Yes, I am agnostic.
Which is why I don't really call it a Christmas tree. Except when I do :)
I love the holidays and about 5 years ago I decided that I was going to celebrate the season any damn way I pleased.
And part of that celebration is embracing Xmas trees and decorations as well as lighting the Menorah on the first night of Hanukkah. Part of it is watching HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS and the CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS special and opening the door for the Hanukkah man (I'll explain later) while also being fully aware that I may very well not believe in God...or maybe I do. Depends on the day. Today- and certainly lately- I kind of do. To the point that there are days where I buy into the more new age concept that we are all God...or even that we are all the same being spread out into multiple consciousnesses.
So like I said: agnostic.
Or fucking insane.
All the damn way, baby.
Check out my Christmas tree decorations! We put it up Thanksgiving morning! A few years back we decided to try to do a sort of old fashioned Christmas tree and that is mainly what it is (in terms of ornaments and such) but as of late, more pop culture elements have been creeping in :)
Hope you guys/gals had a great holiday!
'taint Xmas without the web slingah! Why did I just type 'slinger' that way? What am I, at a baseball game selling peanuts?
Jews for Jesus? Nah. Just seems appropriate given our mixed family and backgrounds. Like I said, it's a HOLIDAY tree :)
Saw these at the Hallmark store and thought they were cool. Not SD manga style, but close. And ya'll know I'm on a Disney kick these days.
There he is! Gotta have one of these, yes? Think I got this at last year's EAT SLEEP PLAY Xmas party. Someone should make a GOD OF WAR one...that would be sweet!
Ok, gonna head out for some coffee (addicted to the Einstein Bros. Winter Blend...I kid you not, it tasted like fecal paste smells at first...but now I can't go a day without it)....
Later!
David
ps. YES, it's a fake tree. Had a real one several years back and dug it but the pine needles got all over the place and it was a pain to chop up enough so it would fit in the trash bins...but one day when I strike it GUITAR HERO rich, I'm buying one of those massive trees that you see the rich folk have in the movies that fit into the giant living rooms and what not :)
pps. no, there are no presents under the tree. The economy man! The economy!!! Actually, we just have not been shopping yet. Also, with a 3 and a 5 year old, you think I'm sticking stuff to unwrap under the tree, out in the open? HELLS no! Plus, I never got that. Maybe some Christians can help out here: if Santa brings the gifts on Xmas eve, why do I always see trees with presents under them much sooner than Xmas eve. Where do you tell kids those came from?
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Neat tree. I have some Yoda ornaments on mine. :) Other than that, the tree we have at our house is pretty "old-fashioned" too. My tree is also fake. I never understood the attraction to real ones. They shed all over the place.
Regarding the presents, my parents would always put presents that were "from them" under the tree, then wait until Christmas Eve while I was sleeping to put the "From Santa" presents under it.
And yes, a God of War ornament WOULD be pretty awesome. That Mario ornament rocks, though.
Santa isn't the only one who bring presents man! lol Santa brings presents, and his stuff only shows up on Christmas morning while all the midgets (kids) are sleeping.
But the presents Mom & Dad got you, or gifts Mom & Dad bought but put Grandma & Grandpa on are under there. Gifts that the kids "bought" for Mom & Dad are under there as well. Santa's not the only gift giver! Usually the week of Christmas those gifts started showing up.
Here's a holiday gift
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/43231.html
Enjoy!
Nevermind slingah, you said taint! lol :D Happy holidays!
Hey David,
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Revealed!!!
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/12/01/uncharted-2-among-thieves-revealed/
"The world premiere of our first trailer for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves!
This trailer will be shown during the 2008 Video Game Awards show, airing on December 14, 2008, at 9:00 PM on Spike. Don’t forget!"
Cant wait!!!!
So David.... What do you think to the Uncharted 2 announcement?!
What does he think? He already saw it before the announcement. Y'all need to catch up on the rumors.
My parents used to put the presents from them under the tree, and then "Santa" would bring the presents on christmas eve. That guy always knew just what I wanted too.
I figured it out when I was 8, and woke up, and sneakily saw my mother stuffing the stockings -_-.
But yeah. We didn't have ALL the presents under the tree. Ususally they saved the biggest ones for christmas.
How bad do you think the economy will hurt the game industry? Will it be harder for newcomers to join? I'm worried about not getting a job.
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I
would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have
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Susan
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David,
I read your blog from time to time. My brother and I were reminiscing the other day about stuff from our childhood and my brother who plays the newest version of Madden for about 1 week every year said, you know what would be awesome, if they brought out a new Twisted Metal?! My brother and I spent countless hours of our youth blowing the s**t out of each other (P.S. Spectre is the best). Just saying that a "Holiday" announcement of some sort would make my year!
"Agnostic" isn't meaningful. It simply means without knowledge. Christians and atheists are both agnostic, if christians deny being agnostic then they cannot claim to have "faith", which requires being agnostic. If you have no god that you believe exists then you are an atheist, you do not have to assert that god does not exist to be an atheist. It's disappointing that the fear of dislike from religious people has lead you to hide who you are.
Anon- not sure I agree with you. Either that or we have different dictionaries. Mine (Webster's) says this:
a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown and probably unknowable ; broadly : one who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or a god
That sounds pretty much like me spot on. Not sure the issue you have with the word. I simply do not know. I have days where I think there may be a God, days where I am sure there is, and days where I think people must be batshit crazy to think there is a God.
To me, I think everyone deep down is agnostic because no one really knows.
David
Hey David .. ! My name is Patrick, and I'm a HUGE fan from Denmark.. My english isn't that good so I hope you can understand what I'm writing :) I was wondering do you have any idear who the director is on GOW3?
Patrick
by the way sir is it okay if I get a picture of you tattooed on my back along with your name ? cause you are seriously my all time hero :)
Hey David .. ! My name is Patrick, and I'm a HUGE fan from Denmark.. My english isn't that good so I hope you can understand what I'm writing :) I was wondering do you have any idear who the director is on GOW3?
Patrick
by the way sir is it okay if I get a picture of you tattooed on my back along with your name ? cause you are seriously my all time hero :)
I'm sorry if you may have gotten this comment twice
There is a teaser out on the internet about Uncharted 2. Thought you'd like to see it!
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/43231.html
mr. jaffester,
The post you made about gears 2 and that story/gameplay merge (I wont' spoil it here just in case)...I didn't see that as a merge because it was done in a cutscene. Sure, there was buildup for him, but after that nothing really changed gameplay wise/protagonist wise. Marcus is still the same person. You think that would have some effect on him.
YESSS Uncharted 2, with added Stealth and Free climbing.
Confirmed by Game Informer!!!
Excited man, I so fuckign am, looks awesome.
OMG, those Disney ornaments are so cute... might have to get me some :O
I'm a real tree stickler myself. Love that piney smell!
what do you think only "santa" gives kids presents. no some are "actually" from the parents.
you always seem like the big chunk of america that got brainwashed by liberal media. not saying its all bad but its a fucking christmas tree. i like that you do the Menorah also but why dont you call that a holdiay candle or something. im sick of how the liberal media turn everyone against christians and christmas. and guess who owns all the media and is brainwashing all of you.
and im not against Hanukkah at all, im just against people who always speak badly about christmas for no fucking reason.
P.S. im born catholic but dont really do the church thing so im not some extremely religous person i just dont like all this shit people are gettin for being christian.
Sean- wake up and read the post my man.
I was raised JEWISH. It's why I call it a Menorah.
It's a HOLIDAY tree that I sometimes call a CHRISTMAS tree because hell, that's what it IS.
That said, I was making clear that I don't celebrate Christmas (i.e. give thanks for the birth of Christ) but celebrate many of the traditions associated with that holiday.
It's got nothing to do with a liberal media and everything to do with the way I feel about things.
Trust me, I have no desire to celebrate the birth of Christ since- while I may- as I said- on some days- think there is a God- have 100% never felt- on the days that there IS a God- that Christianity is the way to commune with that God.
Hope that helps.
David
Our tree is going up this weekend
I love Christmas and have been feeling christmassy for about 2weeks. The religious side not interested, to me its just a cool time of year and an ace holiday.
Spent this weekend warming up by watching National Lampoons Xmas Vacation (not the best NL but its CHRISTMAS) and also watching ELF, which is just ace. today was Christmas songs whilst at work, can u beat Fairytale of New york... unlikely.
Praying for snow in Liverpool this weekend so it feels really like Christmas
David -- While we're on the subject of religion, I do agree with you to a certain extent. I don't come from a religious family (although my grandma is pretty religious).
I do think that there is something out there, though. It just might not be what everyone thinks it is. I'd like to think that, anyway.
"I WANT TO BELIEVE," I guess.
Hey Jaffe, what my family has usually done is get presents for each other early in the month of December and put it underneath the Christmas tree anyway; none of the ones from the Fat Man (mgs2 reference?)until the 25th, but yeah, we've liked to get the stuff "outta the way" or something like that...
You know, I can see where you come from with your political and social views and whatnot, although I am mostly libertarian with a touch of right wing, but I respect your opinions and just hope you and everyone else can do the same back, you know what I mean? All we can hope for in the while is the continuation of the lifetime of our country.
There obviously is a God becuase Uncharted 2 was annoucned :D
And we will see GoWIII on the 14th!
But seriously, I am an atheist. I really don't care, but I will go for the commercialism of Christmas ofcourse and My nanny likes to think we are all Christian. We're not.
There is a very valid reason as to why it's bad that the word agnostic has changed from it's greek root (literally "without knowledge") in recent history to be some sort of in between position between theism and atheism. It's creating a straw man argument against atheism by basically implying that atheism is the view of 100% certainty god does not exist, which is quite obviously incorrect. Atheism means without belief in god. Not having an affirmative position on gods existence does not mean you must have a negative position. Why do you use the word agnostic and not atheist? It's because of the negative connotations of atheist right? Well that's bullshit. Notice that the definition you cite talks about "knowing", well, no one knows, christians don't claim to know (they have "faith") and neither do atheists, so everyone is an agnostic. You might as well call yourself a human.
I don't understand how you can keep changing your mind about your belief or lack of, in god. Either there is evidence that he exists, or there isn't, you can't choose what to believe or argue for something that there is no evidence for.
And Sean, it's really funny that you as a christian think you are being persecuted by the liberal media! Firstly, I can't think of any of the media that isn't christian, CNN and FOX are both very christian, the BBC is christian, etcetera. It's a complete myth that the media is liberal. Christmas is a german and european tradition seen as pagan by christians until very recently (it was officially banned by the church of england until Queen Victoria (german!) changed all that, along with charles dickens and others popularising it even more.)
You'll find that the most ardent of christians wont celebrate it, such as the seventh day adventists, and you can see why. Jesus wasn't born on Christmas day, and christmas itself literally translates to "the death sacrifice of christ", and the date is taken from a pagan holiday. Most of the traditions are pagan and the bible actually says that pagans cut down a tree and adorn it with gold, though some see that as merely discouraging the worship of idols and not christmas trees.
Jaffe - you'll find that most atheists will agree that a non-personal god may exist, but it's ultimately irrelevant and unnecessary, so there's really no need to ruminate on it!
@ jaffe
id like to say sorry. i didnt know you were raised jewish. i thought you were raised christian then just decided not to care. guess i thought you were christian because your from the south and usually people from the south arent jewish. wasnt trying to be a prick to you if it seemed that way. just pissed off before and seen that and got the wrong impression sorry again
Well I don't care what you call it- in fact tell me what I am:
I don't know if God exists or not. Sometimes I care about that, other days I don't. I'm 100% confused and unsure and sometimes apathetic and sometimes very interested in the whole subject.
So besides simply being confused- and how could any thinking person NOT be confused- what would you call me then if NOT agnostic?
David
You could always refer to it as a Krismas tree. The best part about Krismas is how wonderfully subversive it is. It sounds just like Christmas so you can decide whether to explain it to anyone you say it to depending on how you feel at the moment.
This is good stuff. Who cares what you call the tree? Holiday tree. Christmas tree? Call it whatever you want. Fuck all this political correct business.
I do disagree with you saying that everyone deep down is a little agnostic because we don't know for sure. I am close to people that believe beyond the shadow of a doubt that God is real. just because something is not tangible does not mean that you can't 100% believe in it. its an interesting thought though for sure David, I've never thought about it like that.
And as for presents under the tree, you give your kids presents under the tree from you, and there are presents from the grandparents, etc., and then on Christmas morning there are presents from the fat man. Simple man.
I'm just ready for some TM3 under my Christmas tree (not that anyone is developing that right now...) Nothing bu love Mr. Jaffe!
He David, here's a good link to help you get your agnostic ass off the fence: http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/
Merry Xmas!
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