Thanksgiving was yesterday, in Korea. I couldn't tell because it's Korea and they're not thankful for anything here, so everyone had to go to work. Since they don't believe in Black Friday either, I can rock the thx vibe beyond the apportioned day in order to compile a list of everything I'm thankful for even though Thanksgiving was yesterday. This list is exhaustive: anything/anyone left of can GFY.
Red wine - Yum, so tasty, a bouquet of everything good about life in my mouth RIGHT EFFING NOW!! It tastes like sugar. Should have spent the extra $2 on a better bottle.
My beard - Sometimes I'm bored, but I have this thing on my face to entertain me. If nothing else it takes like 20 minutes to shave the fucker off, so by the time I'm finished I've generally thought of something fun to do.
Korean - Oh, I have all these Spanish flashcards? I'll learn Korean tomorrow.
My musak collection - There was this period between undergrad and graduate school where I no longer lived with ppl whose CD collections I pretended where my own, so I spent all my extra dosh buying as much music as I could. I worked at a pizza shop, so I think that means my collection topped out at...14? Whatever it was, someone stole the little book I kept them in. I was discouraged at the thought of rebuilding my empire from scratch, so rather than paying actual money for actual CDs I bought an external hard drive and went from friend to friend jocking theirs instead. Now I have the equivalent of 7000 CDs, 6500 of which I haven't gotten around to checking out. Symptomatic of Western decadence, I suppose. Also, maybe six years passed between when my CDs were purloined and when I jocked all that musak, but you know, brevity for sake of blog.
My parents - They have Thanksgiving dinner every year at a place called Leon's Family Dining. Don't bother speculating about what the restaurant is like because it's called Leon's Family Dining, so you already know. This is my dad:
My co-workers - I occasionally have dinner with the English staff. We have invigorating discussions conducted entirely in Korean. Once in awhile someone breaks off in English to let me know they're talking about me, which I appreciate because otherwise I might have mistaken "Polio" for an actual Korean word.
Genuinely speaking, though, I could never thank them enough for how supportive they were when my mum passed away. I was in a completely foreign country for all of 19 minutes when she died, and they went out of their way to make sure I was taken care of. They even - knowing I hadn't been paid yet - gave me 100,000 won, which I used to buy the booze that rocked me to sleep the following two weeks.
My mother - Speaking of, I suppose. I've spent the last 15 years living in that space between bitter and forgiving, oftentimes to the detriment of the relationships I've had with normal people, luverly, friend, or otherwise. It's probably too easy and too simplistic to trace that part of my psychology back to the relationship I had with her, or to at least dwell on the myriad ways she let my sister, brother, and me down, but at some point it's only fair to acknowledge the love that was there as well. She had her weaknesses, yes, which, if I'm being truthful with myself, I can relate to all too well. But she also had her strengths, and now that she's gone I'm thankful I've been - so far, at least - inclined toward the positive. Like: occasionally I go into the empty gym at my school and shoot around by myself. This is where I think of her, and since it's a basketball court it's easy to remember a time when I was warming up for a game in 4th grade. I made a three-point shot I thought no one saw, but then I heard my mum jump out of the bleachers and scream, "Yes!" She was probably high, but I didn't understand at the time. I was just happy she was there to watch.
Goats
But only if they're tied up in a burlap bag and have been thrown in the back of a kombi. Otherwise, I hate the fuckers and their little devil eyes.
Reggae - Ja, I know, I already said musak. But reggae is better than musak. See, I probably have clinical depression. The only reason I haven't been diagnosed is because I've never gone in for screening. I mean, aside from being happy and content about most things, I hate the world. At the very least I hate two things, possibly three (goats,
por ejemplo), but since this is list of things I'm thankful for I'll write about those later.
What was I talking about? Oh ja, reggae. It's cold outside. Meh, so I listen to reggae. There isn't a single reggae song that was written or recorded anywhere less than 97° F, so it's nigh impossible not to get caught up in the positive vibration even though frostbite has just claimed another of my toes. I suppose there are those soulless white kids who grow dreads and play their reggae songs at various college venues, but trustafarians don't count. Plus, you're not a reggae band if the only person willing to pay for your album happens to be your backup drummer.
My grandparents
My grandparents live in Cincinnati. Most people think that's in Ohio but it's really in Kentucky, which explains my grandpa's southern accent. That doesn't explain my gee-ma's stroke accent. That's best explained by mixing too much whiskey with shower time. Whoops! That's fine, if anyone was meant to sit around in a wheelchair straight chilling, it's my grandma, and she's been representin' going on 20 years now. My grandpa, on the other hand, appears twice as tall as my grandma in this photo because [1] he's twice as awesome and [2] uh, the wheelchair. At any given moment he's either bald or wearing some sort of pimp hat, and the contents of his shirt pocket never don't include his five-inch thick glasses, the horse race listings, and a can of chew.
Digital cameras - If I didn't have my camera I would miss out on so many photo opportunities at school:
Friends - But only because I'm obligated to say so when listing all the things I'm thankful for. Oh, and family, even though I've already mentioned my parents and grandparents. I guess that leaves my brothers, sisters, and two nieces. I guess my cousins, but I don't like them. Well, a couple, so them too.
Everything I've left off this list - I take entirely for granted.
