A Christmas story
I found myself walking begrudgingly through a mall yesterday,
tailing behind the girlfriend who had the guiding purpose of finding a
crafts store for her needlepoint supplies. I’m glad she had a
purpose and direction as I felt myself slipping into that statically
numb hollowness that comes from such a place at such a time. The kind
that drags you along the swift current but without thought or
sensation. Fine time to traverse any such epicenter of the holiday
commercial feeding frenzy. The chum was all around and the scent of
blood thick. All eyes were cast intensely outward to the endless
pulsating stream of shiny and sparkly things: clocks that looked like
singing fish, coffee mugs with self defacing slogans, customizable
keychains and all other forms of temporary importance.
As we passed by the long line of shoppers and their genetic
duplicate baby shoppers, all waiting their turn to see the man dressed
as Santa, I noticed something quite striking … no one seemed the
least bit happy. Wasn’t this a time for celebration, of loved
ones, friends, blessings, messiahs? Weren’t they supposed to
enjoy all of this abundance, the luxuries and sensory pleasures? For
the love of love, why weren’t these people bursting at the seams
with piercing joy? The parents, jaws clenched and eyes distantly
glazed, bracing themselves with the heavy load of colorful boxes and
bags; the children tiered, over-fed and overstimulated on the verge of
tantrum; the poor young guy playing Santa himself, a mythical saint of
boundless jolly and giving—all looking utterly dejected by the
ceremonial procession. What went wrong?
The Dalai Lama once said that our purpose for being is happiness.
Over a billion people formally and devoutly follow this path. Many more
than that would agree with the idea, even if just conceptually. So why
then are so many, with so much, so unhappy? Where have we gone wrong?
It seems true that man is more fond of counting his lackings than his
blessings, spending his life in a state of want, rather than a state of
content. Many saintly people, some commonly revered and worshiped, have
repeatedly told us that if we counted up the blessings as we ought to,
we would see that happiness is always and readily available.
Each and every one of us is engulfed in such blessings. Every sacred
pulse of the heart, every rhythmic breath, every bite of food, every
gaze upon our loved ones, every melodic chirp of the birds, every sway
of the trees, endless blessings. It is clear by statistics that the
outward pursuit and accumulation of things does not create well-being
or fill the internal cup, more often leaving us in that strange state
of feeling disgustingly full yet empty and parched for more. So
here’s to real fulfillment. Here’s to awareness and
thankfulness of the innate abundance that is all around us, that truly
nourish us.
These are simply thoughts and may not apply to everyone or perhaps
anyone. But it seems accurate to me. I hope in this mutated, maddening
frenzy of a holiday we’ve created that you are able to count a
few blessings, love and enjoy the real abundance that is always with
us. I hope you are able to know happiness this season, and every season
that life takes you through. For it could very well be the whole
purpose.
Love to all on the RN&R team.
Anthony Basile
via email
Birth of a nation
Re “Clueless” (Letters to the Editor, Dec. 24):
I want to thank RN&R for printing the Obama
“birther” letter by Mr. Rich Reamer on Dec. 24. The best
way to defeat this kind of gross ignorance is to put it on public
display so we can give it the mocking it deserves.
I have to hand it to Mr. Reamer for his ingeniously twisted logic,
that President Obama might have been born in Hawaii, but that
doesn’t make him a “natural-born citizen” because his
father was Kenyan. And the toy poodle breeding argument was rather
amusing, in a stupid-hillbilly sort of way. Is it possible to make your
racism any more overt without actually putting on the white sheet and
burning a cross?
But his conclusion that unless both your parents were citizens at
the time of your birth, you aren’t a “natural-born
citizen” is just hilarious. I guess that means the first seven
presidents were illegitimate since their parents were all officially
British citizens. Heck, Thomas Jefferson’s mother was born in
London. Guess that makes him a half-breed in Mr. Reamer eyes, unworthy
of the presidency.
It would be nice if Mr. Reamer and his birther friends would get a
life so we could amuse ourselves in a more constructive way.
Kirk Caraway
Carson City
Scary movie
Re “Big blue turd” (Film, Dec. 24):
Yeah, the plot was pretty much FernGully, but I think
I’m safe in saying that FernGully wasn’t exactly a
masterpiece; there was room for improvement. And yes, the message was
blatant, but Avatar and FernGully’s blatant
environmental message is apparently one we all need to hear.
You’re damned right we are getting preached at, and I hope people
continue to preach at us in such a beautiful and visually stimulating
way until we stop acting like the selfish and downright evil corporate
bastards as well as the warmongers who seem to be running the
world.
Wake up, people! As far as the movie being predictable, how would
you prefer it to end? It’s a movie! Not all movies are
predictable, but so very many amazing ones are. Get over yourselves and
enjoy this man’s hard work and hear the message he’s trying
to scream at you.
Jatye Walker
Fayetteville, Ark.
What about Bob?
Re “Big blue turd” (Film, Dec. 24):
Bob Grimm’s review of Avatar was tasteless. Avatar was
the first movie I have been to for a while that was able to keep my
attention through the whole movie. Usually after snowboarding all day,
if I go to the movies, I will be nodding out halfway through.
Titanic was one of those movies that I fell asleep in. The story
line to Avatar reminded me of when the Spanish invaded Mexico
and stole most of their gold. This film gives a very important message
of how cruel imperialism and capitalism can be. Leaders demonize
another culture to steal their resources. The message of this film is
that all people are equal and most people have good character, while a
few bad apples can make society seem rotten The graphics in this film
were amazing, and this was the most entertaining film I watched in
2009. Happy New Year’s!
Dillon Keith Brannan
Reno
Slow Bob in the lower
dimensions
Re “Big blue turd” (Film, Dec. 24):
I saw this movie years ago when I took my daughter to see something
called FernGully. I was pissed that I did not know there were 2D
and 3D Avatar showings. The one I got was the 2D, and I missed
most of what I wanted to see the damned thing for. Also the line for
popcorn was terrible at Park Lane. Back to the river for me.
Rick Fiddler
Reno
The matrix
Re “Big blue turd” (Film, Dec. 24):
It’s like we saw two different movies. Yes, the story was just
OK, and the characters not too well developed. But who cares?
It’s still the most beautiful, immersive thing I’ve ever
seen in a movie theater and the reason why movies exist. Get over
yourself.
Charlie Ballard
Boston, Mass.