*Sings* Five (random) things!

1. Yesterday, was the UN International Day of Disabled Persons. I did not have spirit to post anything on it, but today, I came across this great essay in the LJ Comm "No_Pity" by dwgism (reproduced below the cut, because some people on my access list have computers that can't handle LJ's inflicted advertising):
   
   ( Vulnerable? )
   
   
   
2. I just realized, last night, that only one of my neighbors in my cul-de-sac has any Christmas lights up -- one bright green bunch of lights in one upstairs window. I honestly can't remember what last year's displays were like, but two years ago, every window and bush, it seemed was outlined and sparkly before the leftover Thanksgiving turkey was in the fridge.
   
   When I made the realization, I got a little down.
   
   
   • Of course, I haven't put up any lights since Christmas, '05; I was keeping them up until my dad came down for my birthday visit, so I could share them with him, and he could help take them down. Of course, he never came down for that visit again, because just before he was planning to, he fell, broke his leg, and discovered he had lung cancer.
     
     It's not that I miss the decorations. I miss having someone else to share them with. Putting them up for just me seems a bit pointless.
   
   
   
3. At the Art Garden after-gathering, Irene O'Garden asked me if I was still active in the neo-Pagan community, and that's when I tried to explain how I shifted from polythesism to agnosticism bordering on atheism. And she urged me to write it down-- really! I've written about various aspects of that process a few times, here in my journal. But I might try polishing up a single coherent version, here, over the winter.
   
   
4. A discussion of "How to approach Santa" in a friend's journal, yesterday, reminded me of a pet peeve my mother had about the Santa Culture: The "Be good, or Santa won't bring you anything!" threat.
   
   I remember we were in a hospital waiting room (it was actually just a couple of benches in a wide, brick-walled hospital hallway-- kinda dark), and there was a mother and a kid of about seven across from us (I think I was about ten, iirc). And the kid was whining and crying and on the verge of a temper tantrum, and the mother said: "If you're not good, Santa won't bring you anything!"
   
   And Mother said, aside to me: "Santa is the spirit of love, and generosity! Love doesn't stop just because you misbehave!"
   
   My mom was the coolest.
   
   (Plus, there's the implication that poor children are bad, or [as explicitely stated in the film version of The Polar Express] suffering from insufficient "Belief"). :::Shudder:::
   
   I want to bring back the late 18th- early 19th Century tradition of bands of wild "Santas" harrassing the wealthy until they give money, toys, and treats to be handed out to the poorest kids in town: Comfort the Afflicted, and Afflict the Comfortable!
   
   
5. I've started over on my monster story. I drew a watercolor pencil portrait of my main character, and today, I'll do hand-written/drawn wordwebs for my characters. Doing Internet research, yesterday, I discovered, that nearly every part of the process, there are still individual people putting their hands and eyes on the plush toys. So now I'm wondering if I should alter my origin story which relied on computerized machines malfuntioning...