Happy Holidays Are Here, Merry Christmas SoCalMuchacha, Secret Santa??, Captured Cuties

It is exactly one month before Christmas blogger friends and readers. Whatever your religious affiliation, welcome to the time of year I get a little bit giddy. Not from the state that our world is in, but from the prospects of what it could be. You could not call me religious by any stretch of the imagination. I call myself "spiritual" and that is a broad and all encompassing term. There is at least an amount of beauty in all of the worlds religions to be found if you look close enough or care enough to scratch the surface and the hype. I happen to love the spirit of Christmas insomuch as it is supposed to breed peace on earth and goodwill towards men. The fact that I get to give and receive presents is just a bonus, LOL. So there, for what it means to me, I celebrate Christmas. If you dont, I totally respect your beliefs, but please let me enjoy the season and talk about things, free from perceived notions about any agenda's or religious overtones you may percieve me to have.


I LOVE giving gifts, not just at christmas time, but year round!! (Getting them is kewl too, but not as much fun as giving them from your heart.) Christmas just gives me an excuse to give gifts without anyone feeling guilty or curious about receiving them. However, since I have entered into this blogosphere these 8 months ago, I have amassed quite a few more friends that are deserving of gifts if not of only material things, but gifts of thanks and remembrance as well. From time to time over the next month until we hit christmas day, I will bestowing some "virtual" gifts on blogger friends, readers, family and friends, that I hope you will know comes from the heart if not my empty wallet.



To ring in the christmas season, I have a few gifts for someone who has been with me from almost the beginning, 8 months ago. My beloved blogger friend and probably the "chick I would switch" for, SoCalMuchacha, my own Lady L. You will first unwrap a giant telescope, a magic telescope, where you would be able to peer into the heavens and see Bailey running wild and free on top of the clouds, and spreading the love that our cherished pets, ney family, bring to us. Next, tear the wrapping off the boxed set of 'Craig Ferguson's Funniest Monologues', knowing it's not the content of the jokes, but the joy of your sense of humor that makes all things possible. Balancing on the scales of justice that you treat all people with in both my GLBT community and your Straight but not Narrow community you will find two jewelry boxes. In one box will be a multi-colored bracelet, representing the gay community with brilliant red saphires and dazzling green emeralds and all of the colors of the rainbow represented in rare gemstones. In the other box will be diamond earrings, representing the class and sophistication of not judging others as you do, with rainbows still reflecting thru the prisms of flawlessly cut diamonds. Finally, I give you the world wrapped in a ribbon, that you can untie as you finish your education and the world opens up to your beauty as you find the beauty in all of its inhabitants, including the animals that will be used for spiritual guideposts and not for food or inhumane treatment. Merry Christmas to you Lady L. Thanx for being an important new part of my life as I learn a little bit more about myself and the GLBT community that I am a part of, and try to share that with others.



Another fun part of the holiday season that I love is the "Secret Santa" gift exchanges that you find in workplaces and clubs and some friendship circles. Just a fun little gift for a random person, that you think fit's their personality, whether you know them well or not. I have been thinking about this for a few days now, and don't know if it's even feasible or not, but give me your thoughts.....How about a Blogger Secret Santa?? How kewl would it be to find something unique to you or your area and send it to a fellow blogger friend, maybe miles or oceans away. I am not talking about anything fancy here, maybe a 20 dollar limit or less, (cause shipping could cost as well since we are global blogger friends.) Here's the deal, let me know what you think about this and if you are interested in participating. If so, I will play moderator and it will work like this. Everyone who is interested in participating will have to respond by December 5th. I will randomly assign every blogger participating a number. I will post all those participating and their numbers on my blog. I will then randomly draw numbers here at home and email you the number of the person you are the 'Secret Santa' of on December 6th. You will have until the 15th to select and send your Secret Santa Surprise to your blogger whose number you were given. I will also arrange a "Virtual Christmas Party," where we can all meet in a chat room the week before or after Christmas for whoever wants to jump in and chat with us all. So there it is blogger friends and readers. Give me your thoughts if any of you think this is a good idea, or how we can improve upon it, or if you want to participate. I think we have to have a minimum of 6-10 people participating for it to be a fun success. Some gift ideas could be something unique to you or your home area or your blog, like a blog t-shirt, a local treat like macadamia nuts from Hawaii or some mardi gras beads and mask from New Orleans or a funny gag gift that your person reminds you of. This may not workout, but if you want to try, let me know and send me some emails and comments on your thoughts.



Captured Cuties comes today from blogger friend over at Off The Record, so enjoy. I also spent some time today updating my blogroll links over on the right there, so if you have a chance, check out my blogger friends and tell them I said Hi. I updated ones that I havent added on as of yet, (sorry), and deleted some that have not been updated in a while. If I forgot to add you or take you off, please let me know. Talk soon blogger friends.............GG