Thankfulness

Wellwellwell... about that time of the year again. Time to scrape a few more splinters off the bottom of the barrel as I search my life for things I oughta be thankful for. As per usual I'm stuck with the usual standbys.

1. My family, whom I neglect horribly
2. My friends, whom I neglect just as badly, if not worse
3. The lucky roll of the genetic dice that left me healthy, good looking, and reasonably intelligent to somewhat clever, all of which I neglect (possibly worst of all) by failing to take advantage of them
4. I'm not sick or homeless or completely alone, I have a big roomfull of nice stuff, I never lack for entertainment or food
5. I live in a wealthy, privileged nation that puts on a respectable show of being a democracy... or at very least a republic of some stripe
6. Further lucky genetic diceroll: I'm white and male! I'm not going to pretend that that doesn't give me untold advantages in our society, because I'm not a Republican
7. All the amusing tales and stories that life has given me in the place of contentment or happiness

But in all honesty, I'm glad that I'm out of that late Summer/early Autumn funk I was in. I upped my St. John's Wort dosage, started getting out and about a teeny tiny little bit more, and not I'm even back to cooking and writing regularly. There's still stuff higher up on the whatsicallis pyramid, all that social fulfillment and spiritual enlightenment stuff, but that's just for people with nothing better to do with their time.

So, OK, I'm not what you'd call a very happy person. Maybe I'm too honest (tip o' cap to Skallas)

But let me tell you: my own isolation has led to me spending this Thanksgiving essentially alone. I was supposed to visit my sister's in-laws, but I couldn't get in touch with her to find out what the plan was. Turns out I had her old (outdated) mobile number and ended up calling someone named Rachel. My thanksgiving dinner was a bottle of beer and a (WARNING! Blatant Product Placement Ahead!) DiGiorno veggie pizza. I got much love from the critters, and a friend randomly stopped by with a Big Lebowski DVD (and the makings for a chicken gumbo) Well, not so randomly... turns out she thought she needed to stop in and look after the beasts. Apparently I can no longer be trusted to feed and walk and the like.

- posted by Bob @ 1:23 AM