Holidays are coming

[jmc_bks]

Okay, I've felt really bitchy lately. It's not hormonal. I shouldn't feel so grouchy. But I do. Which is scary, because usually November is a good month for me -- I like the fall season and I love Thanksgiving. [Why Thanksgiving? 'Cause The Biochemist and my birthday usually falls on or around Thanksgiving and we visit each other and indulge in food, books, movie and football gluttony.] After Thanksgiving, I spend most of December feeling irritated with the faux holiday cheer promoted by the shopping industry, then in January I'm back to normal. But the pissy mood has started very early this year and is more intense than usual. It's a combination of pessimism on a larger level and frustration on a personal level, I think, combining into a big black cloud. If mood could be seen, mine would be like Pigpen's dust cloud in the Peanuts cartoon. I'm not sure how to get myself over it; I'm trying to resolve the personal frustrations, but the larger pessimism isn't going to go away until 2008 at the earliest and even then I have my doubts.

The retail holiday season has arrived already, it was here even before Halloween. Target had ornaments and stuff out. And I've begun getting flyers and catalogs. And this morning I noticed that Starbucks has announced that the holiday drinks have arrived: Peppermint Mocha, Gingerbread Latte and something else. Along with the holiday themed cup holder thingees. Yay. Not.

I picked up Women of the House last night and put it back down. The part that I read was good, I just wasn't in the mood. Instead I skimmed a bit of Memory in Death as prep for next week's release of Born in Death.