Happy Thanksgiving, guys! Or, at least, all you American dudes, and happy much-belated to all fantastic Canadians out there!
Although a few Thanksgiving NTKOGs crossed my mind (The Kind of Girl Who … shocks and offends everyone at the table with a grim and unforgivable Thanksgiving confession?!), I hope you’ll forgive me for adding to the caloric monstrosity of the day with a little Thanksgiving Cheese. A few things I’m thankful for, not just on this day, but every day:
- Obviously, my incredible fam and friends. (Especially my brilliant and ridiculously cool mom, who recently guest-blogged about why Thanksgiving will always remind her of my conception. Amazing.) These dudes all hopefully know how much and why I love them, so instead of gushing, a conversation snippet with my bff Justice that reminded me why she’s been my best friend for the past five years, and why she’ll continue to be so for the next fifty, if she’ll have me:
TKOG: Not to brag, but on days I’m writing, I have basically the best job in the universe. I make words do stuff.
Justice [affronted]: Lawyers do that too, you know. Not only that. We make words BIND PEOPLE!
Truly, I am blessed.
- Being single and unemployed. Right now, for the first time in my life, I live absolutely on my own, and I couldn’t love it more. Don’t have to deal with anyone’s dishes in the sink, don’t have to come home to feign politeness or deal with passive-aggressive emails. I can wear or not wear whatever I want when I’m in the house, listen to the crappiest of music with impunity, and I spend all day every day with the person I love the most. Ditto to not having a job: although there are obviously some scary financial repercussions to this, at least I can enjoy spending every day that I’m not temping working toward my fledgling writing career, taking time to focus on myself and my own goals. Although I wouldn’t want to be single and unemployed forever, I realize that I only have, at most, a few more of these years in my life, and am enjoying every day of this special, unique time as it comes.
- My yellow latex dish-washing gloves. Once, with the hubris of youth, I thought they didn’t make a difference. Then, Muscles showed me the light, and I realized I couldn’t have been more wrong. You guys! You can turn up the water as hot as you want and get those dishes crazy-clean! All without scalding off yo’ dang skin! A dishwasher-free-living miracle.
- PG Wodehouse (okay, and a lot of other writers too). There is nothing — nothing! — more beautiful and deeply satisfying than spending a day in the company of your favorite wordsmith. For me, the idea of bliss is nothing more and nothing less than spending a morning in bed, rereading the Jeeves and Wooster stories for the fifty-somethingth time. PG Wodehouse is an endless fount of utter delight. (TWSS.)
- Your amazing comments on this blog! You guys! You guys! Nothing fills me with more joy or sense of purpose than the comments I get on this blog, from total strangers, making my life and crazy experiences seem a little more meaningful than they might otherwise. Every time I get a comment from someone telling me that something I’ve written here has reminded you to be brave or try something new, it — well, in the emotional over-confession of the holiday, might I admit that it, on occasion, makes my nose tingle and my eyes well up? I love reading your blogs, hearing about your lives. Although technology is in some ways making the world a worse place (um, sexting, anyone?), I am grateful for the sense of community it has to offer.
- Sweet potato pie. Siiiiiigh. See you guys in a few days and about fifteen thousand calories!
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Let me be the first to say that you manage to brighten up my day regularly as well.
In fact, I think I may have a blog crush on you!
I’m also thankful for being single. As you say, you can do what you want when you want, wander about the house naked if you like… Actually, I don’t see any reason for not doing that if you live with a partner.
If you like Wodehouse, try Tom Sharpe. He’s a bit more contemporary, but has a similarly satirical style.
And thanks to your family and friends for their sheer awesomeness from me too!
Incidentally, while I’ve never sexted anyone, I have had cybersex with one GF.
YAY!
You’ve made me smile…cool strangers are awesome!
In my defense, the boyf requested a chicken this year. We’re headed up to maine this weekend and we’ll eat turkey then. I would have just bought a chunk of turkey to make regardless, BUT, most of the [few] people coming over today are vegetarian. Go figure. BUT. Once everyone is done picking at the chicken, I will be making a soup with the remains.
I know this may be a bit early, but I think I will be making fried chicken for christmas. How good is fried chicken!?
HAPPY CHICKEN DAY.
Oh, I love you too, dear. Thank you so very much (tearing up).
Let me add something very interesting to our Thanksgiving story. (By the way I am in the lobby of the Miami Marriott using their free internet and waiting for your dad’s plane to come in from Rio.) Today I found three charges from Amazon all PG Wodehouse that he purchased while in Brazil, and apparently
you can read them on your i-phone. This makes me wonder: Would the postman or TBM read Wodehouse? Maybe I was confused (if you know what I mean). And, Sister? We are all thankful to her as well. She is a rock. And, now, I am crying. Zoloft.
Mom- remember that conversation we had after the “Is Grandma Dead…?” e-mail you sent us? No more posting things after 11pm.
However, I’m glad you are all thankful of me
FYI, not reading a new post from you today at work was like, awful. I actually did more work than usual because, like you, many of my favorite bloggers took the day “off”. Thanksgiving blows. Ugh.
Let’s not make this a habit.
xo
I’m not even American, and have the same feelings about thanksgiving, for much the same reasons (and also because roast turkey is far from my favourite meal).
Oh man you are right about every single one of those things. Good authors, good friends, having hundreds of blog fans (well, I don’t know about that from experience but it sounds nice), and ESPECIALLY sweet potato pie/cassarole. Can we make that for New Years?
I totally missed this blog post the first time around but I had no idea you were a Jeeves/Wooster fan. I am, too. Less the books (though I read those) but more the TV show with Fry and Laurie. SO GOOD. I always knew you had excellent taste.