Its Christmas Eve Eve, a perfect time to start Christmas Shopping.

I stopped by my local Borders for some gifts. Naturally, I took the time to wander by the science fiction section and see what they had in the way of Star Wars. (OMG: The new New Essential Guides are out; WTF: Dath Bane: Path of Destruction costs 28 bucks and the paperback doesn't come out until June; BBQ: There's an all in once compilation of the Visual Dictionaries).

And what do I have staring me in the face yet again? Legacy of the Force. DAMMIT! They're up to the third book now, and I'm missing out. Why can't I be on the cutting edge of Star Wars novels, why won't I excitedly read the new novels along with everyone else, before spoilers soak my mind?

Because I've never read the New Jedi Order, that's why. I'm only moderately well read in Star Wars novels. But all along I've been happy with what I knew. I'm missing things, like the Corellian Trilogy, and all the Clone Wars stuff, but most of that stuff is either a single book, or just a trilogy, somewhat separated from the saga as a whole, and in my opinion, pretty much optional reading (in the sense that individually they're not very important to the telling of the saga; everything is optional, of course).

But the New Jedi Order is different. It's an era. It's a whole new sack of potatoes (yes, I just made that expression up). I've never been too enthralled by the NJO. It's too big, too scary. Too doomful. Nevertheless, it, and most other SW novels have always been somewhere in the foggy to do list that is my reading list.

But now, there's something I want to read, but it comes after the NJO. What do I do? I feel like I'm not prepared for something that builds on the NJO, I've haven't experienced so much of the history. But as much as that, if not more, I feel like I'm not worthy of skipping ahead like that.

Anyways, /end personal rant. I just have to get reading again period.


And with that pointless discussion out of the way, Merry Christmas to all.

Ah, what the heck, I got one more quick rant in me.
To the PC people out there: Screw "Happy Holidays."
To Christians: There is no war on Christmas.
It's not wrong or aggressive for people to want to have their religious holidays equally respected, but it is stupid for people to be offended when other people do the same.
I'm a die-hard atheist. My Dad's side of the family is Jewish. My Mom is not religious but she is spiritual. We celebrate Christmas. Christmas, IMO, is the best holiday ever. Thank the Pagans for inventing it. To the non-Christians, give it a shot.
You don't have to include Christ to have Christmas.
You shouldn't be politically correct or apologetic about your own beliefs.
But far more importantly, you should never be offended when others do the same.

So Merry Christmas everyone. May your season be filled with merriment, presents, and an understanding that when you're in America and someone says Merry Christmas, its because it's December, not because they're shoving Jesus down your throat.