From the Inkwell, From the Vein.....

Happiest of Birthdays, to you, Dr. Seuss, To you, who let Things 1 and 2 loose, For, if not for you, we would never have Sam, No cat, no hat, no green eggs and ham, The Whos would never have ever been heard, And, Horton ne'er heard a single Who-word, And the Star-Belly Sneetches with all of their stars, Would never have worried if they'd stars upon thars, But, worse upon worse, a pain causing more than a flinch, We never, would ever, have met, the glorious Grinch...

In the inevitable struggle between parents and children--- between what the children know they want and what the parents know they need---between what the children deem worthy and what the parents deem unsafe--- there never has been, and never will be, a clear winner. Christmas has always been a time of magic and miracles---especially for children. Their small lives revolve around what is happening immediately around them and what is happening immediately to them. So, something as magical as an unknown man bringing presents to their house while they sleep, only serves to convince these youngsters that miracles, do indeed, exist. Who wouldn't want someone to grant their innermost heart's desire? And, does it really matter if we know that someone? Does it really matter if anyone else gets what they want for Christmas, so long as we get what we want? The split between the unbridled avarice and the true meaning of Christmas isn't easily argued between adults and children. T...

The holidays were supposed to be an exciting and warm time to share with friends and family. I've never understood how/why people find it necessary to go completely insane. Simple times with loved ones are all I crave and wish for during the holidays. I wish I could say that working at a bookstore that we might actually be immune to the insanity, but it isn't true. Even now, 3 full days after Christmas and we are still getting trashed. What ever happened to people having respect for property? What about home-training? Have we all forgotten how to raise our children to treat things/people with decency? I am constantly amazed at the total disregard for everything in our store. It's not that I'm crying in outrage for the mistreatment of corporate America, not at all. But, the whole attitude of "isn't it your job to clean up after me" is not only erroneous, but degrading. We are not paid to be your maid, in fact, we aren't paid anywhere near enough to ...

Okay, so Christmas is definitely here....at least in the retail world. When shoppers are this cranky and this obsessed with what they're getting, it's definitely obvious that Christmas has arrived :( I've never understood why a season that is meant to bring out only the good feelings in people really brings out the worst in consumers. Don't people realize that Christmas isn't about obsessing over presents? That it's okay to not get the absolute perfect gift for someone? The person they're struggling so hard to shop for would probably prefer just to spend time with them, the gift is completely superfluous. Unfortunately, the attitudes of shoppers are very draining as anyone who's ever worked retail during the holidays can attest to. It makes it difficult to get excited about anything. And any energy that I might have had to focus on any writing projects has already been completely expended. So, very little progress has been made on "Soul Sifters...