Auntie Pt 2
I am an Auntie again! My sister gave birth there to a wee lad. He will be called Alexander 'Willaim or Harry' Chua - Toh Tuck. Well the Toh Tuck was just me and my mom making fun of my sister since she hadn't chosen her chinese name yet. How can you not choose a Chinese name yet? i asked her. That's the important one. It's ok if you don't have the Snaskrit name, which i pretentiously have chosen to saddle MY children with. I'll give him one. Toh Tuck school is a Chinese language school in Singapore. I'm sure that the name was perfectly respectable in 19th century China.
And speaking of William, Prince William slept out rough for his charity Centrepoint which looks after the homeless. I read this article to a friend, who cares for them in Belfast. Please stop reading it, she begged me. Are you having murderous feelings in your chest, i asked her. She nodded. Then the article went on to say, The prince slept a sheltered area, protected by some wheelie bins. But he wasn't protected from the cold, or the hard floor, or the pimps and drug dealers or the people out to give the homeless a good kicking. To which i retorted, where is GPS when you need it?
Why is it that when rich people try to do good things we end up hating them? Like Princess Diana and her land mine walk with the perspex glasses and the flak jacket. That was shortly before she was squished herself, and i felt terrible for making fun of her Bambi like steps across the no man's land. And Prince William he tries his best, but still, no dice. What is it about their efforts that look a bit weak and sorry.
So Christmas is rolling round again nd you have no idea how SMUG i felt walking into Tescos to get some stocking fillers and seeing how miserable everyone was. It was a weird combination of bored and stressed. Bored because Christmas has been celebrated since September and stressed because they had all this time to get ready and hadn't and now they were in dinormous queues which would make a mythical anaconda proud.
In Bloomfield, which i had to brave since i was due to get Peter's present, the season of badwill was in full swing. I parked my car outside the shopping centre since there was another queue, metallic this time, which was taking forever to get in. As i tottered over the slippery ice, i saw an old lady who was carrying a white firbe optic tree about twice her size and about to collapse. I offered her a hand. If no one did, she might be there till Christmas, i thought, so it might as well be me.
In M&S you'd have thought they were giving away turkeys and champagne bottles. The clothing department was lie TKMexx on a Sunday afternoon. I shuddered to think what TKMexx was like on this afternoon. I got in and got out - the getting out consisted of standing in another queue, but it was sorted. My christmas shopping was over.
And my friends - those i gave something to - got the chocolate truffles which turned out really well. Delia's recipe is certainly worth doing - the way she makes it ensures the chocolate does not split. It is genius.
Why do people do this to themselves? Why they fee the need to go completely overboard? And while all this happens, the real miracle, of the nights shortening and the days becoming longer once again is missed. Ever so subtly, the year has turned and we have missed it. Amidst the crap, the fakery, the plastic shite. We have missed the rebirth of life. That is why i suppose christmas is symbolised by the birth of a child. A star. The courage of a tiny bird in the winter. From being a moment of closings and openings, of simple hope, it has been hijacked, by this force of selfishness and greed. Everything seem to be hijacked that way.
One more thing about bankers, talking about selfish and greed. Bankers should be made to do national service. People who do jobs which give them ridiculous incomes should be forced to live in the real world. I know it sounds vaguely Cultural Revolutionish, but what do people need millions of pounds for? Someone who insists that they need to take home that amount must be poor indeed. So poor that they need the affirmation of money to be validated. Imagine thinking that sitting in a skiing resort or a man made island can bring you happiness? Of course it can, but only if you had it to begin with, and if you are a person who grasps at things, well, i do'nt think the both are compatible.
And speaking of William, Prince William slept out rough for his charity Centrepoint which looks after the homeless. I read this article to a friend, who cares for them in Belfast. Please stop reading it, she begged me. Are you having murderous feelings in your chest, i asked her. She nodded. Then the article went on to say, The prince slept a sheltered area, protected by some wheelie bins. But he wasn't protected from the cold, or the hard floor, or the pimps and drug dealers or the people out to give the homeless a good kicking. To which i retorted, where is GPS when you need it?
Why is it that when rich people try to do good things we end up hating them? Like Princess Diana and her land mine walk with the perspex glasses and the flak jacket. That was shortly before she was squished herself, and i felt terrible for making fun of her Bambi like steps across the no man's land. And Prince William he tries his best, but still, no dice. What is it about their efforts that look a bit weak and sorry.
So Christmas is rolling round again nd you have no idea how SMUG i felt walking into Tescos to get some stocking fillers and seeing how miserable everyone was. It was a weird combination of bored and stressed. Bored because Christmas has been celebrated since September and stressed because they had all this time to get ready and hadn't and now they were in dinormous queues which would make a mythical anaconda proud.
In Bloomfield, which i had to brave since i was due to get Peter's present, the season of badwill was in full swing. I parked my car outside the shopping centre since there was another queue, metallic this time, which was taking forever to get in. As i tottered over the slippery ice, i saw an old lady who was carrying a white firbe optic tree about twice her size and about to collapse. I offered her a hand. If no one did, she might be there till Christmas, i thought, so it might as well be me.
In M&S you'd have thought they were giving away turkeys and champagne bottles. The clothing department was lie TKMexx on a Sunday afternoon. I shuddered to think what TKMexx was like on this afternoon. I got in and got out - the getting out consisted of standing in another queue, but it was sorted. My christmas shopping was over.
And my friends - those i gave something to - got the chocolate truffles which turned out really well. Delia's recipe is certainly worth doing - the way she makes it ensures the chocolate does not split. It is genius.
Why do people do this to themselves? Why they fee the need to go completely overboard? And while all this happens, the real miracle, of the nights shortening and the days becoming longer once again is missed. Ever so subtly, the year has turned and we have missed it. Amidst the crap, the fakery, the plastic shite. We have missed the rebirth of life. That is why i suppose christmas is symbolised by the birth of a child. A star. The courage of a tiny bird in the winter. From being a moment of closings and openings, of simple hope, it has been hijacked, by this force of selfishness and greed. Everything seem to be hijacked that way.
One more thing about bankers, talking about selfish and greed. Bankers should be made to do national service. People who do jobs which give them ridiculous incomes should be forced to live in the real world. I know it sounds vaguely Cultural Revolutionish, but what do people need millions of pounds for? Someone who insists that they need to take home that amount must be poor indeed. So poor that they need the affirmation of money to be validated. Imagine thinking that sitting in a skiing resort or a man made island can bring you happiness? Of course it can, but only if you had it to begin with, and if you are a person who grasps at things, well, i do'nt think the both are compatible.
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