Christmas, Pirates, the Like

Going home was nice, as usual. The Older Younger Sister (TOYS?) was home and since last Christmas I've seen her once, briefly, when she and her boyfriend came down for the Timbers game that served as my birthday party in May. She brought her boyfriend along again, thankfully. TOYS is a great person – funny, insightful, stubborn – but she's temperamental and TALKS FAR TOO LOUDLY NO MATTER THE SITUATION. She puts out an aura of stress that increases the blood pressure of anyone in the vicinity, and it's usually just a matter of time before she's butted heads with someone in the house. TOYS's BF (is there a decent acronym for that?) is the only human I've met that has a calming influence on her; he simply absorbs the stress she exudes, thereby making everyone happier and relaxed. (Ironically, *he's* the redhead.) TOYS also brought her BF's Christmas present – a new kitty. Dad was initially furious, but the little guy was such a little bundle of of energy and trouble that no one could help liking him (well, except the other cats. They objected, often and loudly). Harper, the dog, was also a quick convert, and tolerated all sorts of abuse with a zen-like calmness. The only complaint I had about the cat, other than that he triggered my allergies, was that he liked to nibble on my poor plant that I brought home to rehabilitate after I nearly killed it over Thanksgiving weekend. I can't have pets in my current living situation, so I have a plant, and now the damn thing looks like I've been abusing it.

After Christmas, the Youngest Sis (YS – the teenager) and I drove into Corvallis to use our gift certificates and prepaid debit cards. YS has become something of a hippy recently. She's really into Bob Marley and the stuff they sell at the New Age-y store downtown. Mom bought her a tapestry for her room from this store, and it turned out to be this giant tie-dyed image of Shiva. Mom was a little embarrassed, but YS loved it, and we did a little construction on her room, relocating wall shelves in order to make space for the thing. Combined with the lava lamp and blacklight, it looks like a bong room. Anyway, I rather like the New Age-y store myself, so we spent a long time in there. While looking at all the neat things I could buy and imagining how I would use them, I realized that I absolutely need to move out of the place I live now. I've never really felt like I lived here, anyway, just like I was staying with my aunt for a while (a really, really long while). I want to put things on my walls, build some shelves, and get an actual couch or chair to sit on (embarrassingly, I'm currently sitting on a fold-up camping chair you see people using at parades and things. In fact, watching a parade two years ago was my reason for buying the $7 contraptions.), none of which I can do while trapped in the room I rent. So, in the end I didn't buy anything there, although YS got another possible wall hanging, that's she's now using as a bedspread.

After the Northern Star adventure we went half a block up the street (downtown Corvallis isn't exactly gigantic. YS complained when I parked in the grocery store parking lot at the edge of downtown and insisted we walk the entire three blocks to the other edge of downtown) to my old favorite record store, Happy Trails. It's since moved from its old location, the one of which I have fond and vivid memories of sorting through the used CD sleeves for Bad Religion and the Clash albums, but it's the same concept. It'd been pretty picked over from the Christmas shoppers, and none of the punk stuff I was looking for was in stock (in case you're wondering, Stiff Little Fingers, Mutiny, Filthy Thieving Bastards), but I still managed to find some interesting other things. The guy at the counter first noted my credit card – a military bank – and informed me he "once worked for Uncle Sam," himself. Then, after seeing my selections, suggested a huge compilation of pirate songs done by people like Nick Cave. Hell yeah! That album, by the way, is perfect to fall asleep to, if you're into crazy, almost-but-not-quite-nightmare dreams.

[As a side note, while I'm giving advice, if you're looking for a huge rush of adrenaline and excitement of the fear variety, get in a car with a 17-year-old behind the wheel. If you survive the ordeal, your heart will be pumping like you just finished a series of sprints between pushup competitions. I needed nearly the whole container of chapstick to fill in the holes I'd bitten in my lip.]

The good points in summary:

- The dog was in pretty good shape by the time I left, as we took him on a walk nearly everyday, rain or shine (and it being December in Oregon, it was mostly rain), something he doesn't get regularly when everyone's involved with work and school.

- I turned YS on to Tom Waits, Mazzy Star, and the Specials. She didn't quite bite for the Subhumans, but not everyone can get fired up over screaming about the evil government, and the stuff she did go for is a pretty decent selection itself.

- Dad got a fancy bottle of Scotch from his friend, and I brought home a fancy bottle Blackbush. Ostensibly, these were for everyone, but Dad and I are the only ones who drink whiskey. We both took obligatory tastes from the other's bottle, grimaced, and said, "hmm, I think I prefer mine." Then we pretended to be slightly miffed by the other's lack of taste, but were secretly pleased that we had our selected booze to ourselves. I had the added benefit of acting like it was a gift to the family!

- Holy crap is there a lot of soccer during the holidays! Thankfully, they're all on in the morning, due to the time difference, and they were generally over before the college football bowl games started up, when Mom would take over the television. A lot of players on my fantasy team scored goals, and a lot of players on others' teams got injured/suspended, so I've moved up about 10 places in the Timbers Army league.

- It snowed on Christmas! That never happens in the valley!