A Rant on the Commercialism of the Holidays

Each year I find myself becoming more and more partial to the older tradition of Christmas - the gathering of the family and celebrating the end of another year with the people you love. Each year I find myself more and more disgusted with what America, Hallmark and toy companies have done with the holiday.

Such emphasis on things - meaningless objects usually, meant only to entertain and which will soon be forgotten at the bottom of a drawer - forces the meaning out of the day. The hype produced by companies turns even the most well-behaved child into a raging terror - a plague on the rest of his or her family.

Shrieks of "Presents! Presents!" are soon followed by "It doesn't work! You aren't helping me! I hate you!" The family, usually in relative peace, becomes a screaming horde - toys are thrown, dinner rights are revoked, and tears abound.

Surely, something is wrong with this picture. The birth of one man seems to be haunting us now, and we have entirely forgotten what He taught and why He died. I'm not even Christian, and I know that of all of scripture, 'Jesus wept' is the most applicable to what we have made of Christmas.

I write this now locked in my room, avoiding flying objects from my brother and happily planning my trip away from home. Maybe when I come back, everyone will be sane again.

Happy Holidays :)

It has come to my attention...

A question was asked of me a few days ago which I was unable to answer, and this was startling enough that I have given the question much thought.

Although I desire to be a film writer, as well as possibly director, producer and all-round movie goddess, off the top of my head I could not answer the simple query of "who are your influences?"

I read books with great voracity and so have many favorite writers in this catagory, listed below. However, the only film writer I could think of was Quentin Tarantino - who, while being a genius, is terribly cliche for a film student.

So, after much thought, I have compiled a by-no-means complete list of some of my favorite writers/directors, in no real order (after the first three). You may notice some overlap.

Authors:
Orson Scott Card
Susan Cooper
Neil Gaiman
William Goldman
Laurie R. King
Robin McKinley
Philip Pullman
Jane Yolen

Writers/Directors:
Joss Whedon
Quentin Tarantino
M. Night Shyamalan
Hayao Miyazaki
Mel Brooks
Nick Park
Neil Gaiman
William Goldman
Richard Curtis
Robin Swicord
Wachowski Brothers