sophie & xmas & tao te ching & not xmas

I've not done great work keeping you abreast of lifehappenings. For example, did you know about th new dog in my life? I shall describe her as a wee four-year old beagle bitch that we have renamed Sophie (formerly Gabby). She had hip surgery before we met her, causing her to often hop on th back right leg. So we also call her Hopper. She likes to sleep & make humans rub her belly. She has eight prominent nipples. She lives with us, meaning me, Tiffany, Jordan, our cat Vega, our other dog Sparki(e) (our Corgweiler), & our hamster named Rocko. Quickly, he has settled into happiness & harmony here, more or less. We like her bunches.

Sophie melts my heart.

I had intended to tell you about her sooner, but I wanted to wait until we found th cord for th digital camera. Adorable pictures of Sophie remain trapped for th time being.

I won't be coming home - to Troy, NY - for xmas. I miss my friends there, but since I couldn't get a whole week off, I decided to postpone a visit until th last week of January - into February.

& while I stay here in Chi-town, Tiffany, Jordan, & Sparki(e) all will travel to Vermont to spend xmas with their family (as they all originate in Vermont). They leave within th next three or so hours, in fact. They intend to drive thru th night & arrive sometime Sunday. So first they sleep to prepare themselves for a long night.

We exchanged xmas presents shortly ago. I gave Jordan two unvideo games (Munchkin Fu & Devil Bunny Hates th Earth) & Tiffany a DVD (Jason and th Argonauts). They gave me a CD (Th American Song-Poem Christmas), a DVD (Donnie Darko), & three books from th Oz series (Th Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Th Emerald City of Oz, & Tik-Tok of Oz - I've read those first two, but not th latter. I'm excited to reread & read).

All seem pleased with their new possessions.

I also bought today, with th help of an xmas gift certificate, a pocket-sized translation of th Tao Te Ching that my friend Ali recommended to me long ago by Stephen Mitchell. I read it with delight. Several chapters really moved me. In particular:

Chapter 26.

Th heavy is th root of th light.
Th unmoved is th source of all movement.

Thus th Master travels all day
without leaving home.
However splendid th views,
she stays serenely in herself.

Why should th lord of th country
flit about like a fool?
If you let yourself be blown to & fro,
you lose touch with your root.
If you let restlessness move you,
you lose touch with who you are.

This chapter stuck out because I saw myself in it. I could describe my behavior recently as "flitting about like a fool... letting myself be blown to & fro... letting restlessness move me," etc. I intend to take these two weeks of living alone & use them to regain "touch with who I am." I haven't lived alone in a while. I intend to cleanse myself & work on meditation.

Another thing concerning xmas. What should I celebrate this year? Th fictional birth of Jesus doesn't excite me much. I won't have Christians in my midst. Some Discordians have their own celebration on December 25 (altho they call th date 67 Aftermath):

December 25 (67 Aftermath): Santa Claus Day (O)/(DD). Celebrate the Patron Saint of Children. Honor the jolly old man who loves children, wears funny clothes, has no legal address, holds boys and girls on his lap, urges them to share their desires with him, offers them a candy cane, dreams of sliding down their chimneys, sneaks into their homes at night, watches them when they’re in bed asleep, then gives them a package to unwrap. (This holiday is also known as Christmas. It’s also known as Don’t You Think We’ve Gotten So Paranoid About This Whole Protect Our Children Thing That We’re Actually Harming Them and Ourselves Day).

So that option presents itself. How cheeky, yes?

Also, tomorrow happens to register as December 23rd, & since 23 registers as a particularly holy holy number in Discordianism, all 23s ought to register as holidays, don't you agree? I could celebrate a 23 day tomorrow. Of course, given th vast variety of calendars that humans have created over th years, most likely every day of th year has some connection to 23 & could thus register as 23 day. How festive, yes?

Of course, generally speaking, I choose not to honestly say, "I am a Discordian," so I will not. I needn't celebrate any Discordian holidays at all (altho I like to when I remember).

Xmas has its roots in pagan winter festivals. I could celebrate one (or more) of those. A quick wikipedia search reveals lots of options.

Sadly, I missed Zamenhof Day.

Ah, how about HumanLight! A holiday devoted to celebrating secular humanistic ideals! Not bad!

Ok, enough of this. If you have ideas for what Andrew (& th cat, dog & gerbil that will spend these next two weeks with him) should celebrate, please write a friendly fnord.

Your humble chaotic rambler of soorts,
Andrew