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December 25. 1998

Holiday Rituals

Happy Holidays, beautiful people! This was the only photograph of myself that I took today (and yesterday.. silly Iko!) and the only reason why I took is was so that I could create a graphic for the rec.arts.bodyart community as a sort of holiday greetings graphic. I kept receiving electronic seasons greetings cards from other people and I wanted to do something different. So, welcome seasons greetings graphics! Feel free to take an image if you like. Well, Christmas for my family really started on December 24th. My mother and father went to Chinatown to buy food for dinner tonight. They bought duck and mami (a filipino noodle soup). My mother bought ham and turkey as well as two different kinds of cheeses. Gouda (our family favorite as long as I could remember) and Jarlsburg. We have never had Jarlsburg before and I was curious to find out what it tasted like. I volunteered when the time drew close to midnight to help my mother with getting ready with the Christmas dinner, so she put me to the task of arranging the cheese, ham, and turkey on a large platter. I eagerly set out to the task and started opening the Jarlsburg cheese. Eww. The smell of the cheese hit me. It was terrible. Very pungent. I turned to my mother and expressed my worst fears. "Eww. I don't think we're going to like this cheese, Ma." My mother's forehead wrinkled and said something about not really knowing what kind of cheese would be good and she just bought whatever. I recommended CoJack cheese next time. That's a favorite of mine (and Mike). I reluctantly continued cutting the Jarlsburg, commenting that I didn't think anyone will eat it. I arranged it lovingly on one side of the platter, the gouda on the other, and ham in the center (encircled with turkey). A photograph is included for your inspection, Constant Reader. Isn't it lovely? My mother asked me to arrange the table and I decided that, in order to maximize the space on the table, I would arrange all the platters at an angle. I have no idea what motivated me to that decision, but it came into my head and I ran with it. Well, I arranged the cups for our cocoa in two lines, like little soldiers. My mother put spoons in each one and it struck me how photographic the cups were. I arranged the spoons all facing the same direction and proceeded to snap several photographs of the cups. Two lines The soliders Amidst the ranks... Forest of cups Lovely. Anyway, my Tito Jun, Tita Edith, and cousin Kim joined us for Christmas dinner. We ate well, except for the Jarlsburg which people sampled but all cringed at. It was disgusting. My mom said that we should throw it away but I said not to so that Mike can atleast have a sample and if he woudln't eat it, then we'll trash the stuff. We opened the presents after we finished dinner. Here's my tally for the evening: Two Victoria's Secret nightgowns (they are great. They look like men's button down shirts) in dark green and dark blue One Victoria's Secret bathrobe in beautiful dark forest green One silver middle-eastern style bracelet, very heavy One stainless steel middle-eastern style necklace, can be worn as a choker One beanie baby, "Fleece", supposedly discontinued at the end of the year Six chocolate covered strawberries The Itty Bitty Booklight Volume 2 Encyclopaedia of Star Wars Star Wars: The Magic of Myth (currently AWOL with Mike) Time Out New York subscription (to arrive in 2-6 weeks) Kodak Digital Camera (to arrive in 2-4 weeks) A conversation piece from mom The conversation piece is well... fascinating and twisted. It's a doll that my mother had made especially for me. It looks like a small kid wearing an elmo hat, soft brown curls, a white turtleneck, denim jumper, and rubber boots. It is posed with its arms up and hands at its face in a gesture that makes it appear that it is crying. I'm supposed to put it in the corner of a room, so it has the appearance of a child being punished for being bad. It is so bizarre. I will take a photograph of it as soon as I can so you can see it, Constant Reader. Mike commented that there's something twisted and sick with a present like that when I described it on the phone to him. Another wonderful thing today: I exchanged several email messages with Darby, the wonderful man that I mention on my December 17th entry. He has given me permission to do what I think is best with his account. Well, Constant Reader, I am willing to share it with you if you are willing to make the special effort to email me with a request. It's a private journal entry and isn't edited. It is beautiful, to say the least. Thank you, Darby, for letting me share your account with others.

© Copyright 1998, Eileene Coscolluela
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