STUFF IT, STUFF IT GOOD

Ah, Devo. I still remember hearing them for the first time, noting my family's somewhat frightened expression as I tried my hand at "dancing" for the first time. Whatever happened to those boys, anyway?

Speaking of stuffing, today is the day that we get to stuff blessedly compliant turkeys with dressing, our bellies with good food, and our ears with cotton (when spending a prolonged time with family, this can be helpful). I actually really miss my family and almost flew home to be with them in Florida. However the $800 airfare quickly snuffed that burning desire. I woke up today not particularly happy or sad. I had secretly wondered if I would get emotional or something, me being in a new city with no plans and this being the first major holiday after my Mom's death. But I was okay. And then I got better, strangely because of my upstairs neighbor; he invited me to Thanksgiving dinner at his apartment and I gratefully accepted. (His name is Terry and he's a six foot-five man who's oddly feminine, sort of a cross between Tina Turner and Michael Jordan. We met when I had to tactfully complain because he leaves his radio blaring hip-hop all through the night and I just so happen to have to wake up at five am for something called a job. I thought, Oh, God, another freak in my building; I'm never going to sleep, much less survive. But he has turned out to be a very sweet friend.) So I just spent my morning getting a fresh buzz-cut and hitting the mad rush to the grocery store. (It's just amazing to me how many people can forget - or delay - their shopping. The place was a mad-house; for a minute I thought I was at one of those freaky evangelical "revivals.")

And - as American commercialism usually does - all this hoopla really got me to thinking: what am I grateful for? I guess I should say first and foremost that I am thankful my forebears came to this country and slaughtered all those pesky natives. (I could mention the subsequent enslavement of yet another race of individuals; but I'll save that for another holiday. Maybe Kwanza.) So, what follows is a stream of semi-conscious thoughts about things for which I am thankful, some silly, some serious:

~ My family (the good, the bad and the ugly - mostly good, though)
~ moisturizer and anti-aging cream
~ not having "white-boy's disease"
~ not having a host of other pathological illnesses, as well (a good read of Richard Preston's, "The Hot Zone" or any basic medical school text book will give you a rough idea here)
~ My new, and growing, group of friends in Los Angeles
~ My "old" friends, whom I treasure
~ American Freedom; oh, God, I know Bushie Boy uses this one a lot, but it's true; at least here I can make fun of him to my little heart's content (and oh-so-many others, like Rumsfeld, Rove, Condoleeza, etc, etc, ad nauseum)
~gravity - it is, after all, what keeps our atmosphere intact and prevents us from flying off into space; although, on the other hand, it's also the nasty phenomenon that's mostly responsible for wrinkles and the sagging of old age...
~ for my existence; according to over a quarter of the world's population, I could have been born a cockroach - or a maybe a fruit fly
~ and, for the very attitude of gratefulness itself; it just feels better to be aware of how rich I am (even if I am just a poor, struggling artist in a pressure cooker of other poor, struggling artists)

There's more, of course. But that's a good start. Now, I'm going to get ready to stuff myself silly. Happy Thanksgiving, Dear Reader. Oh, and just one question: what are you grateful for?