Introducting a segment.

I am mildly afraid of Management's disappoint in me for not posting anything. Bea apparently has much, much better coping mechanisms than me. The best of which is sending me Danielle Steel-esque post cards every day. I plan on wall papering my entry way with them.

I've been working on the Wedding  First Anniversary Quilt for my cousin. I decided to hand quilt this. I am hoping that it will buy my out of some time in Purgatory. I imagine what my finger tips look like now is akin to something twist fate that befalls hell-bound seamstresses anyway. (I am pretty sure it was covered in The Inferno somewhere.)

There was a lot of socializing that happened, too. Mostly forced. My new strategy to get out of having to be a place is to announce that I need to be home to take my house plants outside, and then quickly run away before anyone thinks about it too hard. Given how successful it is and how quickly they jump on it, I think people are just an anxious to have me leave as I am to do so.

One of the things that Bea and I have noticed about talking to people is that when they are talking they are usually just brainstorming out loud, making you the toothpick they dunk into their pan of chocolaty, not-quite-done-yet thought brownies. Sometimes, it comes out that they're not even brownies in the first place, but some other contradictory baked good analogy.

Often times, things just need a little more thought. So I'd like to introduce the "Wait.... what?" segment to our blog. Every now and then (ok, most of the time) Bea and I have to run something through the processors more than once. This is a chance for us to ruminate on some of the more puzzling things in life.

Take for example, The Krampus. Bea brought this video to my attention A Krampus Carol - YouTube
 This tells the story of the Krampus, one of the darker figures from German folk lore. While the rest of the world was pretty on board with importing the positive reinforcement part of St. Nick, most of the world forgot about the positive punishment portion of this. Essentially, the Krampus, Kris Kringle's side-kick, would come and beat naughty children after Santa came through.

Krampus Clubs and Parades are quite popular in Germany, and actually they look pretty cool. See the video: Krampuslauf Graz 2010 Now, this is actually a Christmas tradition I could get behind, and growing up in a German household, this figure was always a part of my cultural knowledge. Some people might suggest that warped me. Now, I never feared the Krampus, but I also knew that being naughty would have much more significant repercussions than lack of rewards.

Like the old saying goes, there are two sides to every coin. And the opposite side on this particular coin is a bell-wearing half goat that will toss you into an icy river if you've been bad. The higher the risk, the higher the reward. Without the Krampus, being bad only means you don't get rewarded. Which to me translates to, "Well, if you're pretty satisfied with your life, go a head and be bad. You've got nothing to lose." Krampus though.... he'll lick your face for stealing candy.  And that's a lesson I think we could all benefit from learning.

But seriously, what was with the licking?