Why I Hate Christmas

Contrary to popular belief, December 25th has nothing to do with Jesus’ birth, a jolly obese man dressed in red pajamas, or presents. Christmas has its roots in astrology and ancient mythology. This is a day that has been celebrated by different religions and by different groups of people all over the world, thousands of years before the Christians dubbed it as the day of Christ's nativity.

Approximately on June 21st (Summer Solstice), the Sun reaches its highest point in the sky marking the longest day of the year as day and night are exactly 12 hours in length. From this day on, the Sun rises one degree less and less every day. This brings longer nights, colder weather, end of the crop season, death of nature, and so on. Many ancient people were well aware of this fact and worked this astronomical phenomenon into their mythology as the metaphor “darkness overcoming the Sun” (most people regarded the Sun as their god). On December 22nd (Winter Solstice), the Sun makes it to its lowest point in the sky and stays there for three days. On December 25th the Sun reverses its trajectory, rising one degree each day, "overcoming the darkness", and beginning its journey up the sky.

The ancients, thousands of years ago, would celebrate this day as it meant the rebirth of the Sun, longer and warmer days, the return of crops and nature and so on. Thus, December 25th has always been a celebration of the Sun’s position in the sky, and its relationship with life on Earth. So how did December 25th become known as Christ’s birthday? Both religious and secular scholars agree that no one knows Jesus’ actual date of birth, assuming he existed. Theologians around 300 AD estimated that it occurred sometime around mid-late December, estimates which secular scholars regard as arbitrary. Regardless, the Church christened December 25th as Christ’s birthday which happened to correspond with winter solstice festivities.

Most mythologies surrounding the winter solstice had some concept of a “gift-bringer”. This idea evolved over the centuries into a concept of a Father Christmas, with varieties depending on the culture. However, this idea took a new form in the mid 19th century. Thomas Nast, a famous caricaturist and editorial cartoonist who worked for a political magazine called “Harper’s Weekly” would draw a new image of Santa Claus annually beginning in 1863. Nast standardized the image of Santa as a fat and jolly old man. Advertisers capitalized on this image and began to use it to sell their products. White Rock Beverages used this image to sell mineral water in 1915 and ginger ale in 1923. This was followed by a massive advertising campaign launched by Coca-Cola. This campaign solidified the image of Santa Claus that we now recognize today. Below is Nast's first official Santa Claus image:

This brings me to the second thing I hate about Christmas: it promotes consumerism. The Christmas holiday is the biggest economic stimulus for many corporations and countries. People have been socialized by the media and our consumerist culture to buy things they do not need and buy gifts for people who do not deserve them. In 2006, Americans spent $450 billion dollars during the Christmas holiday. Furthermore, the massive consumerism of Christmas has an environmental toll: increases in used resources, increases in energy, increases in CO2 emissions from producers and consumers, increases in waste, and so on.

People look at me like I'm diseased when I tell them I am not willing to participate in Christmas festivities. The minute I mention to anyone that I hate Christmas they are shocked, like I’ve just used the c-word and Jesus in the same sentence. My position is not complex - I simply do not like the “religious” and consumerist aspects of Christmas. Since Christmas cannot be avoided, I encourage you as least enjoy your time off work. Eat your face off and try to get along with your family members. If the dreaded family reunions make you want to slit your wrists, worry not because I'm positive that plently of alcohol is available! Try not to trample any old ladies during the boxing week sale and make sure to shower your kids with presents, turning them into ungrateful spoiled brats.

Oh, and have yourself a wonderful and very Merry Christmas.

Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words?

Or rather, "Is a Picture Equal to a Thousand Words"? It's hard to say. One could go about comparing the average amount of disk space that a small picture file occupies to the average amount of disk space a thousand words would occupy as a basic text file. However, directly comparing file sizes is not this straightforward...

File format can significantly affect file size. The same exact picture with the same exact dimensions (length x width) will produce different file sizes depending on its format (i.e., JPEG, BMP, TIFF, PNG, etc.). A quick Google search has revealed over 200 image file formats, with many more under development. A comparison of three popular word processors resulted in different file sizes. To get a baseline reading, it makes sense to save a word file as a blank document. Doing so, the Notepad file is 0 kilobytes, WordPerfect X3 is 1.64 kilobytes, and Microsoft Office 2003 comes in at a whopping 23.5 kilobytes. Using Notepad offers two advantages. First, you eliminate the confounding variable of file size of the actual program because it is 0 kilobytes. Total disk space of a file containing a thousand words would have to expressed as "x - 1.64 kilobytes" and "x - 23.5 kilobytes for WordPerfect X3 and Microsoft Office 2003, respectively. Second, other variables such as font type, size, and format, etc. are eliminated because these could erroneously inflate file size, a problem that is present in Notepad to a minimal degree.

Another important consideration is word length. File size will depend on the average size of the words. Larger words (i.e., disestablishmentarianism) would take up more space than smaller words (i.e., play). Using data from the UDHR in Unicode database, English has an average word length of 5.10 characters. Dangme, a language used in Ghana and Togo, has an average word length of 2.76 characters whereas Amharic, used in North Central Ethiopia, has an average word length of 49.06 characters. Thus, language will also affect file size.

For pictures, the situation becomes less clear. What is considered as an average picture size? Pictures taken for personal use on a digital camera depend on the camera settings but will usually be larger on average. Pictures on websites are usually compressed to save space. A Google search has revealed only one thing, that picture size varies greatly. The most common picture format is JPEG with an average picture size of 1 megabyte. TIFF format is extremely large compared to JPEG resulting in high quality pictures averaging in at 9.9 megabytes. PNG clocks in between JPEG and TIFF with an average file size of 6.5 megabytes. However, it is evident that average size depends on a complex interaction between format, purpose, and the equipment used for taking and storing the picture.

Conclusion: Using random strings of letters that are 5 characters in length, a Notepad file containing 1000 words is 5.95 kilobytes. Compared to the average file size of the most common picture file formate JPEG, which is 1 megabyte, we see that the picture file is 168.07 times larger. So is a picture really worth (or equal to) a thousand words? I argue that it depends on many variables, but most likely no.

Meister Defiant

I spent almost 10 months living with an immature 27 year old. Everything in his environment has to be in a designated place in the proper way. For example, the TV remote can't go here, it must go there. My dishes can never go in there, they must always go here. My shoes can't sit off to the side in the entrance way, they must always be in the closet. I've come to expect him to kick my shoes around if I dare put them in the entrance. This suggests that his anxiety escalates if people do not conform to his strict ways.

He achieves a sense of control through a strict daily routine. His daily routine over the 10 months was the same as it was in the months before and will continue to be the same in the future. For example, let us analyze a typical day in his life. His alarm goes off and he hits the snooze repeatedly for exactly one hour - everyday. He showers, goes into his room, and blasts his music for exactly 10 minutes while he dresses - everyday. He eats the exact same thing for breakfast (Vector cereal, no milk) - everyday. He takes his vitamins at the exact same time - everyday. He gets to school at the exact same time - everyday. He gets a coffee and sits at the exact same spot before his class starts - everyday. He goes to the bathroom at the exact same time right before his afternoon class - everyday. He eats the same afternoon snack at school at the exact same time, timing it down to the minute - everyday. He comes home and naps for exactly one hour - everyday. At 8:30pm he eats the same thing for supper, chicken fingers and fries - everyday. This is usually the end of his routine as he alternates between getting high, video games and television. He goes to bed late and starts the routine over the next day. I believe that if his routine is interfered with, which one should expect given that there are 3 other people in the house, I believe that his anxiety surges.

Another factor is his asocial attitude. Out of his own will he has become more and more reclusive, resulting in a lack of a social life and very few friends. He has expressed on several occasions he does not like being around many people and that "going out with people for social drinks on a weekend is stupid". In a 10 month period, he left the house to socialize a handful of times. Two of those times were due to his brother, who lives out of town, forcing him out. This most certainly contributes to a banal existence. His life lacks the moderate excitement associated with going out with peers on a weekend to hang out and relax.

What I believe to be the MAJOR problem which lies at the root of all other problems is that he s happy being miserable. Constant reminiscing about the times we did such and such back in 2001, dwelling on his two ex-girlfriends that want nothing to do with him and have long moved on. He is the personification of “emo”. There are people who do it for the sake of fashion. Their “emo” is external. I believe that his “emo” is completely internal.

If you sum all these characteristics, you are left with a miserable person. Thus, when someone (which in our living arrangement was most often me) interferes with his schedule and the strict grasp he has on his life, he freaks out because his way of doing things have been disrupted. We then have to deal with his regressive (temper tantrums, whining, stomping) and passive-aggressive (kicking my shoes around when I am away) reactions.

He has created a miserable world that he basks in. I believe his stubbornness has led him to ignore the collective good of the house for his personal agenda. No one should be expected accommodate an inconsiderate, miserable asshole. I refused to live according to his expectations and I am glad he is gone