December 22, 2011
Whenever I have a strong reaction to something, I try to figure out why.. I usually find that whenever I’m upset with something it stems from some major issue I probably haven’t gotten over in life. . So why would I care to write about this. Yesterday was my buildings Secret Santa exchange .. rather than type up a full summar I’m going to take pieces from GChat to show my true reaction of what happened::
OMG i am bout to sound so ungrateful
but we did our office secret santa today and like everyone had to write down 3 things they wanted i wrote down nail polish, sephora gift card, and ipad charger … do u know what i got?
a snowflake votive candle
it was a 15 dollar limit thing
like from the dollar store
i got my person a amazon gift card from amazon
Person :: A votive candle :-/
me: one
a t that
not even a whole fucking set
Person: Well maybe your person had fallen on hard times.
me: um
and it was optional
you didn’t have to be in it
so if you on hard times maybe you should have declined participation
Person: Well…I tried. She forgot lol
me: im annoyed man
we work across the street from walgreens
u coulda ran over and got any kinda gc
this is why i don’t get in the Xmas spirit
when i try to
someone comes along and just fucks shit up
Person: Don’t be like thaaaaat
Its just office ppl, not real ppl
me: woo sah
i k now
but i mean
we are reall people
like wtf is the point of a list if ur not going to follow it
they make us do lists to avoid shit like this
Person: Calm down J.
OK .. so later on .. I was still fuming about it .. and then I thought why did this bother me so much .. and this is probably going to make me sound like such a loser or w hatever .. but I was kinda excited for my small little thing because I’m not going to have any other Christmas gifts .. or because there isn’t another realll expression of Christmas going on for me .. I think I teared up a little bit typing that .. Like, I don’t expect anything from my grandmother because she’s not financially able and my grandfather isn’t a Christmas person .. in the past I always had the BF who exhanged gifts with me.. and I mean, I’m not saying Xmas is all about the gifts ..because its not .. but idk.. Chirstmas Day for me is going to kinda just be another day. Wake up. Pack. Have dinner with some family. I guess I got myself a little excited about seeing someone excited from something I got them that I’d want someone to bring me that kind of small excitement.
But I won’t let it steal my spirit. I’m excited to see my coworkers reaction to my small tokens of appreciation for them tomorrow. And just be over it .. but now I know why I reacted so strongly .. * sigh * I had my bratty moment . It also probably didn’t help that the person isn’t someone who’s my favorite person in the building. But next time, please stick my list bitch.
Posted in Cleo's Rants, eternal reflections | Tags: christmas, gifting, holidays, rants | No Comments »
November 23, 2011
The holidays are upon us again. I think I’ve made it no secret that the holidays are a tough time of year for me. Why?
This concept of FAMILY. What does it mean? Most would lead you to believe family is blood. Family are the genial relatives who make you feel worse about yourself sometimes before you feel better. But think of SATC. Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte were a family, no? Were they not there for each other through good, bad, up, down, left, right and upside down? The Holidays always force me to face the reality of what I define as my family and make me choose between spending time with my “family” and my FAMILY.
The other day I worked myself into a tizzy thinking about my Thanksgiving plans. I started thinking about myself and my grandmother and how my aunt or any of my cousins hadn’t reached out to me to see if I had Thanksgiving plans. For those new hear, I am an only child. I grew up pretty close to my cousins and my aunt. But I lived with my grandmother. I’m from small 1.2 sq mile town where nothing is far from anything. Ever since I “got grown” and started my life away from that small town, I feel like an outsider around these people I grew up with.
Anywho.. Yeah.. I got mad! Why didn’t I reach out to her? Well I had no contacts! And I also think its kind of rude to call someone and say, “hey, what are you cooking so I can come over? And oh, what should I bring?”But it wasn’t just the fact that it was her. It was NO ONE hit me up. Even my grandmother got a little out the holiday spirit when I told her I wasn’t going to Virginia to spend with her and her siblings. Instead I’ll be spending the holiday with some of my long time friends and feeling more at home with them than with my own family. However, the super domesticated part of me would rather be in the kitchen cooking with loved ones vs. just showing up. Next year I’m hosting dinner at my house. I’ve decided. With people who I hold true and dear to me. NO more being a passenger on this holiday ride, time to shape my own destiny and create my own traditions, right?
I feel like I’m rambling.
Posted in Cleo's Rants | Tags: family, holidays, random, thanksgiving | No Comments »
February 15, 2010
So.. Valentine’s day is OVER!! Raise your hand if your single and survived it without suicidal thoughts! !*fist bump*
Hopefully all you lovers out there didn’t receive one of these gifts off yahoo’s Worst Valentine’s Gifts 2010 edition. I can’t give the whole list, but some of the funnier ones
1. A coupon for any kind of love?? As they said in the article “why withold the love??”
2. Self-Help Books – Nothing says I love you like “how to get overcome your past mistaks”
3. Romantic Facebook Gifts: It’s real love when he sends an E-ballon and flowers for all your friends to see… LOL
4. Cashmere toilet paper: uummm… who the hell really gave this gift? Where did you find it? Please avoid all bathroom gifts!
5. Office supplies– “my BF went to London and all i got was this stupid pen” yeah.. that would suck for Valentine’s day ..
Full List
I guess it is better to be single than have to deal with crappy gifts and half hearted Hallmark created holidays. It’s only really fun and good when the person is good to you all year and they take the time to go the EXTRA mile. Than can be a woman doing it for her man or vice versa. I’d rather just wait patiently.
Posted in Randomness | Tags: blasphemy, comedy, holidays, humor | No Comments »
December 28, 2008
I’ve been meaning to write about Kwanzaa since the day after Christmas, but all types of holiday stuff had me too busy. I can’t say that I actually participate in Kwanzaa, but I think that people have the wrong idea of what it exactly is. Some think of it as an alternative to Christmas when its not actually so. In fact, Kwanzaa is a cultural holiday versus being a religious one. Kwanzaa was “created” in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, a professor of Africana Studies at California State University during the Black Freedom Movement. t is celebrated December 26-January 1. The name Kwanzaa is derived from the phrase “matunda ya kwanza” which means “first fruits” in Swahili. Its thought to reflect the communities concern for cultural grounding and the unity and self-determination associated with the movement. Kwanzaa was created to reaffirm and restore our roots in African Culture-making it a reconstruction of African Culture.
Kwanzaa is said to represent a time of ingathering of the people to reaffirm the bonds between them. It’s also a time of special reverence for the creator and creation in thanks for blessings and the beauty of creation. It also represents commemoration of the past in pursuit of its lessons and in honor of its models of human excellence, a.k.a our ancestors. Additional first fruit celebrations include a time for re-commitment to our highest cultural ideals in our ongoing effort to always bring forth the best of the African cultural thought and practice, and a time for celebration of the good: the good of life, family, community, culture, the ordinary, the divine, the natural, and the social.
Kwanza is built upon 7 principals. I remember in elementary school during the Holiday play, which was every year no matter what grade you were in, we had to recite the seven principals of Kwanzaa. I remember BET used to have a Kwanzaa special. This was the old BET, not the crap as of late. The BET I remember had shows like Teen Summit. OH yeah! Back to the 7 principals of Kwanzaa,ne is celebrated each day of Kwanzaa.
1. Umoja: Unity
2. Kujichagulia: Self Determination (I just used to love saying this).
3. Ujima: Collective Work and Responsibility
4. Ujamaa: Cooperative Economics
5. Nia: Purpose
6. Kuumba: Creativity
7. Imani: Faith
I think Kwanzaa isn’t widely practice because no one is really taught about it. Sure, in class they glaze over it, but no one is instructing people on how to practice the ceremony. No one is helping kids light the Kinara or anything. Whereas we are socialized about Christmas from nearly birth. Even as a child you are instructed on the art of gift giving. From a kid you write letters to Santa, or Saint Nick however you want to refer to him. Christmas is truly lacking in its origins but people are still caught up in the commercialization of it. Going into massive credit card debt every year while other holidays such as Kwanzaa and even Hanukkahs (did I spell that right) are briefly acknowledged. Who’s fault is this? People or the businesses? If we weren’t inspired by all these shiny and technological they wouldn’t have us in this continuous consumer warp.
More Info
And yeah.. I know some people like to be funny, but I hate to read ignorant crap like this…
Ignorant Blog-Read at your own risk…
Posted in entertainment | Tags: curiousity, holidays, info, learning | No Comments »
December 25, 2008
I have to wish all my readers (however many there may be) a wonderful holiday wish! I’m not the biggest fan of holiday cheer, but everyone needs some. I got in my car tonight and realized I didn’t get chance to burn my Xmas cd and it made me sad.. I try to get as much cheer as I can before my family ruins it. Oh well..
Hope you have lots of good times and holiday cheer (a.k.a liquor)!!!
Posted in entertainment | Tags: holidays, hot, props | 2 Comments »
