Well, I got my Christmas loot.  Which is appropriate since Christmas is now a loot holiday as opposed to, you know, something meaningful.  Anyway, I think my gifts this year tell a lot about me.  Especially about how well my friends and family know me ;-)

I’ll give the highlights.  From my brother, I got Notes From Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky.  What’s interesting is that normally I see the title as Notes From THE Underground.  But these translators (Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky) dropped the article.  Of course, Russian doesn’t have articles like that anyway, so either translation is correct.

That aside, Dostoevsky is certainly a master.  I’ve only read a portion of the book so far, and I’m already captivated by his style (a bit of witty sarcasm mixed with soul-searching philosophy, all told from a Russian perspective, which is a distinct flavor in and of itself).  As I said in an e-mail recently to my Mom, reading Dostoevsky you end up humorously stating things like: “The greatest misfortune is that we have no misfortunes.”

But what do you expect from a book that begins: “I am a sick man…I am a wicked man.”?  And if you’d like a direct quote:

And yet I’m certain that man will never renounce real suffering, that is, destruction and chaos.  Suffering–why, this is the sole cause of consciousness.  Though I did declare at the beginning that consciousness, in my opinion, is man’s greatest misfortune, still I know that man loves it and will not exhanged it for any satisfactions. … The only possible thing to do then would be to stop up our five senses and immerse ourselves in contemplation.  Well, but with consciousness, though the result comes out the same–that is, again there’s nothing to do–at least one can occasionally whip oneself, and, after all, that livens things up a bit.  It may be retrograde, but still it’s better than nothing.

That has a certain Fight Club-esque feel to it that’s just killer kewl. :-)

Anyway, my sister and brother-in-law (as well as my nephew) got me a different present.  They gave me Judas Priest’s “Rising in the East” DVD, which I have currently playing in the background.  John (my bro-in-law) and I saw the concert this is based off of when they toured through Denver back in ‘05.  The DVD, of course, is filmed in Japan.

I do have to say, these guys rawk for being in wheelchairs. :-D  Actually, just listen to Judas Is Rising and you’ll realize these guys still have what it takes for speed metal.  And for some reason, the longer I listen to it, the louder the volume goes….

Rawk on!

My grandparents, of course, got me socks and a shirt.  This is the annual thing to ground me to reality ;-)  Can’t live without the bare essentials.  Although this year, underwear is more needed than socks.  My socks have been fruitful and yea, they hath multiplied much in the driereth.

Finally, my parents bought me the most interesting gift that I’ve gotten this year.  They gave me Stephen “The J stands for Jay” Gould’s book, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory.  I also got The Complete Works of William Shakespeare from them.

Of course, my parents didn’t realize this was what they were getting me, as they just gave me a gift card to Borders….  But seriously, I was able to get both those works (about 3,000 pages when it’s all added up) for just over $50.

I’m a bookophile.

I blame my parents for this.

I also blame Bush because he is to blame for everything, including this sentence, for which I also blame Cheney (no, this is not just an attempt to get more hits on search engines).

So that’s the loot I got.  What about the loot I dished out?  Well, I got my sister the soundtrack to Pirates Of The Carribean: A Dead Man’s Chest Wouldn’t Contain The Number Of Sequels We Have Planned.  I got my bro-in-law a bottle of scotch.  And I took my brother to watch Apocalypto. 

I’d write more, but Judas Is Rising is starting up and it’s time for me to spontaneously grow long hair and let the headbanging begin!  !..!  !..!