All and Sundry
Things have been a little busy with work and my first semester of grad school finishing up. Mix that in with the usual rigors of being a socialite, amplified during the holiday season, and that doesn’t leave much time for sitting down at the desk and writing. There are a few things I wanted to say this holiday season, although it won’t be a coherent essay like some of the other stuff I’ve written here. More like a bunch of bullet points in a ramble-on format.
* The presidential race. The Iowa caucuses: on the Democratic side, it’s a three-way horse race between Obama, Edwards, and Clinton. On the Republican side, Romney, Giuliani, and Huckabee all seem to be in the running. It could go in any direction, folks. Most of these people could become the front-runner for the presidency in just a few short weeks. This is easily shaping up to be the most interesting presidential race of my lifetime, especially considering there is no sitting president or vice president in the race. Thank God for that: in a year and change, we will have a president who won’t be lost in the Bush; or spend all of his time being a Dick. Ha ha.
* As for the Republicans, I respect the HELL out of John McCain. Why more Republicans don’t back him among this field of losers is beyond my comprehension. He is skipping the Iowa caucuses entirely- a mission-critical step, almost to the point of being a deal-breaker, on a matter of PRINCIPLE. Because he doesn’t believe Iowa farmers deserve federal subsidies for ethanol. God bless him, I think he is right. This moronic protectionist agricultural policy is going to make our economy weaker, not stronger. And American corn ethanol isn’t the solution to our energy problems anyway. How refreshing that a prominent politician is actually willing to sacrifice his own position in the race for the sake of making a stand for something he believes in.
* Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): I think it’s real. It’s here. I think the dark, and the cold make people more depressed during the winter season, at least around these here Yankee parts. Sometimes it seems like entire groups of people are melancholy and contemplative for long stretches at a time. People seem more likely to snap at each other, say things they don’t really mean, and generally find new and interesting ways to get on each other’s nerves. Or is it just me and the people I’m around?
* SantaCon NYC 2007: As a temporary escape from the aforementioned SAD, I recently participated in SantaCon with some friends. What is that you might ask? SantaCon is a bunch of bar crawls held in cities all around the world, organized through a system of text messages telling people where to go. The group of people willing to do something so stupid is in the hundreds, but small enough to remain cool and vaguely "underground." The New York City version featured several hundred people dressed like Santa Claus, flooding bars, the streets, and the subway system in a sea of red, joining the fray anywhere from 9 or 10 on Saturday morning until well into Sunday morning. All you had to do was buy a suit to join. It sounded so bizarre, that I absolutely HAD to partake in the festivities.
SantaCon did not disappoint. In fact it was one of the most fun times I have had all year. Imagine the solidarity- all of these people you don’t know, of all ages and races and types, and the only thing connecting you is a silly Santa outfit. I had the whole thing- coat, pants, boots, belt, hat, beard and mustache. It was absolutely hilarious. One member of our posse handed out toys, such as action figures and puzzles to random women, children, and other passers-by. Another picked up pine branches and candy canes for his ensemble. Skimpy Mrs. Clauses were in full effect. A lot of Santas were befriending a lot of Mrs. Clauses. The curiosity we elicited from whoever randomly happened to see us, was worth participating for in and of itself. Cops stayed close by because we were so organized, it might have been a danger to the state. The reaction from young children who still "believed"- and were shocked that there could be so many Santas in one place well before Christmas, was priceless. Christmas came early, kiddies! In getting with the holiday spirit, of course we had to sing together, do silly jigs, and yell "Ho, ho, ho!" to every other santa we ever saw anywhere. One had a reindeer made out of a shopping cart, and if you lay down under it, it would squirt you from a bladder with…vodka. I have never seen so many strangers so happy to see each other for no really good reason- since Carnaval 2006 in Brazil (see my blog below about that one…)! The second I entered the first bar Libation on the Lower East Side, with three other Santas, to be surrounded by hundreds of other Santas bouncing up and down to hip-hop, we started laughing uncontrollably, and I didn’t stop laughing until it was all over somewhere in Brooklyn’s DUMBO neighborhood many hours later. Then of course, I went out in earnest with my non-SantaCon friends, opting to keep the Santa suit on. Just like Brazil, oaths of "What happens at SantaCon, stays at SantaCon" were being exchanged. 2008: I am so there.
* New Year’s Eve: Something about this holiday causes people an incredible amount of anxiety. Why are all the girls especially so stressed out about making it the perfect night and having the right person nearby to kiss, and the new beginnings, and losing weight, and quitting smoking, and all that crap? It’s just another day. Every day of life is special and deserves to be celebrated. I’ll be doing what I do anyway: meeting up with my friends and enjoying their company. Everyone else should do the same, and shut the f*** up.
* Happy New Year. Peace out, happy holidays, and offer to volunteer at your local Barack Obama campaign field office soon. If you don’t care about your country at all and can’t find time to help save it, then at least donate some of your hard-earned money to Obama for America at www.barackobama.com. If you’re not American, ignore.
