Beautiful Friday.

What do the Philosopher Mom, various philosophizing progeny, and the Scientist Dad plan to do today? Absolutely. Nothing. (Well, maybe go for a run, bake some bread, and play "Scoop the Baby" with our family spatula.) We're just going to relish a day of rest. And maybe decorate for Advent...

Addendum: And while I intended this post to be rather tongue-in-cheek, this story from the NYT makes the whole day rather nauseating. It's not all fun-and-games out there.

Here's an exhortation for you, thanks to Nathan via Upturned Earth:

"Black Friday? Nay! Buy Nothing Day!

Rather than hoarding the hottest new d.v.d. player or Tickle-Me-Whoever, take a stand against rampant materialist consumerism, the idolization of stuff, and cultural meaningless. Just. Buy. Nothing. Spend time with your family. Read a book; read to your children, rather than buying inconsequential garbage for them. Attend Mass. Go for a walk. Bust out Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue or one of Beethoven’s symphonies and rediscover cultural artifacts with lifespans greater than the warranty on Step 2’s 50’s Diner ...

Live, as humans, rather than merely functioning as television-commercial-hypnotized purchasing drones. Eschew the malls, Wal*Marts, and shopping “plazas” and rediscover the hearth. How often, in the modern workaday world, have many of us the opportunity to embrace an essentially free day? We should cherish it, rather than squander it standing in line to save a few dollars we could better use in countless other ways. After all, we ready ourselves not for the Christmas shopping season, but for Advent, in which we prepare ourselves to celebrate Christmas, the birth of Christ, a gift far greater than Best Buy could ever proffer."