We have a table that easily seats 12 in our dinning room. But this year, the house is quiet. With vehicle problems our son Sean and his

Our first empty nest Christmas dinner.

fiance Royanna could not make it to Christmas dinner tonight. So there will be plenty of leftovers this year from our 20 pound turkey.

On this cold winter’s evening the quiet dinner with an old Christmas movie was just the right thing to sooth my disposition. Also the gift of a Cuisinart Electric Knife from my wife added novelty to the turkey cutting.

Although pleasant, somehow I miss the sound of Sean’s drumming in the studio and video games. Perhaps we will see them Saturday.

The majority of my friends have some of the fanciest cellphones on the market. They show me the pictures they have taken; and also show me the coolest graphical interactions. Many of the features their phone have are remarkable features and are quite intuitive.

Deep inside, I feel sorry for them.

The truth most of my friends can’t afford the cellphone they have.

How do I know? It’s easy. Give them a call. They hardly ever answer their phone:They can’t afford the minutes.

If you’re lucky, they might reply using text messaging instead.

They don’t get it. Some of my friends would rather loose their home first before loosing their cellphone service. They would rather pay 120.00 a month than 25.00. Some are even piss poor students who can’t feed themselves. Many are on family plans where the minutes by division are so divided, only the text messaging feature is valid.

So my wife and I discontinued our cellphone service, and we are happier. What’s the point in calling people who don’t answer their phones? (and even if they don’t pick up you have to pay.)

American’s are an easy mark for free and discounted products. “Start ‘em cheap and bill ‘em later heavy” is the motto of the cellphone industry. This in the same country where marketing easily causes an immediate discourse in values: buy a cake on sale, and buy a case of Diet Pepsi to make up for the calories.

I have found that friends without cellphone are happier, and better yet, are more inclined to take you to dinner!

There’s this one lady who reads my blog pretty regularly. She doesn’t blog herself, but sends me little notes and exclamations about my misspellings. She likes short sentences. She questions my content, but always with a warm heart.

For that I am thankful. It keeps me in check.

Ruby has a cornucopia of personal qualities. She has quite a colorful personality, and quite a history to tell. She’s a artist, a terpsicorian, a counselor and a Universalist, She’s an actress and a certified clown. She is a very spiritual person but doesn’t wear it on her shoulder, and is a terrific social mixer. She is my only reader that is an ice skater on the pond of life.

She’s okay by me, and I have alot to thank her for. With her I get the real deal.

“Nothing endures, but personal qualities.” – “Walt Whitman

Some people call her Mary.

Thanks, Mom. And thanks for the Mohead.