Before I start, I wanted to mention that they are totally being misleading. "They" of course, the same they you always hear about saying things. "They say," for instance, that "a watched pot never boils." They make a point, a fairly interesting one, about the relationship between mental attitude and passage through temporal space. They are being fairly disingenious, however, as they fail to mention that you really have to keep an eye on those unwatched pots, else you make a mess.

It's Thanksgiving. Which means a bunch of things. First of all, it means it's towards the end of November. Which in turn means that it's time for me to stop waxing poetic about how beautiful are the changing of the seasons, and start bemoaning the fact that I keep getting shocks from everything I touch because I have my flannel long johns under every outfit I wear. And how my nose is cold. And the ears. The ears are the worst.

On the upside, it's a really good excuse to stay in the house and watch basketball. And this week, eat turkey. Or, if you're part of my family, calamari and squingili. Actually, if you're part of my family, you have both. And possibly one or two other entrees. And a pasta dish. And cranberry. And then you wonder if there's pie. And cannolli. Seriously. I walked into the house today, and my mom met me at the door saying "I made an effort not to go crazy this year," at the same time she offered me stuffed mushrooms. Since then (and it's literally only been 20 minutes since I've walked through the door) I've eaten three different hors d'oeovres, and ahd a small plate of stuffing. Extra stuffing that she made, because the amount she can get into the bird (whose weight in pounds is about equal to mine in kilos) wouldn't have been enough to make it through the day AND let us have a sufficient amount for sandwiches in the coming week. It's all about foresight here at the Bromberg home.

I've been trying to pay more attention to the holidays that pass us by. At first, I'll admit, it started ironically. Reminding people to love trees when it was Arbor Day, pretending not to deplore the French spirit of pandering to evil on Bastille Day. But the thing about national holidays, is that they don't just make them for nothing (I mean, yeah a few of them, sure. But not most, is my point). While I may have started in jest, I've come to what I believe is a deeper appreciation of our holidays. Interestingly, this parallels my relationship with Elvis Presley, who's music I began listening to for camp value. I have since come to realize that he is the King of Rock and Roll. The King. Get with the program, people.

So when Memorial Day came around, my thoughts went to the men and women in the past and present of our nation who have stood in the front lines to keep us safe. And when Martin Luther King Day rolls around, I'll be thinking of how important is freedom from tyranny and repression for everyone. And this week, I've been thinking about what I'm thankful for. Which, interestingly enough, I haven't really done any other Thanksgiving (the whole paying attention to holidays thing is fairly new to me). Never really struck me before. So I'm kind of excited to think about it. It's funny that the things that come to mind right away are the least important, and they are the things I think about everyday. Like 802.11b, and the fact that I'm pissed my laptop weighs as much as it does. Or the fact that, for some reason, someone walked into my office on Tueday with a hand-cart full of goodie bags and gave them to the employees. Or my iPod. Good lord, my iPod. Thinking about it, I may have to incorporate it into the centerpiece for the table today.

But (with the exception of the iPod) those aren't even the important things. I just spent a while writing an entry which spoke about the things I was truly thankful for, and now what I'm thankful for is the fact that I can edit my work. While moving, it was a little too personal for this venue (except the bits about Thomas Jefferson, which were just a little too out-of-place). Instead of spending more time trying to rewrite an entry, I think I'm going to take this time to submerge myself in the things for which I'm truly thankful - I'm going to go upstairs and spend some time with my family, call a few friends, and read the Declaration of Independence (the three main topics of the blog post that I just deleted). I suggest you all do the same, while at the same time hoping that you aren't reading this on the Thursday I posted it. Even if it isn't the 27th, go and give some thanks. Doesn't cost you anything.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.