‘Tis the Season... Part 2

We got everything done we had planned for. Sometimes there aren't enough hours in the day to complete all of my tasks, especially when Rebecca is involved.

We made due with the "groceries" we picked up at SA and Walgreens. Rebecca and I picked up another Christmas orphan, Serg, before making a delicious breakfast. I took a picture of the end result that I'll post on flickr later.

After breakfast we went to the Rosedale Mall to see Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. I'm a huge Johnny Depp fan, and I love it when Depp works with Tim Burton. The "look" Burton gives his movies is unmatched in todays movie industry. Don't watch Sweeney Todd if blood makes you uncomfortable. Although, Burton's use of blood is so over the top that it's comical.

Later a group of us had dinner Triple Rock. I wish we'd been more prepared for the lack of options over Christmas. Not many restaurant remained open. Most bars remained open. That's to be expected, I guess, but despite the Walgreens employees assertion, Walgreens is not a grocery store. Triple Rock sounded like the best option to me; there's just something very Christmasy about their mashed potatoes and meat gravy. The mashed potatoes remind me of something my grandmother would make. It is my favorite thing on their menu and the best mashed potatoes I've ever eaten.

We finished up dinner, picked up the sleds in south Minneapolis and headed to 40th and Bryant Ave. South. It was obvious the hill had been run a lot by the difficulty we had walking back up the hill. The closer we got to the top the less snow there was. For every two steps forward equaled one step backwards.

A group of "natives," as they called themselves, were sledding along side us. The two guys stripped down to their boxers and boots for the final runs. Crazy. Crazy, I say. They tried to get me to join them. It's true that it was a warm 34 degrees, but I'm just not crazy enough to expose that much of myself to the weather. I knew I wasn't their intended victim when they started in on Rebecca. If Rebecca had taken her shirt off, I'm sure the boys would have ended up naked.

We finished up and headed to CC Club for a drink and to soak in some more Christmas spirit. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted guy who I thought was Josh Hartnett. I wasn't really paying attention. I'd heard stories of people seeing him out. I remember the Strib made a point of covering a Hartnett and Scarlett Johansson appearance a couple years ago. As i said the other day, unless you're a cultural icon, I'm not really impressed. We all have careers. We all have things we do for a living. Harnett's job just happens to be entertaining an audience. If it had been Prince, however, there's no doubt I would have to tell him what a fan I am.

Hartnett was fun in 40 Days and 40 Nights, but I'm more a fan of Shannyn Sossamon. I casually mentioned seeing Hartnett to Rebecca, and as she looked in his general area, it became obvious that half the bar was also staring at him. I couldn't imagine what it'd be like to have people stare at me every time I went out for a bite to eat or a drink. He was dressed like any other indie hipster kid in the bar. This was his turf just as much it was everyone else's.

Christmas was a success. Family in California received gifts. Mail arrived today from California. Rebecca and I started a some new traditions of our own. I introduced Rebecca to a Christmas tradition of my own, watching Miracle on 34th Street (1947) on Christmas Eve. I'm looking forward to my next trip out west, but over all I'm very pleased with my first white Christmas.

Homogenization

I’ve often joked with people that I’ve met here that I should write a “how-to” book on moving to Minnesota. Sort of a Dummy’s Guide to the Minnesota, it’ll be mostly in jest with kernels of knowledge to be found throughout the book. Yesterday I discovered that the Twin Cities shuts down at 4 PM on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve is not a national holiday. I understand that we all want to get home to see our families on the holidays, but as far as I know, America is not a Christian nation. We are supposed to be a melting pot, where each of us can find our way through being a good person, driven by capitalist ideals.

The forced homogenization of immigrants – the Twin Cities with its large Hmong and east African population – to the American way of life only makes us look like hypocrites. Not everyone in this Christian nation is in fact a Christian. Just because someone moves here doesn’t mean they should be expected to leave his or own creeds in their home nation. What about all of the Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Pagans or Atheists that do not celebrate Christmas with us. Are they, too, expected to celebrate the American commercialized Christmas?

As for those who celebrate Christmas and yet because of life still needed to buy groceries, well, you’re out of luck unless you are willing to do your grocery shopping at Chicago-Lake Liquors, Walgreens and Super America Gas Station. Everything else in the Twin Cities was closed. Google’s 411 text service helped us search out our options.

After over three hours of searching, Rebecca and I purchased Jameson 12 Year, a bottle of Champaign and Spiced Rum from the liquor store; eggnog, two bottle coca cola, whip cream and white bread from Walgreens; frozen sausage, bananas and an energy drink from SA. The bread, whipped cream and bananas are for French toast. The alcohol, eggnog, and coke are, well, mixed drinks. I did discover last night spiced rum and eggnog were invented to be mixed.

We gave up on the idea of cooking dinner last night. We just weren’t prepared for the 4 PM curfew. Luckily Hard Times Café was open, so we eat our Christmas Eve dinner surrounded by others searching for a hot meal, fighting against forced homogeneity.

Rebecca and I have exchanged gifts this morning. Now we’re picking up a friend, making French toast, watching Sweeney Todd and going sledding. It should be an action packed day.