Introducing Hot Pockets: Calendar Edition

Since I got this iPad I've rarely sat down to my computer for any serious writing (or at least as serious as my writing ever gets). Well, that means not as many blog posts. To remedy that, I'm going to start writing Hot Pockets. Just like the frozen food, Hot Pockets will be small and u satisfying, but with the upside of always being one in the freezer, aka, in my brain (have I mentioned I keep my apartment freezing?). The length of such posts will be constrained by how long I can type on my iPad. Please address any information on typos to Apple's Autocorrect department.

To the topic!

I like to have a paper, hang it on the wall calendar. Although they are usually available for free (if all else fails there's the Horses of Wells Fargo calendar my mother can always get from work), I like to purchase the most ridiculous calendar possible. Thus I can be entertained when writing down the minutiae I put on a calendar: doctor's appointments, when I put in new contact lenses, what day I last took a migraine pill.

Two years ago it was a Geek Goddess calendar; pinup girls with nerdy themes like steampunk and video games. It had the added bonus of supporting a small group of young artists. Despite being pleased with the purchase, I didn't buy the calendar again because the young artists in question started plastering my Facebook page with prayer requests and admonitions not to drink tap water because of the fluoride. Young artists I support. Young anti-science evangelicals, no.

Last year was a bust: Retro Ad posters. All because I was too embarrassed to buy the bikini babes riding dragons calendar when shopping with my mother-in-law. I won't make that mistake again.

I thought nothing would ever surpass the sheer ridiculousness of Painted Cats 2003, but this year's calendar may have done it. Without further ado, I am proud to present this year's calendar....Dioramas made of Marshmallow candy!

Holiday Re-Cap

I know, I know, it's the second week of January, everyone is back at work, and everyone is tired of hearing about the holidays.  Well, too bad.  This is a holiday post.

Deal with it

Although I've said many times there is no Christmas in Abu Dhabi, that's not true.  Not at all.  Christmas is so ubiquitous here, you can't go to a shopping mall without seeing a tree and a holiday display.  Santa Claus and Mrs. Santarina visited my little mall (a slight cultural difference there).  There were penguins in parachutes and an elven village in what I would consider one of more "local" malls.  Everyone likes Christmas.  It's by no means a national holiday (after all, Islam may recognize Jesus as a wise man, but Mohammad never said to celebrate his birthday), but it's still everywhere.  That's because Christmas isn't really about Christ anymore.  Instead it's a celebration of family, gift-giving, and the victory of the consumer culture.  That's why there's Christmas here in Abu Dhabi, because people love a reason to shop.  I have no real proof of it, but I would suspect that there's a December celebration involving trees and presents in Saudi Arabia too. 

We had a quiet and enjoyable Christmas with friends, and Dan went back to work the next day.  I earnestly tried to drink myself into the migraine I could feel coming on (after all, if no one else was going to drink that chianti, I had to), but was unsuccessful at that time.


New Year's Eve was a different story.  It was not quiet at all.  We went to a black light party on top of the Aloft Hotel next to the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC).  We booked a room so we could enjoy the evening and then not have to fight traffic or search for a cab. 

Honestly, I did not expect to have as good a time as I did.  Usually when Dan and I go to clubs by ourselves we end up dancing for a bit, then sitting around and staring at each other for a couple of hours.  This was different.  The club has an indoor dance floor and an outdoor lounge area.

With a splendid view of the ADNEC building

That, along with the free-flowing drinks included with admission contributed to a wonderful evening.  So wonderful, that Dan was still intoxicated when it was time to check-out the next morning. 

And that never happens.  I'm the drinker in this family Dan!

And that migraine I tried to drink myself into on Christmas?  It showed up on New Year's Day.  But it was still one of the best evenings Dan and I have had together in years.  Thanks, Relax@12 for having an awesome deal.  There were no fireworks, but we got quite a bit of that at Disneyworld, and I promised Dan if we're still stuck here next year, we'll go to see the show in Dubai at the Burj Khalifa. 

Or we could just watch them on TV...

I'll deal with the crowds, but he's not allowed to lose me; that's a standard rule when we go anywhere, ever.  Don't lose me, and if I wander off, look for the nearest shiny thing.  Here in Abu Dhabi, it's probably a Swarovski crystal display.  Once, it was this:

But can you really blame me?