In our house the cats' beds are again in their rightful places, the noble little fir sits outside on the burn pile, and all traces of gift wrap and cupcakes have vanished (although there's an ample supply of leftover ham in the fridge).
For Christmas gift-giving to each other my wife and I limited it to stockings-only, but as Kathy noted, because something is in a large decorative sock doesn't mean it's
And sure enough, there it was, in the stubby toe of hers—a pink iPod Shuffle.
After three decades of Christmases past I would never guess that item would be on her wish list—she likes pencils and pads, not gizmos! Uh-oh. When hints first surfaced I shot the idea down as too expensive—and immediately began an earnest search for one, only to discover they are immensely popular. Uh-oh #2. My last stop was the local Mac store, where I should have started and where the last Shuffle in town sat on a shelf, waiting, in the color I wanted. Thanks, Santa.
My Shuffle helps me tune out background noise when I'm on a treadmill at the gym, so I expect we'll make a great tandem (she'll cruise along with Sam Cooke, while I'll chase Eric Clapton). I'm amazed at the amount of technology Apple's put into this tiny device, and also by the packaging. Easy to open, stylish, and small. Very small. That's becoming important to me—I want my (our) possessions to be manageable. When you have more than you can keep track of, it's like having a party that's spun out of control.
A couple of times each year I play George Carlin's famous routine on Stuff, to keep that in perspective. You can view a 1986 performance at this YouTube link.
The language is mild by today's standards, but at a time when millions of children live in cars while heated storage units proliferate, his point(s) get stronger by the day.
I'm going to go clean off a shelf now, and wish you the Happiest of New Years.
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