shoppers rush home with their treasures

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As AK’s roommate Alberto recently pointed out, “Even when I was a little kid, I was like, ‘What’s up with “Silver Bells”? That’s a song about shopping.’”

One of my goals for the holiday season (well, pretty much my only goal, since “send cards early” is pretty much out of the question) is to not buy people a bunch of shit that they don’t need, that I can dubiously afford and that was probably made by a 15-year-old in Bangladesh.

I’m happy to see that holiday fairs selling fair trade goods, local handmade products and donations to good-causes are popping up all over the place. On Sunday I went crazy getting tubes of caulk for Habitat for Humanity on behalf of my manly relatives at All Saints’ Alternative Christmas Market. I’m totally caught up in the whirlwind—it’s a slightly less glamorous whirlwind than the evil-but-sooo-shiny one that blows through the glittery corridors of the Grove, but it doesn’t leave me with that I-just-ate-a-whole-bag-of-greasy-potato-chips feeling afterward.

Apparently, there’s a craft fair happening tonight at the Eagle in Silver Lake. It will be very wholesome, although I imagine the usual guy-on-guy leather porn will be playing in the background.

For those who prefer a little less ho in their ho ho ho (‘tis the season for ho jokes), there’s also the Bazaar Bizarre on Dec. 16: http://www.bazaarbizarre.org/. I went last year, and I highly recommend it. Unless you’re on my gift list, in which case, please stay away, it’s totally lame.

Comments

Jamie Asaye FitzGerald said…
Wow (Stripe is sniffing my toes, well, really the socks covering my toes:), Caulk is first on my Christmas wishlist! Seriously, your holiday whirlwind sounds like a great one. I'm looking forward to the Baz Biz.
December 6, 2006 at 11:35 PM
Cheryl said…
Stripe wants sock and caulk.
December 7, 2006 at 12:47 PM
Claire said…
Back in my LA days, I came across one of my fave rings ever at the Brand Library Holiday fair. It was small, but they had cool stuff. As luck would have it, it's tomorrow.

And even if you don't buy anything, it's a cool library/art gallery.
December 8, 2006 at 7:19 PM
Cheryl said…
Looks fun--and I'm a sucker for anything library-related. Thanks for the tip.
December 8, 2006 at 10:24 PM
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