Seriously, this will offend you, don't read it.

I have a few pet peeves to air today. As a non religious person myself, I really don't care what religious people do for their holidays or whatnot. However, it bugs me to no end the new trend other non's have of giving stuff up for lent. Guys, lenten sacrifices are supposed to be akin to the 40 days spent in the desert, also they are supposed to be done for the glory of god, and also as some weird guilt thing to make yourself feel better that your savior died on the cross for you. (I know I am non religious, but I was raised a weird blend of devout Catholic and heretic cult.) SO, for you non's to give stuff up for lent, is ridiculous. The most common reason I have found for it is "I want to test myself for 40 days and it's an easy one because the calender marks it for you." Do you all not have a calendar? Anyone who needs me to mark 40 days for you, let me know, and I will buy you a calendar and mark out 40 days for you to "test yourself." I get a discount, I work in a bookstore. Now, I am NOT speaking here to actual practicing Catholics or Christians, more power to you, give up or add on things as you will. (Also, I have tons of respect for Christians who add things, like working at a soup kitchen, or who organize clothing drives or even Easter egg hunts for under privileged churches, rather than using lent as a 40 day excuse to diet in Jesus' name. Jesus probably does not care. So, for me, I am going on a 40 day vegan cleanse starting on Tuesday, because I have a damn calendar and feel like testing myself. Now, some of my friends will take offense to this, and you probably should know my now how I feel about this whole situation, so relax. It's not like I haven't rolled my eyes at you every year before this. BUT, I am not without a solution. All my awesome friends, next year, let's all pick a month that is not March and work out whatever addiction issues we feel we might have together, not while the religious right gets smug satisfaction that a holiday that started with a celebration to the goddess of fertility has ended in a neo hipster group of wanna be Christians sacrificing shit just in case they are alcoholics or addicted to bread. Then, the last day we can all get together and have a giant party and hunt for pocket shots and dairy products and steak. Or whatever you decide to give up. I am not unreasonable. I think lent is fine for people who spend at least 10 other days a year thinking specifically about the Christian god, but for the rest of us, let's branch out and pick another 40 days! Since I didn't present this idea in time this year, to my weirdly non religious lenten sacrificers, good luck, and I'll bet you are all looking forward to midnight this Saturday night, and way to go if you accomplished whatever you set out to do. Actually, I guess that goes out to be religious friends as well! As for me, I am enjoying Easter as if it is my Mardi Gras, because Tuesday the healthy food and working out begin again! Oh, so it was just the one pet peeve, not several! I had something else I had really wanted to talk about, but forgot it when something reminded me of this other annoyance. And remember, before you all get mad at me, I am pretty open about my being weirdly judgmental when I don't like something, and you have all known this for 1-33 years, depending on how long you have known me. It doesn't mean I don't love you, or that I am actually wasting emotion being mad at you. HAHAHA, I am 33 at Easter. Maybe I should have given something up this year, you know, just in case! My initials are JC after all. ;)