MY HOLIDAY TO DO LIST

I love the holidays and like everyone else I have still yet to do a lot of things that I want to do. I guess this is my bucket list of thing that I want to do on the holidays. I first want to stuff a turkey, I have always feared stuffing a turkey because I was told as a child that the turkey could come to life and as a result it could devour my arm in anger. Once I have conquered the turkey I will move on to what's next.

I want to make a Dorito casserole with various flavors such as cool ranch, guacamole, and nacho cheese and so on. I think that the casserole gets an awful rap because normally is not fun to even look at. I want to revolutionize the casserole for at least one holiday. The next thing on my list is to go ahead and conquer the rink at the city centre in Amsterdam.

Last Christmas I went to Amsterdam and out of fear walked away from the rink. I want to walk back into the rink and show those five year old Dutch kids that I too can hang. I just feel that my life would be incomplete if I did not impose my alpha male nature in this particular rink full of children. I really want to say "I did that." The last thing I want to do this holiday season is initiate a major snow ball war in the street, also in Amsterdam.

I want there to be snowball warfare because I love snow balls and chucking them at people. I want to be able to look at all the mess and pound my chest with great pride. I understand that there will be a lot of carnage, but hey that's life.

THE LOVE JOURNEY

I used to think that the whole "LOVE" thing was more of a stoner mantra than anything else. I respect people as a rule of thumb and I respect whatever their choices are even if said choices differ from my own. I am sure you are probably wondering why there is a picture of a cannabis leaf in this entry. I will explain that in a minute so please hold on to your commentary.

I was at the metro in Amsterdam one night after a night of discovering the treasures of the city. I was fresh off a delicious meal in an Argentine steakhouse and on my way to a pleasant slumber. I remember that night so clearly. The sky was clear and the air was cold, a December night lit up by trees, light, street music and the feeling of Christmas. I remember I felt uncomfortable with my outfit because I hate wearing layers and restrictive style clothing.

As I sat and looked out the window of the metro I was asked if I was a tourist. The person that asked me the question was a brit with a backpack and a look of immense joy. The fella started asking me what I thought about marijuana and I answered as best I could. I remembered saying that I never felt it really did harm to anyone. The man handed me a card with some drawing and the word LOVE on it. I remember the card looked like a mixture of rorschach's work and ramblings of stoner artist.

Curious I asked my British stoner friend what it was and he responded with " It's life and the answer." I recall that I smiled and proceeded to leave without giving it a second thought. The brit offered me the opportunity to smoke some weed with him but I was not interested so i shook his hand and told him to enjoy himself. When I arrived at my destination I looked at the card and every part drawn in black had a line that resembled  a long and winding road. I thought about what the stoner said for a few days.

I realized that what my burnout friend meant was that love can really solve anything and guide you through some of the hardest roads to travel. I know that love is something we like to associate with hippies, stoners, and weaklings. The fact of the mater is that there is nothing wrong with allowing a little love to penetrate our jaded souls because in the end all the material possessions, bitterness, and differences we have do not accompany us to the grave. Love is the universal force that we are born with, live with, and can chose to go on our never ending journey with. Let's love one another people because it isn't a stoner mantra so much as it is the only absolute reality in life.