Bah, humbug! - and similar salutations of the season! So yesterday I got through mailing out the horde of gifts to the family back east and, once again, for the most part, it cost more to mail them than to buy them. Now I'm writing out bonus cheques for the various and sundried (or is it sun-dried?) help...jacuzzi man, gardener, postman...It's all becoming a real expensive pain-in-the-butt. The lovely wife and I finally pow-wowwed with some of the relatives a few years back and instead of going crazy buying gifts for each and every individual, we now have narrowed it down to one sort of representative gift to the family...and gifts for children and really old elders. But it's still a hassle and we're now reconsidering those annual cheques to various nieces and nephews who are now through college and making their own way in the world and starting families of their own. It must stop somewhere!
We're seriously considering telling everyone we've donated a 100 dollars in their name to our favourite charity CJATL...otherwise known as Chuck and Julieanne's Annual Trip to London.
And don't get me started on business gifts...although I've noticed that most of those various and sundried (or is it sun-dried?) handlers of mine have stopped sending out their annual loot and I'm wondering why I should reciprocate? I'll get something from my business manager I'm sure, but it does seem the treasure-trove from agents and studio nabobs has dried up lately (maybe it's only because I'm no longer the hot ticket I used to be)...though I did get a lovely, elegant silver two-faced alarm travel clock from Jeff Zucker of NBC, home of my current project. It's great...you can set it on the time where you are and the time back home.
On top of all that, I'm either getting over a cold or sinus-crap and it's a bloody bore. I used to have more time for the festive aspects of Christmas and it wasn't such a dreary drudge.
I did pick up a few items at Amoeba with which to regale the lovely wife and myself for the next few days. LORD LOVE A DUCK, which the lovely wife has never seen. MORGAN, which I have never seen. And A KID FOR TWO FARTHINGS, which neither of us have ever seen and was bought because BK's review of it the other day piqued my curiosity.