Its Christmas time again and malls are packed. Seeing as this is the first time in 15 years that I haven't had a job (i.e. xmas cash), I've been storming my brain as to what to get my family for Christmas. Tho I don't do credit cards anymore, I do have a card for the Bon Macy's. Because you never know when you'll need to buy a suit. And even if I cut up the credit card, I can still convieniently use my name and social to make a purchase anytime I want, 24-hours a day, just anytime my little heart desires. Still, the thought of herding downtown amidst the crowd to ride the cold, shiny ferris wheel and buy glowy toys from competing Santas (yes, they were selling them on the streets -- 'Oh, Jonny's going to that Rave thing, lets get him some flashy balls and a pack of blow pops*...) ' was not appealing. So, my next thought --- Kanji! Perfect. But where on earth can I buy Kanji? I could look for some online, but it may not get here through the mail in time for the exact day Jesus was born. Or, I could traverse the midsection of the South Center Mall (and peer longingly into my favorite, but well beyond my budget boutique, The Buckle). But ew. Another mall. I'd been thinking so hard about this for the last week, that it hadn't even occured to me that I could simply draw the Kanji myself and it would cost only the amount of a pen and paper. It's just crazy that my first resource was the mall (ok, it was the Internet. You have to give me credit for being somewhat Evolved). But my second resource was the mall. I was stuck within my own container of consumerism long enough to forget that I have two hands that can craft a gift. That is scary. Even those of us who are privvy to the social behavior resulting from a society based on the buying and selling of material goods are prone to wash, rinse, repeat.
*As spoken by Pink
