December 22, 2002
I began a full sixteen day vacation Saturday. I don't go back to the office until January 6th. It feels pretty good. I'm relaxing very aggressively, kicking things off by taking not one but two naps on Saturday.Speaking of the number two, I saw The Two Towers on opening day, and loved it (how's that for a segue?) My theory for cinematic success suffered a painful blow when Jackson ended the movie earlier in the story than Tolkien ended the book, leaving me to wonder about Shelob for another twelve months. Let's be clear on one thing, though. The spiderlessness of the film had absolutely no impact on my enjoyment of it. I was, however, a little frustrated to learn that Jackson's Oliphants are bigger and meaner looking than my Loxies, but that's a professional problem.
And now, for something completely different.
My son came home from his Christmas party at Pre-school with a little train made of candy. Some of the candies were those nifty Hershey's Kisses with almonds in them. He opened it up and exclaimed: "It haves a SEED! It grow into chocklit tree!"
Now consider for a moment what you, as an adult, would do if you had a seed in front of you that you were convinced would grow into a tree that would bear Hershey's Kisses (or your favorite chocolate confection.) Personally, my first act would be to lock the seed up for safety, determine the proper planting season, and make sure that when said season rolled around I was prepared to put the magical seed in the ground, along with all attendant fertilizers, plant vitamins, and soil stabilizers.
My son simply ate it.
I suppose there's a moral lesson here about exchanging what we want most for what we want at the moment. Perhaps its simply an economic lesson about saving and investing rather than spending on impulse. Either way, at this time of year it's probably apropo.