Merry Christmas and thank you for ruining my day.

Dear Guy With The Blue Metalflake Guitar:

What sort of inconsiderate, selfish ass must you be to set up your instrument and amplifier as big as your swelled head on a patch of sidewalk ten feet from where you see me without so much as coming over to ask whether I'm going to be there much longer?

What sort of egomaniac can you be to defend your rudeness to me by trying to lecture me about how I am never gonna "Make It (TM)" unless I plug my instrument into a suitcase to cater to the Deaf Generation when I ask why you insist on driving me out of the spot I came out early this morning to claim? If you cared about my "making it" you would not be stealing my audience. If you had any class whatsoever, you would have moved down the block and set up a reasonable distance away.

Not to mention lying to me about that being your spot. Funny, I've never seen you there before and while I'm not there every single weekend, I've been out there a fair few this year. In "your" spot.

How dare you continue to try to lecture me about "making it" when I have said "I'm done with you" very loudly no less than three times. 

Do you feel good about making me pack up in a huff?

Are you happy that you upset me so badly I didn't feel like trying to play anywhere else today?

Oh, and Merry Christmas.

There, now that the rant is out of the way

....I did manage to get some of the pre-Annapolis Christmas shopping done. Found a few goodies at the ever reliable CostPlus World Market, namely some pretty jewelry cases to put the earrings in that I got for Mom and the girls. I never know what to get Alex, so I settled on some chocolates, as well as some chocolate coins for my piratical nephews.

I think I am going to attempt a trip to the Antiques By The Bay market tomorrow morning. From what Miriam tells me, they're both of an age where odd random stuff is cool. You know, the sort of stuff that you'd keep in a cigar box under your bed when you were a kid. While I hesitate to present something like a pocket knife, interesting buttons or badges, an old compass or something like that might make fun Christmas gifts that are more likely to be treasured than trashed.  Besides, it HAS to be better than attempting to storm a Toys R Us full of Christmas shoppers.