I'm sorry, but we DO need to shop for Christmas!

We DO need to shop:

Local craft stores.

Helping local people.

Fuck the big chains. They see us as nothing more than walking wallets (though they forget we need jobs to pay for everything. they want.)

Why give Big Toyco a penny for a Bratz plastic blow-up doll or a Matchbox car?

Why sell out to the big corporations like where johns starvin' for sex.

So, how to resolve the problem? Do unto them as they are trying to do to us: pretend they do not exist.

Let's make Christmas PERSONAL again: Giving from ourselves. Helping ourselves. Saying "Wrap this!" to the giant chains.

David whipped Goliath's paltry butt.

So why can't we collectively do the same?

Stay local. Fight the globalized nightmare. Be real patriots and help your neighbor and yourself. Don't help the giant chain, who sees you as nothing.

Walmart can rot. We don't deserve to.

Buy a neighbor's hard-made craft. Even make your own craft! Craft store. Craft sale. People helping people locally. It's fun, engaging, and you it keeps you from watching the idiot-box, boob-tube, or whatever other epithet a 'television' has.

Look to peoples' talents. Not the polystrene lump being hyped to children in the ma$$ media.

Best of all, by giving of ourselves and not a pointless plastic status symbol that will be forgotten in a couple of years, we teach our children the REAL values in live. And our society has slowly been losing that for a long time now. Even I, as a child, bought into it - but see now how Christmas, as repukes want it to be, is far more damaging to families than anything else imaginable.

Who's with me? Or am I alone on this, in which case we've already lost. Not just the battle. But the war. The war of family. The war of values. The value of self-importance. The value of individuality. These are the truest freedoms of all, and the corporate junk only serves to enslave us. And our children. And our childrens' children.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=287&topic_id=1518&mesg_id=1518

for the smaller gifts, I find Holiday Tins and Plates at the thrift store and make cookies and gift baskets with teas and coffee and cocoa with cups etc...

it's fun, cheap and personlized for everyone on my list

:thumbsup:

:yourock:


A+++ job. You genuinely should go pro.

now to pack him for the trip from AZ to Louisiana

:fingerscrossed:

That's what most people NEED, nowadays. If they want to use it to buy groceries or gas, it's up to them.

Easy to wrap, too!

my two boys, ages 20 and 18 now, still purchase their clothes at used clothing stores locally. They like old retro stuff. Not cheap, just old school. So every year I buy new socks and underwear for them, a couple of gift certificates for the stores they like and make them a quilt or something to hang on their wall, photo albums, pillow cases, curtains, pajamas and boxer type shorts and other stuff like that. It's fun!

over which of my specimens will be included in my five year old grandson's first rock/mineral collection. I suppose it won't be so difficult if I turn them into a screensaver to remember them by. :cry:

chains here in Tallahassee. There are a few gift shops run by Republican trophy wives (I hate that expression but gosh, sometimes it is just right on) so those are out. I find ebay a good solution, especially for antique glassware, collectibles, etc. Another good solution is a local plant nursery. If you are in the north, you can give either indoor plants or trees (you plant them in January) or gift certs for spring gardens.

All that zoning law crap...

I'd open up a part of mine... though I live in an apartment, so it'd have to be online...

I got far greater variety online that any brick & mortar place could think of offering. Didn't have to fight crowds, use up time commuting, waste fuel, and I got great prices. I used mostly Sharper Image & Amazon.

Its fun, too. I'm doing drawings, stained glass frames and baskets full of goodies like coffee, fruit, nuts and homemade cookies.

:) it was hard work but somebody had to do it. :) Last gift was a Target Gift card. LOL I was in Target < 5 minutes.

My Xmas gifts:

to the two 2-3 yo kids in my complex, two weeks ago I gave their mothers $100 gift cards for ToyRUs...

In Roanoke the big charity is the Recue Mission. I brought a $9 body wash thingy, a $9 makeup thingy, and added a $50 gift card from Target for a 13 to 17 yo girl.

My total in spending this Xmas is $300 and all on kids......

I was picking up my son from Barnes & Nobles yesterday (he goes there to read books for free) and the place was packed.

Many shoppers were just buying anything they thought would be a nice gift.

I suggest those looking for books try shopping online at ebay, half.ebay.com and yes, even amazon. Support your independent bookseller.

That would support those that are trying to earn a living by recycling books and other items instead of contributing to the waste of even more paper for new items.

to avoid the commercialism. I do crafts and have them framed from a locally owned frame shop. I also make up recipes-in-a-jar, everything from cocoa mix, soup mix, dip mix, cookie mix. I also buy from an employee craft show where I work. I have candy recipes from my grandmother that I make each year as well, the old fashioned way.

Ordered a case of the Zydeco Rose' from Pontchartrain Vineyards. www.pontchartrainvineyards.com. Everything I am giving this year will be produced in the New Orleans area. We need to get small Louisiana businesses back on their feet, and I thought it would be the best way for me to spend my money. :)