01/03/04: Unnecessary junk

[juju]

My apologies if this is irrationally and unnecessarily negative. I'm working on this part of myself, but in the meantime I have nowhere else to vent it. :)

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I received several really awesome presents this Christmas. I also recieved a ton of nearly useless junk. I'm sure most people love getting new stuff. That's what Christmas is all about! But you see, I have a very small apartment, and it is already filled with useless junk I bought for myself. It's been a personal goal of mine for the past 2 years to eliminate all this stuff from my apartment so I can move around in it again. Every two or three months, I'll have a ritual "cleaning day", wherein I go through and throw out all the stuff I determine I really can do without. I hadn't come near to taming the apartment yet, but I had made some headway. And now, people have bought me more unnecessary junk! I'm beginning to think that this is an unwinnable battle.

My wife asked for and received Christmas plates. That's right, Christmas plates. They take up space 12 months out of the year, but you can only use them 1 month out of the year! What-the-fuck. This is not efficient! Okay, okay... she asked for them, so it's her business, and good for her if it makes her happy! However, couldn't she have asked for something that'd we'd use more than 8% of the year?

My grandmother bought my wife and I two Hummel figurines. This is a hobby of hers and my mothers'. It is not my hobby. In fact, I actively dislike anything whose only purpose is to "look pretty". Since I'm 27, I think they've had ample time to discover this. It's the thought that counts, though. The hummels were "The Sky's the Limit" and "Tuck Me In". Okay, I guess that is extremely cute and thoughtful, especially for a grandma. Oh, wait... I actually didn't graduate this semester because I failed my Linear Algebra class. This is great.. a perpetual reminder of my idiocy.

Or maybe I've developed some sort of ability to turn something perfectly beautiful and pure into darkness and negativity? I've got to work on that.

My father-in-law, who is the CFO for the Dallas Cowboys, bought us a bag full of Dallas Cowboys paraphenalia. Among this paraphenalia was a very nice Cowboy's coat, which I won't wear because I already have 3 nice coats, and I hate football. There was also a Cowboys baby bottle, a Cowboys baby bib, a Cowboys baby outfit, and 2 giant Cowboys blankets. In the previous year I recieved Cowboys sweatpants, and in the year before that, a Cowboys windbreaker.

Ahhhahhahah. Isn't that cute? They all have Cowboys stuff on them! Isn't that cute?? No, no it isn't cute. Football sucks. Next year I'm buying you a bag full of Washington Redskins paraphenalia.

It may seem like I'm being stupid, except when you consider that he gets everyone in his family gift certificates and Dallas Cowboys stuff every single Christmas.

And then there is the seemingly never-ending baby supplies. This is all appreciated and needed. The only thing that gets me is, a lot of it we can't even use yet. There are dolls and blocks that she cannot even grasp, let alone see. Much of this stuff is aged 6 months and up. She's only 2 months old! When I tell people this, they look at me like I'm a moron and say, "She'll get bigger". Yes, but, what am I supposed to do with this stuff in the meantime?

This Christmas, my sister-in-law said to me, "OH! By the way, I have three gigantic bags of baby stuff in my closet that I'm going to give you. My kids have outgrown them so you can have them. You're going to have to move just to have a place to put it! Ha ha hah hah!"

I did not think it was funny. Ah, well. At least I have a good support system! At any rate, I have to get to bed, so I'll have to post the good stuff later.