I don't know about you, but I find the holidays kind of depressing. I know that everyone around me is so excited about what is going on with them and their families, but for me, I get down.

When I was a kid, I loved the holidays. Sometimes I wonder why. As I got older, there always seemed to be some kind of family argument, which it seems my dad was behind. But when I was younger, I understand why. I would get presents, which at that time would consist of Star Wars figures and such.

My favorite Christmas memory is around second grade, or at least around that time. My grandfather, a miserable person at times to be around, was kept at hospital (I think mental) so it was just my grandma, mom, brother, and me. It was a great night, as we open gifts and celebrate on Christmas Eve night. I got a Hoth play set and lots of figures. My brother and myself had a great time.

I have fond memories of Christmas on the farm, and one while living in town in Avilla. Then the memories seem to run together. As I got older, it was always nice to be with family, but for whatever reason, I can't seem to keep them apart like those from my childhood.

After my grandma died, Christmas has been tougher. The year she died, we did our best to make things as pleasant as possible. We had two additions to the family, Sable and Terra, two beautiful black cats. I remember going to Florida on vacation after Christmas was over and had the best time that we could under the circumstance. We had some good ones, and tough ones after that. The bad one was the year of the ice storm. We finally got our power back on Christmas Eve, which was a great gift. It was the last one in Indiana. The past few have been in Florida, which are interesting.

The good thing about Florida is that when the holidays are over, you don't get the post holiday blues. In Indiana, it is cold and gray, and tough to keep a happy face. I suffer from depression in January and February in Indiana. I don't remember having that issue when I lived in Florida, since you could always go and visit mother ocean. Here, you go to bed and drink as much as possible.

I hope to one day have a family of my own to share the holidays with, to watch my child or children open gifts with anticipation on Christmas Eve night. I am a Christmas Eve person, the idea of getting up early in the morning for anything is not for me. I look forward to that one of these days.

I also look forward to getting past the post holiday blues.

As my favorite comic Dennis Miller used to say...I don't mean to get off on a rant...but...

It seems that we have lived our lives trying to conform to societal norms. Not me, at least not anymore. I don't see a reason to. Some see me as strange, others as eccentric, but most just see me as their friend.

Don't get me wrong, we all have to live by the social contract. There are certain things we must follow. We must follow all of the rules that have been passed so we don't go to jail or have other troubles. We follow the rules set forth by our church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or such. This is important to us. That is not what I am talking about.

I am talking about conformity, living like others expect you to. Basically, married with 2.5 kids, certain stock options, vacation at the same place every year, possibly a timeshare, Sundays watching football all day, Friday night dinners at some boring chain restaurant, golf on Saturdays. Look, for some that may make them happy, but I hate golf and football (okay, I guess I like minature golf), and vacation should be exciting.

We live our lives from day to day, unable to enjoy what is around us. I am not saying you all should just go backpack across the U.S., not buy a house and stay in an apartment, not have kids, or not watch football, just don't do it because that is what the commercials on television show you or what others expect of you. Do the things you want to do.

Many people find me a bit strange in the Midwest, maybe they would elsewhere. I can't say for sure. I like going to wineries over watching football, I prefer theatre and movies to any sporting event. I love to write, and have published a few books. I like to spend time getting to know other people, engage in conversation and such. I don't like to stand still for too long. I like to work and I like to play. Heck, I still have a collection of Star Wars toys.

Why do so many people do what others expect of them? I guess I used to do the same. Then I just changed, I don't remember when or why. I guess I embraced who I am, to some degree. Again as an author, I guess I don't always embrace myself and question myself often, but that is for another day. The point is, I can't just do what others expect me to do. I want a career, but I still want to explore my creative side, so I can do both. I don't want to be stuck in a rut.

Are you a mindless drone and do you want to snap out of it? First of all, sell that timeshare, you can only go to Panama City so many times in your life and not get bored. Explore the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest, New England, or if you can afford it, go overseas. Rather than Pizza Hut or Pappa John's, try a little mom and pop pizzeria, they are more fun. If you don't have a routing interest in the team playing that afternoon, get out of your seat and go to a museum or brewery on a Sunday. Don't go to Applebee's or TGI Fridays, set out and explore a local chain if you have to have a chain, or a little hidden treasure out of the way.

Again, as Miller used to say...th

When I was a child, I love watching the Bugs Bunny Road Runner Show on Saturday mornings. I loved Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Pepe Le Pew, The Tasmanian Devil, and Speedy Gonzalez, to name a few. But there were things that I found frustrating, and that was the lack of success of Sylvester the Cat to land Tweety and the Coyote to finally catch the Roadrunner.

I used to want to make the famous cartoon when Sylvester finally got to eat that all important Tweetie sandwich, but then again, we don't really need a cartoon snuff film, now do we. I remember on the episode when Sylvester catches Tweetie and tries to make him into a sandwich, but Tweetie had taken the Dr. Jeckyl formula and turned into a creature, and even ate Sylvester at one point, before he got out.

I also recently watched a film on You Tube where Wile E. Coyote finally catches the Road Runner, only to become dejected with his life since there is nothing left to it. He got to eat it with his domestic partner, but then life gets dull for him. In the end, he takes his own life over it. It was very amusing.

The thing that was probably most frustrating was that Tweetie and the Road Runner were seen as the good guys, and Wile E. Coyote and Sylvester were seen as the bad guys. I have no problem with the Road Runner, he's just a speed junkie who loves to take part in a good chase. Tweetie was the one that drove me nuts. He would antagonize Sylvester, and you understand why Sylvester wanted to eat what little meat off of him that he could. You route for Sylvester, he's not really a bad guy, but a cool cat.

Funny that I don't feel the same way about the Speedy Gonzalez/Daffy Duck dynamic. Yes I like Daffy, but in the Speedy cartoons, Daffy becomes very unlikable. You find yourself routing against him. It gets to a point where you don't always like the normally lovable Daffy. By the end of the series, they finally are best of friends and the dynamic has changed by then. The point is, you don't really support Daffy in catching Speedy like you do Sylvester catching Tweetie.

Then again, Bugs Bunny antagonizes Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam, amongst others, but you always support him. Cool Cat drives Colonel Rimfire nuts, but you want Cool Cat to win out. They just are so much cooler, for lack of a better word, than Tweetie.

What do you think