11.28.97

Happy Turkey Day! Hmm... I guess I could really go for some pumpkin pie right now. Ooo, with homemade whip too. OK, so maybe I miss about one slice and a dollop of T-Day. ;-)

I learned in some class - I think in intro to Sociology - that if you remove a cult member from the cult then it is really difficult for that person to retain the cult’s beliefs as their own. It’s possible to extrapolate this to other groups made up of people who share common beliefs. Further, what seems important about groups of people who believe in the same things is that there is a need to recruit new members as a way to validate their beliefs over those held by other groups. Very interesting. I remember thinking, as the prof was lecturing, about Christian missionaries. Anyway, I was thinking about this because today is Turkey Day to the U.S. and all week people from there have been asking me if I’m going to do anything to celebrate. No, and I don’t feel like it; it’s not important to me. Christmas is just around the corner and I’m dreading the obligation to give to people across the Pacific. I think we’ll be taking the path of least resistance and sending out things we can buy on the web. Saves us a lot in postage. But I’m really not digging the idea of practicing X-mas either. Everywhere I went on the web this week, or every news segment I caught from the States, wreaked of holiday cheer. ‘Tis the season, I spose. But not here. X-mas is celebrated but not to the commercial excess that it is in the US. Last year it hardly felt like Christmas even though we had decorated our apartment with light strings and ornaments. People sent us stuff, but it’s not the same without the deluge of X-mas paraphernalia brandishing everything. Usually I’m a Christmas nut, but I guess when it’s outta sight it eventually gets outta mind. Two years out of the country and I’m already losing my shared sense of holiday cheer. Sooo… I attempted to start the book review I’m supposed to write for the AJWS. Agh! The words just don’t flow when there is pressure to write well. It’s so frustrating. I mean, it’s just a stupid book review. What is that? Three or four pages max? Yeah, maybe that’s the problem: I gotta keep it from becoming a book report.

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