Had an amazing time yesterday watching Wicked the musical at the Pantages in Hollywood. I've seen it once before, three years after I read the novel. In that time, my siblings also read the novel, so when it went on tour, it made perfect sense for all of us to go together. It was as great as ever and we had awesome orchestra seats. Right now I'm close to getting ready for Christmas Eve dinner with my family and about to pack the gifts into the car.
Seems like yesterday I was on a plane getting home to LA from South Korea taking a halfway break to see my family during my teaching abroad assignment. Now here I am at home with my life in LA. It's crazy how much can change in a year's time.
Well here I am, wishing you all happy holidays, a merry Christmas, and a prosperous 2012.
I can't believe it was a year ago that I was at the halfway point of my teaching obligations in South Korea. I can't believe my friends' holiday party/my re-going away was a year ago. I can't believe that almost a year ago I was in the freezing cold in Las Vegas for New Year's Day and actually missing the snowy weather in Asia.
It's crazy to get people together with busy schedules, but I'm glad and blessed that my friends and I can still gather over the holidays and celebrate the important things this season represents.
A big thank you to Nancy and Phoebe (http://phoebejanesblog.blogspot.com/) for organizing great holiday parties. I also really enjoyed my work holiday party and feel extremely grateful for all the gifts I got from my students and their families. It was also great taking my niece to Toy Story 3's Disney on Ice and the family trip to see Wicked at the Pantages in Hollywood (my second showing).
The wise and inventive Benjamin Franklin once said "The only two things guaranteed in life are death and taxes." He wasn't kidding.
However, what troubles me the most is when I pass by a fast food place (i.e. Jack in the Box) and see that they accept EBT. Then I think, isn't this a luxury and not a necessity? I know I can't go eat out for my meals all the time because I know I should by groceries and everything depends on my availability and budget. This is one of the major problems I have with government assistance.
In this economy and as a taxpayer, I am not opposed to helping those in need with what I earn. There are no sure fire plans in life security and like I've always heard, we are all one decision away from being in that type of situation. Given that, I would much rather my tax dollars not go to overpriced jalapeño poppers and go towards reasonably priced groceries like milk, eggs, and bread.
This brings me to my next topic, drug testing. I remember some time ago I saw a poll on Facebook saying that people who get public assistance should be drug tested on a regular basis. I agree. I feel assistance should go towards families that truly need it. I feel better when I see my deductions and think that a family somewhere that is struggling to make ends-meet is in the very least getting some help. It's one of the foundations of this great country of ours. I do not though approve of the hard working tax dollars my friends earn going towards helping people who cannot help themselves, and would be feeding into those downfalls. I think those in need have no need for drugs when they have bigger fish to fry. I wouldn't want to support anyone's inability to not prioritize.
That came out of nowhere. This week has been a hard week. I've just been uber busy, and I'm sure that will seep into this weekend, it must. Where did November go? Did it go by fast because it involved two holiday long weekends? I'm still waiting, as Green Day puts it, for September to end.
The good thing about keeping as busy as I am is that time flies. I feel like my days are so short, especially because I have to squeeze in two jobs in every possible second possible within the same workplace.
I think, like a "How I Met Your Mother" episode states, in terms of future me. For example, I plan and I plan and I plan. That's just the way I've always been, ask anyone. Everything that is of importance that I have to do is written down somewhere, I guarantee it. When I write things down for a future date, I often see how the "future Osc" will handle it. Then it's kind of fun (my fun) to see how it plays out and how it contrasts how I pictured it in my head.
Well I know there are many things that need to get done in December. Because of the current level of time I have committed to for the following weeks, I feel that everything that is "future Osc" is coming up as "present Osc" mighty fast, too fast. So much needs to get done, but that's life, the never-ending to-do list.
On a non-related note I saw Sting live on Nov 30 (which is last month!). Past, present and future Osc highly appreciate and will continue to appreciate the genius behind the song "Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing)." That live performance made more than my day.
