on the nature of eves, Christmas and otherwise

yesterday i had a lazy, productive day of candy making, and right now my refrigerator looks something like the marble slabs one finds at Kilwin's or any other purveyor of chocolate, diabetes and fudge.

but this is beside the point.

the point is that today is Christmas Eve, which inspired me to wonder exactly when this phenomenon of marking and the celebrating 'the day before the day' emerged. i'm certain that the Internet has some thoughts on this, but at present i have no motivation to fact check Wikipedia. i have bigger concerns, like whether or not my solstice pickles will be adequately fermented in time for tonight's party. the pickles are also beside the point, but what the hell? here's my favorite pickle joke:

A duck walks into a bar, goes up to the bartender and asks for a pickle.

The bartender says, "What does this look like to you? We don't got no pickles here. This is a bar!"

The duck leaves, but returns the next day, meanders up to the bar and asks the bartender, "Can I have a pickle please?"

The bartender snaps, "Look, Duck, I told you yesterday: This is a bar and we don't sell pickles – so get out of here!"

The duck leaves, but returns on the third day and does it all over again: "I'll have a pickle."

The bartender is incensed and screams at the duck, "I told you yesterday, I told you the day before, and I'm tellin' you now. This is a bar and we don't sell pickles. If you come in here one more time and ask for a pickle, I'm going to nail your beak to the bar!"

The duck leaves, but comes back the next day holding a hammer. This time, he saunters up to the bar, looks the barkeep dead in the eye, and asks: "Got any nails?"

The bartender's eyes bulge out as he throws his hands up in the air. He yells, "What the hell is wrong with you? This is a bar, not a hardware store! We don't have no flippin' nails!"

The duck says, "I'll have a pickle then."

now, that that's out of my system...

eves are an interesting phenomenon because they necessarily reference a moment that has not yet transpired, alluding to a presumed future that will undoubtedly be other than expected. i understand that they help to facilitate travel and various other preparatory rituals, but they also signal some sense of anticipation and, psychologically speaking, i find them to be neurotic.

they appear to serve as a halfway house of sorts, speaking to our primitive need for ritual, but also accommodating the requirements of our market economy. what is the balance between the two?

my gut feeling is that the scale is weighted on the side of commerce, and it would be an interesting to know how many businesses close early today (Friday) as opposed to how many will open earlier than usual the day after (Sunday).

all of these things, except maybe the pickle joke, are beside the point:

this photograph is not an endorsement of the chip manufacturer

the point is that, whatever the reason, eves are one of the only rituals we have left that even attempt to defy the logic of capitalism, Chinese restaurants and movie theaters excluded. this is cause for celebration in and of itself, and i hope that everyone appreciates this day on its own merit, not simply its relation to the one that follows.