I realized that at the ripe old age of 32, the only good thing about this Christmas holiday is spending time with family and getting off of work. The allure of the gift aspect of this holiday faded at age 16, although during my 20s, I always expected large sums of money which never came. Once I hit about 26, I realized that the dream was over, and I had to readjust my expectations. So, I hit the streets today, armed with that wonderful sentiment, and I did some Christmas shopping for my father. My father is the easiest man to shop for, because he has extremely low expectations for me, so anything I do is icing on the cake. He told me he wanted a Porsche, but he and I both know that's not happening. I told him that the only thing I would want would be tickets to a sporting event, but I don't expect him to give me that either. That being said, I did his shopping in about an hour and a half. I won't say what I bought him in case he reads, or in case my brother tries to steal my idea.

Other observations on this fine Christmas Eve:

-You know your day is going to be good, when I one-eyed cab driver winks at you with his good eye.

-I am ashamed to admit this, but I watched my first bootleg movie ever via youtube, and I can report that I Am Legend is an average movie. I promise to never do this again, and I also promise to read the book. Will, if you're reading, please forgive me..I'll buy DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince's Greatest Hits if you'd like.

-If I had more money, I would round up all of the homeless people I could find, find a hotel ballroom, and feed them dinner. Then I would interview each one of them, get their story and their contact information, and send them on their way. If I could help them find a job, I would reconnect with them, if not, I would at least give them the proceeds from the book I wrote about them based on their stories. Come to think of it, I could probably do this with just two or three homeless folks..

that's all for now

In A Sentimental Mood - Ledisi