Kent's Christmas
Editors Note: You can always count on Mark's good friend Kent to bring evidence to oppose popular belief. Yes it is true, nerds do in fact celebrate Christmas. They just spend less of their time drinking spiked egg nog and swapping Ipod Nano's and more of their time playing Warcraft or Halo 2. Enjoy!
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With another holiday behind us, it's time to sit back and take stock of what we gained during this Christmas season. Literally.
I normally get pretty predictable gifts for Christmas, since most of my family just asks me what I want or drops the ever-popular gift certificate. (I think at this point, I have enough Borders gift certificates to become their majority shareholder. I would crush Barnes & Noble like a bug. But I think I'll just buy some CDs instead.)
While my own family didn't change their mundane gift-giving habits this Christmas, my girlfriend Paula and her family were good for some rather interesting presents. Let's take a look.
Shochu Yokaichi Mugi - from Paula's uncle
Certainly the most interesting and mysterious gift I received this year. So mysterious, in fact, that the gift giver didn't even know what the hell it was. All Paula's uncle could tell me about this Japanese bottle of liquor was that "it wasn't in the sake aisle".
After a bit of internet searching, I discovered that Shochu is a trendy Japanese liquor (for those who view sake as "so Tokugawa period"). It's clear in appearance like vodka, but the Mugi variety is distilled from barley, giving it a taste similar to whiskey. I drank it on the rocks with ginger ale on New Year's Eve. Two thumbs up.
Atari Flashback - from Paula
The ultimate in classic gaming. Paula's a pretty big fan of old school video games, to the point where she complains that there are too many buttons on the Super NES controller. We'd spent a lot of the earlier part of the year searching out cheap used NES games, building a formidable library. "Legacy of the Wizard? Never heard of it... but it's only $1.50! Awesome!" So definitely a good gift, although I'm not sure how it compares to what Paula got her sister's boyfriend -- cigars, booze, and a copy of Playboy from 1973.
Because He Could - from Paula's dad
Hmm. I think some signals got crossed here. I'm a fervent Democrat, but this is a Clinton-bashing book. I know Paula's dad leans a bit to the right, but I don't think he's trying to evangelize or anything, considering he also got me an anti-Wal-Mart book. Maybe he saw the cover and neglected to read the description. Oh well, I'm sure it will be quite the entertaining read.
Nothing - from Paula's aunt and grandma
No, Paula's aunt and granny don't hate me (I hope), it's just that they're down with Jehovah. And I ain't talkin' bout the Jigga-man, H to the izzo, V to the izzay. Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate holidays, so I won't be expecting birthday presents from them either.
Prarie Belt Smoked Sausage - from Paula's sister
The crown jewel of my Christmas presents. I think it's some sort of family tradition that this can of meat gets repackaged and given to someone else at every Christmas. Maybe I should really screw with them and actually eat it. But it will be rather hard to get past that first ingredient -- "mechanically separated chicken". I don't even know what that means. And "pork spleens"? Mmm. Just like mom used to make.
On second thought, I think I'll start trying to find a new owner for this can ASAP. Hey, only 333 days until Mark's birthday!
--K
----------
With another holiday behind us, it's time to sit back and take stock of what we gained during this Christmas season. Literally.
I normally get pretty predictable gifts for Christmas, since most of my family just asks me what I want or drops the ever-popular gift certificate. (I think at this point, I have enough Borders gift certificates to become their majority shareholder. I would crush Barnes & Noble like a bug. But I think I'll just buy some CDs instead.)
While my own family didn't change their mundane gift-giving habits this Christmas, my girlfriend Paula and her family were good for some rather interesting presents. Let's take a look.
Shochu Yokaichi Mugi - from Paula's uncle
Certainly the most interesting and mysterious gift I received this year. So mysterious, in fact, that the gift giver didn't even know what the hell it was. All Paula's uncle could tell me about this Japanese bottle of liquor was that "it wasn't in the sake aisle".
After a bit of internet searching, I discovered that Shochu is a trendy Japanese liquor (for those who view sake as "so Tokugawa period"). It's clear in appearance like vodka, but the Mugi variety is distilled from barley, giving it a taste similar to whiskey. I drank it on the rocks with ginger ale on New Year's Eve. Two thumbs up.
Atari Flashback - from Paula
The ultimate in classic gaming. Paula's a pretty big fan of old school video games, to the point where she complains that there are too many buttons on the Super NES controller. We'd spent a lot of the earlier part of the year searching out cheap used NES games, building a formidable library. "Legacy of the Wizard? Never heard of it... but it's only $1.50! Awesome!" So definitely a good gift, although I'm not sure how it compares to what Paula got her sister's boyfriend -- cigars, booze, and a copy of Playboy from 1973.
Because He Could - from Paula's dad
Hmm. I think some signals got crossed here. I'm a fervent Democrat, but this is a Clinton-bashing book. I know Paula's dad leans a bit to the right, but I don't think he's trying to evangelize or anything, considering he also got me an anti-Wal-Mart book. Maybe he saw the cover and neglected to read the description. Oh well, I'm sure it will be quite the entertaining read.
Nothing - from Paula's aunt and grandma
No, Paula's aunt and granny don't hate me (I hope), it's just that they're down with Jehovah. And I ain't talkin' bout the Jigga-man, H to the izzo, V to the izzay. Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate holidays, so I won't be expecting birthday presents from them either.
Prarie Belt Smoked Sausage - from Paula's sister
The crown jewel of my Christmas presents. I think it's some sort of family tradition that this can of meat gets repackaged and given to someone else at every Christmas. Maybe I should really screw with them and actually eat it. But it will be rather hard to get past that first ingredient -- "mechanically separated chicken". I don't even know what that means. And "pork spleens"? Mmm. Just like mom used to make.
On second thought, I think I'll start trying to find a new owner for this can ASAP. Hey, only 333 days until Mark's birthday!
--K
posted by MarK at 9:09 AM
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