Ahhh I’m a new man.  Thinking clearly, upbeat, re-energized. It was a wise decision to take the rest of the day off after my exam (it went ok). I slept, exercised… (various muscles), listened to some interesting new music. had a chocolate milk that I remembered to put in the fridge. It was cool and yummy. All in all, just a good destressifying evening. I was wishing badly for a massage though. I always forget to opt of the university health plan and save some badly needed funds. However, it covers 90% of the cost of medical therapeutic massage, I am very tempted to try and wrangle a prescription out of some sympathetic MD. I wouldn’t care the sex of my masseuse. Actually, I think I could probably even swing the other way if my man gave me a really good massage everyday. I pine for the day when I can afford them on a daily basis.

My father called tonight. He always starts off every call to me in an exaggerated deep voice, “J_____, this is your father.” I think he is trying to impersonate Darth Vader but doesn’t quite have the quote right (which is typical). Another favorite of his (especially around this time of year) is the sinister “Ho ho hooooo” in the evil robot santa voice from Futurama. It’s actually fairly funny, most of the family doesn’t get it though and it wears thin pretty quick. Anyway, they are demanding my Xmas wish list. They started pestering me about it in early November and I have been brushing them off for as long as possible. They always go overboard on Xmas. I thought they would slow with the amount of gifts once I hit 19 or 20 but it seems they have just kicked it into overdrive. They aren’t affluent by any stretch. My dad is a crew leader at the local paper mill and my mom is a low paid social worker who doesn’t do it for the money. Still they seem to latch on to Christmas as an opportunity to really bombard their two children with consumer goods. I wonder if they figured out that I ripped up my birthday cheque? Anyone who has been reading me for a while would probably correctly guess that this isn’t my favorite holiday. I really feel like I don’t need anything but I have to come up with a list of things that they can buy for me. There is a tiny fuzzy green creature in my brain who is whispering “ask for a laptopppp… ask for a laa” *Squish* I brought the godzilla foot of my mind’s eye down on it violently hard. Even though I know my parents can’t afford to buy me one, they would do it if I asked. My sister and I are superstars in their eyes and they would do anything they could for us. They may feel blessed to have two children that have risen well above the expectations for kids from my hometown but I hope they realize it is just a reflection of the excellent way they brought us up. I think growing up we all really appreciated the family dynamic we had, I’m certainly not going to be able to blame future failures on my childhood.

Ok, so any aid would be appreciated, I have to get this wish list e-mail off to them tomorrow. Maybe a list of excellent books you have read lately? Anything a cool counter-culture kid like me would enjoy? I don’t know… I have had a DVD player for almost a year now and I still don’t have a single DVD. I am going to ask for a can-opener (that will be promptly shipped to Korea). Maybe a pair of hockey skates (this would absolutely delight my dad. I broke his heart when I quit hockey in high school). I don’t know.. bah humbug.