1/2/2008 - One New Year's Eve I care to forget

Of all the holidays we celebrate during the course of a year, my favorite has always been New Year's Eve. The staying up late, which I've always thoroughly enjoyed as a kid. The complete disregard for my health when it comes to the fat foods. The fun movies and TV shows. The fireworks. This year was different. Nothing on TV, except between 10PM and midnight, when we watched the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and the festive shows on the BBC leading up to, and following the British New Year, which takes place when it's 1 AM in my country. Still, that I can live with.

What really ticked me off is that somehow not everybody seemed to understand that this was a festive evening. Who am I talking about? Well, my brother. That's who. He's the Muslim convert in my family, which in itself isn't really a problem, but as usual with converts he's very gung ho about it, and while my mom and I where desperately trying to cling on to our high spirits, he was going on and on about how sinners go to hell, and what happens if you don't pray five times a day, and which of this years celebrity dead have gone to hell and why, and how America is an evil country, and why Ajax Amsterdam is an evil soccer club, and how in 2008 the State of Israel is going to be wiped off the face of this earth. There was no point in asking him to stop, because when he talks he just won't listen. 

Fortunately by 12.30 he decided to go to sleep, so I could try to salvage my festive mood, which lay in tatters at that point. I ended up downing about a bottle and a half of champaign, and three beers. I hate beer, and I've always hated it. Adding to the misery, my cat had gone out at 7 PM, and it didn't return until 3.30 AM, completely nerve-wrecked thanks to the fireworks outside.

Initially my brother had said he would visit on January 1st, so we hadn't even expected his visit on New Year's Eve. I was going to cook clean Islamic foods yesterday, and we had eaten too many unhealthy snacks already to go cooking up anything on New Year's Eve. Just when I was about to get to cooking yesterday afternoon he choose to leave and go home, but not without leaving behind two copies of the Noble Qur'an, and three books about the Prophet Muhammad, counting on me to read it until his next visit.

Next year I think I'm actually going to my sister's for New Year's.

1/2/2008 - Untitled Comment

That sounds like what happend over here as far as the TV goes, there was no good countdown shows or marathons on this time around. It was all pretty dumb stuff that was on. So I ended up just watching two DVd's that I rented, though I do not really celebrate New Years the way I use to when I was younger mostly because I don't socilize with anyone so I have nowhere to go, but I do not mind really.

Your story about your brother, reminds me of the stories my sister tells me about when her bestfriend spends the holidays with her boyfriends family who are all radical Christains, in fact one of them said next year they were not going to have a tree, they were going to make a birthday cake for Jesus and put presents around that. And he was serious.

1/7/2008 - Oh Dear!

I was just here to comment on your comments...how did I miss this? I remember seeing the first part, but wow. I don't have religious fanatics in my family and now I have something to be thankful for. Silverwind's comment reminds me of an irreverant dj who said he was getting Jesus a Chia Pet for his birthday. You've probably head of those things; like a disease they've probably spread. I wonder what Silverwind's relatives got him. And I thought I had a problem figuring out what to get people; they make my job look easy.