christmastimeish

my family, being the anxious American family that we are, have actually succeeded in moving the gift unwrapping as far forward as Christmas Eve Eve. each year the Cooper family manages to play the "lets unwrap a gift the night before" game. its fun. it used to be my sisters and i pressuring to open a gift or two, but nowadays i feel like my parents are way too excited and end up offering the option instead of us pleading for such an opportunity.

usually i go for the cd-shaped ones when these opportunities present themselves because then it gives me a chance to listen to it before getting in the car for trips to visit relatives in nearby states. i guess i usually do get to listen to it in the car on the way. my family has this wonderful characteristic where we all like country music. all but me that is. i can handle Garth Brooks...but thats about it. they all dig the "pop country crap" (read Rascal Flatts and Kenny Chesney). so usually we get about 30 miles out of town and the radio/cd gets turned up, and, naturally, i open a book and pop in the earbuds. only tough part - i usually get multiple cds for christmas cause the list i provide my family with at the beginning of the holiday season always turns out to be about 90% music. so unless i jump on the music early i never give it the listening time it deserves.

the first cd in my holiday music staggering is John Legend's second cd "Once Again". i'm typing to it right now - i'm on track 5 of 13 and i'm lovin it. equally as great as his first cd thus far.

in probably more shocking and controversial news: i got a new hat a few days ago. for those that are familiar with me and my skinny punk style you are already aware of the magnatude of such news. for those not familiar: i will start by informing you that i have had the same st. louis cardinals baseball cap since Christmas 2002. not a day went by for about three and a half years that i didn't wear that hat. finally this past summer i won some new hats doing the speed pitch at Worlds of Fun. you get three pitches and on the third throw you have to guess your speed based on the speeds of the two proceding pitches. i used to pitch in high school, so i've got a pretty decent grasp on my abilities. turns out i'm a speed pitch natural and i've managed four hats in five attempts playing that game in my lifetime. chronologically: bluejays, royals, indians, orioles. i started rotating these hats into my daily routine throughout the summer, and i officially retired my old cardinals hat at the beginning of the fall semester. but then the cardinals won the World Series and i just have to rep my team, so it has been out of retirement for the couple of months.

so i'm trying out a new cards hat now. it is read and white with the old school emblem on teh front. and it says has a 1982 on the back. awesome. its different for me and i'm out on a limb even attempting such a feat. hopefully i'll grow an attachment.

ps. a buddy of mine tossed this video my way so i figured i'd pass it on. its kinda sorta maybe funny til about the 4 minute mark or so, then it gets really incredible/hilarious.

pss. i think this dude looks like Ryan on the Office. love that show.

-ap.