the options past my mom, have theirs done. Nice, useful, and relatively eco-friendly. (Relatively.) I had a great idea for my mom, and my dad, and got most of it done today too--knew what i wanted, walked in the shop, walked out, and assembled them tonight. Fun, useful, and nothing that will clutter their house.

I like shopping like this, like my dad, who goes to grocery stores armed with a list compiled from their adverts and comes home proud, hunter-gatherer style. Seeing the opposite:--folks wandering around dazed, picking up doodads, trifles and powerfully-scented bath soap ensembles, asking their partners three aisles down: "What about this for Murgatroid?"--makes me sad. Giving gifts is supposed to be fun. Gifts are supposed to be meaningful, not an obligation to give, nor a dollar amount to match, nor getting Murgratroid everything s/he wants.

And, while i think the Advent Conspiracy is a good thing, and that less is more, and love that my bro and sil share the philosophy/theology that used books are just fine, i also agree with Oscar Wilde:

"Where there is no extravagance, there is no love, and where there is no love, there is no understanding."

So, while my gifts will never match the extravagance of his, i think there's little harm in celebrating God's extravagant gift with a little splurge of my own for those i love, if the gift i give honors God and respects what he has made.

Quote of the day

Reading Phantastes at lunch on Friday (my lunch buddy was gone and well, anyway, it was about three when i finally went to lunch), i stumbled upon this jewel from George MacDonald:

"Past tears are present strength."

Thank goodness. Thank God.

And now, on to good reading that's been piling up for the past quarter, with much more pithy wisdom to learn.