is it just me?

Apparently, you can now celebrate the major holidays year round. I had the unfortunate experience of being at the mall the other day (something I try to avoid but occasionally is a necessary evil) and guess who was there. Santa Claus. No shit. It was NOVEMBER 5. I mean, really. This is getting ridiculous. Kids were getting their picture taken with Santa no less than seven weeks before Christmas. This is outrageous. First of all, how can kids possibly believe in Santa if he spends two months at the mall? Who is making the toys? Isn't he supposed to be busy making lists? Overseeing elves? Tuning up the sleigh? Who knows, maybe kids these days are so jaded they don't believe in Santa anyway. But more than that, are we really already supposed to be thinking about Christmas? Apparently so. I have started getting circulars advertising Christmas decorations, all the candy now has holiday wrappers, and Santa is at the mall. Well, forget it. I am not falling for it. Just as I won't buy candy corn in September, I am not even going to think about Christmas until at least the month when it happens. I guess they have decided that Thanksgiving sucks for marketing, so they'll just skip right ahead to the big daddy of commercialism. I expect the day after Christmas we'll be seeing Valentine's day candy.

Have you also noticed that now they try to convince you that you should give gifts for all holidays? This year was the first time I was aware of Easter being marketed as a gift. But then people went a little crazy and were suggesting things you could buy mom and dad for Flag Day. Don't fall for the madness.

focus
Yesterday I went to Bosu class. If you are not familiar (and I will assume you're not) a Bosu ball is half a stability ball with a platform on the bottom so you can stand on it. It's supposed to help you build balance. Last night the class was much more crowded than usual, so we were in close quarters. The person in front of me had terrible balance. It's much harder to balance yourself when the person in front of you is wiggling all over the place. And this other lady had absolutely no rhythm. Being able to be successful in any aerobics class is sort of dependent on being able to follow the beat. If you cannot follow the beat, may I recommend two things: 1) don't wear a bright orange t-shirt that attracts attention, and 2) don't stand in the front row. I have perfected the art of locating the least conspicuous spot in the room. This is important because I am tall and most tall people inevitably look really dorky and awkward doing aerobics. I haven't quite figured out why, but it's true. If you're tall, stand to the side and try to blend in with the wall.

fancy meeting you here
One thing that I love about developing countries is that they sell things individually. You can buy one piece of gum, a single cigarette, one m&m (okay, I exaggerate). It's really quite handy. Here they don't really sell things individually. You always have to buy a pack. So, at the risk of sharing too much personal information yesterday at work I found myself needing to purchase a feminine product. There aren't any vending machines or anything here in the building, but I figured the mini bookstore in the Union probably had something. They did. In fact, they had individually wrapped tampons. And while in general I am a fan of this whole individually wrapped thing, not so much in this case. I think the box helps de-emphasize what the product is. But when it's there, in a protective cardboard tube with the name printed all over it, it's just this glaring little thing. However, left with little choice I picked one up and placed it on the counter with my diet soda and a piece of Laffy Taffy. I figured the transaction would be quick. The checker girl was being a little pokey, and as I am standing there I hear someone say "Hi, Liza". Super. Someone here knows me. I turn, and it's a guy I used to work with who kind of got pushed out into another department. "How are things in the building?" he asks, while looking at my purchases. "Oh, the same. Not much changes over there." I am too mortified to even ask him how he's doing. He's giving me this weird smirk. We sort of give each other a look like "Well, now you have more information than anybody needs about what's going on with me." The checkout girl is looking at me as if to say "Sucks that you had to see someone you know right now." The line is building behind me. She asks if I want a bag, which I do though at this point there is not much more to be lost. Note to self. Avoid having to repeat this transaction in the future.

update on my life as a heartless witch
For those of you who are regular readers, remember the parking lot guy who told me he was sick? (For new readers the original post was in May. Check the archives.) He's gone. I haven't seen him in months. The worst part of it is that I don't really feel sad that maybe he's dead, instead I just really wish I had asked him what was wrong with him. I mean, he looked more or less fine. I never would have known that he was sick if he hadn't told me. And he was working. And now maybe he's dead. I need to know what it is so I can know if I should be afraid of it. Man, I am a heartless jerk.