Off until 26 Dec!

Hi guys!

First of all, I just wanted to send much props for the new version of Blogger and a big "Thank Isis," for the death of Blogger Beta! Thanks to Blogger Beta, I will never use Internet explorer again. Ignorance is bliss I guess.

So Joyous Yule to all big and small. I haven't done anything today except feed my cats and work. I bought candles, but I haven't been home to, at the very least, burn them. Some Wiccan I am. Pff. Hello longest night of the year! On the ups, at least the days won't be getting any shorter.

I missed out on wishing people a happy Hanukkah. Sorry. I know. I had a whole week. Boy, I am so inconsiderate.

So I finally bought a pad so I can jot down my thoughts throughout the day. Some things are just to precious to forget and not share. So here is the one I have been holding on to for a day.

I answer a phone call from a frantic male customer.

"Do you guys sell gift cards? I need to buy a couple. Can I get them in any denomination?"

I tell the man on the phone we sell gift cards, and that he can put any amount he wants on them. Also I inform him that the cards do not expire, and can be used on the store website.

"Great! I will need three gift cards for American Airlines."

This is where I started doubting my sanity. So I ask 2 other booksellers to make sure the answer was no. I tell him that we only sell gift cards for our store.

"I have been told by several sources I could purchase American Airlines gift cards through your bookstore. Miss, why would I want to purchase a gift card at your store that is only for the items in your store?"

After that. The asshole hung up on me. Boy, if I ever get granted a chance to be there when Karma strikes him, I will not pass it up.

So there have been many other crazies to walk through our doors at 8am. Of course, our sister bookstores in the area didn't open until 10. So guess where their customers were and calling to at 8 am when decent folk are either working or sleeping. But hey, it's Christmas time. The time of the year when all the insane bastards who have been locked up all year long are allowed to roam freely to buy there Christmas gifts.

Of course, it's only those who celebrate Christmas. Not so much as those who take the time out once a year to do midnight watch, work in a soup kitchen, or a children's hospital. It is the work-a-holic that thinks a pretty package with a pretty bow makes up for all the missed soccer games, date nights, or even worse: family dinners. Those people who are so mainstream that they believe mainstream is them. You know, the ones who are too busy yelling at the butcher who is cutting their meat with pride, delicacy, and a slow professional pace because that's what he does best for quality. Or how about the asshole who cut off the ambulance because whatever the emergency is it's not as bad as his/hers. I could go on, but, I won't. I'm sure you get the picture. Let me just say, not everyone who celebrates Christmas is bad. Not everyone who celebrates one of the other winter holidays is perfect, but, ill-tempered people are usually out there lurking around and using Christmas as an excuse for their unnecessary nasties. Just remember, Christmas is not an excuse. It is a holiday. Good will to men.

So here is a Christmas poem to send you off tonight:

May You Find This Christmas Inner Peace

May you find this Christmas inner peace

Equal to the patient love you give,

Releasing all the pain you can release,

Renewing all the grace with which you live.

Yearnings may you turn to rhapsodies,

Choosing to find happiness in beauty,

Holding in their haunting melodies

Riches that sustain your sense of duty.

In anger may you find an evening star

Showing you the way to Bethlehem.

The angels that watch naked from afar

May you hear sing of who would none condemn.

As all you love are blessed in having you

So may you feel the joy in all you do.

(By Thomas Tallis. Sequenced by David Cooke )

See more poems from: http://www.poemsforfree.com/

Lady Yokai