Thankfulnessapalooza 2023 - Part Two (of Three)

Okay, dear readers, let's see if I can find ten more things for which I'm thankful, and not ten things for which I've previously expressed my gratitude on this here blog. [spoiler alert: I think I can!] If you missed part one of this year's list, CLICK HERE!

Okay - let's do this...

Pretty, and loud. TSO in DC, 2022 - photo by Joe

I am thankful for all the concerts I've been fortunate enough to witness. This could be its own long, long post, but let's just list some of the live acts I've seen... Pretenders, Iggy Pop, Art of Noise, Tangerine Dream, Bon Jovi (at Giants Stadium!), KISS, The Who, BRUCE, AC/DC, Depeche Mode, Midnight Oil, Styx, Ian Hunter, Jimmy Buffett, Rush, Yes, Shriekback, The Cure, Peter Murphy, some others I'm not recalling at the moment, and a whole lot of Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Simple Minds.

It's like 2016-2020 all over again - photo by Joe

My workplace "protesters." Most were rescued from the free table, and earlier this year, when we closed our crumbling-but-beloved suburban office, most of them were given away to worthy recipients (local police took some!). A few made the move to the DC office - a move that they are still officially protesting, although I'm pretty sure they secretly love it there.

Thank you for rescuing us! - photo by Joe

Speaking of the closing of my suburban workplace - I rescued these lights from its abandoned patio and moved them to my own. I'm weirdly proud to have them live on in my backyard.

It's... It's indescribably beautiful! - photo by Joe

Okay, this one's a little odd, but whatever. We have a drink cupboard. It is almost never as perfectly fully-stocked as it is in this picture, but on the rare occasions when this happens, it is kind of a work of art, to this beholder.

Hey - I'm FLYIN' here... - photo by Joe

Not much to say, here. I'm thankful for serendipitous fly-by photobombs by shorebirds, when shooting a sunset. 

"Is that a lot?" - photo by Joe

It had been a few years since I bled out a hasty little novel in a month, and I was urged to go for it again (more on the urging later this month, probably), so I did. It needs a LOT of revision, and it's still not done, but it exists. So, yeah. Thanks for the word count, 2023!

"Why isn't Joe here today?" - photo by K. Schrader

Super thankful for our dogs in the workplace program. We have hardly any PEOPLE in the workplace, so there are precious few dogs, but one of my favorites is this little sparkplug named Mabel. Her human sent me this picture a couple of days ago, when I was working from home. I feel so guilty, I might just have to start going to the office every day...

"I'm hungry, and you're gonna be my new person." - photo by S. McVeigh

Speaking of the office - I'm SOOOOO grateful to mark one year since this sweet dude found the perfect home. He was abandoned outside the HSUS building out in the 'burbs, and sort of lurked in our storm drains for a few days before a few of us mobilized to coax him out, catch him, confirm (via his chip and a helpful local vet) that his owners didn't want him back (dicks), and get him into a loving home. One year later, he's pretty much the king of that castle, so it's all good.

Note the snow-free pavement - photo by Joe

Snow. I'm very thankful for snow. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA no! I'm an adult now. I have zero use for snow. However... I will grant you that it is pretty, and if it could just snow enough to coat the ground and trees, and leave all paved surfaces wet (no ice, please), then yeah, I could consider being a teensy bit grateful for it.

"Where are the hot buttered rum recipes?" - photo by Joe

Gnomes. How can I not be thankful for these dudes? They're a lot like the thankfulness thing, in that it is increasingly challenging to come up with new ideas for them. Will we do it again, this Christmas? Yeah, we probably will.

Thanks for coming, you three. Four? FIVE??? No, probably not five... but a man can dream. See you tomorrow...

The Rise Of That Thankfulness Thing - 2021 (Part 3 of 3)

Oops! I was supposed to post all 30 of my things for which I'm THANKFUL during November. My bad. First, to review, here are parts ONE and TWO. I'll wait...

Up to speed? Of course you are. Now - where were we? Ten more things. First, let me just say this gets more and more difficult each time I do it - not because I can't think of things for which I'm grateful, but because I've already used most of them in previous years, and I hate repeating myself. Don't want to bore either of my readers, you know.

So...

Endangered black-footed shenanigansferrets!

21. Shenanigans! Whatever the form (I prefer the antics of the endangered black-footed ferrets), I think we could all use a bit more shenanigans.

 

Nope.

Oh HELL no.

 

22. Snow. HAHAHAHA no. No, no, no. [941-word string of spectacularly crude and inventive expletives deleted] no. 

 

23. "Born To Run." It is the perfect rock song. It's perfect. I had all kinds of thoughtful, thorough analysis of this Springsteen classic to share, here, but what's the point? It is simply the perfect musical expression of teen angst (Rock & Roll). 'Nuff said.

 

I have a present!

Don't look at these candles in daylight. You WILL want to return them.

24. Flameless candles. Yeah, you'll run through a LOT of batteries, but you won't burn your house down, and they last for years and years and whatnot. I'm thankful for 'em, pretty much year-round.

25. Siberian cats. [Maris]'s Instagram feed suggested them once and now we follow SO MANY Siberian cats. As a lifelong cat guy, I'm on board with this - especially because we're only looking at pictures of them, don't have to actually deal with *all that*.

26. SPRINKLES!!!!

27. Being alive in interesting times. What other generation can say they were around for The End? It's an absolute dumpster fire shitstorm, and I guarantee it will get worse before it gets worse, but you gotta admit - it's fascinating to watch. Enjoy your minority rule, oligarchy and demise, America. 

28. Mike Krzyzewski. HAHAHAHAHA no. That dude is the devil. No. He's the devil's excised cancerous colon polyp. I can't believe I'm wasting these precious seconds typing words about him.

Yikes. Things took a bit of a turn, didn't they? I told you I was running out of things for which I haven't already expressed my heartfelt thanks. Okay, let's finish up all like positive...

Don't let go...

29. Hopeless romantics. Not necessarily ROMANCE romantics... okay, mostly that. More, though... People who, in spite of all they've learned and seen and lived, still have the capacity to believe in magic.

30. You probably thought I was going to say "legs" again, didn't you? I know I always include legs, but it's 2021 - almost 2022 (which is to say, almost 1890, 1951 etc.). So, yeah. Legs. But also... 

[MARIS]!!!

Whether it's 20-something years ago...

...or 2020HOLYSHITWEHATESELFIES

I thank my lucky stars for her, every day. 

So, you made it and you are a trooper and a good sport. Join us next November, when we'll be probably just sort through all my old thankfulness posts and rehash the funny bits!

Summer Says Let's Not Divide Up The CD Collection Just Yet

It started early, this year, and it didn't surprise me at all.  

Okay, it surprised me a little, but only because I hadn't heard it in four years.  Here in the Mid-Atlantic, after three consecutive mild and relatively snow-free winters, our comeuppance came up, with a vengeance.  Worse than the winter weather itself has been its extended duration, its mule-headed refusal to go away.  

Foo Dog, Failing.

So, what started early?  The protestations started early, and right on their heels came the reflexive anti-complainer complaints.  "You'll be whining about the summer heat in no time," and "You'll be missing winter by June," and so on.

I will not.  I promise.  There are some things I need to tell you about Summer.

Summer is the first girl who ever holds your hand, and you instantly get drunk on it.

Summer whispers things in your ear - exciting, confusing, innocent and racy and dangerous things.  Coming from Summer, they all make perfect sense.

Summer says yes, it's hot.  You've spent months all covered up, bundled in layer upon layer, as if you're being shipped cross-country.  It's unnatural.  Now, let's have a look at you.

Summer sings to you at night, replacing the dead silence of winter with a sweet, invisible symphony.  

She wraps herself around you every time you step outside, and when she refuses to let go, it is out of love, not desperation.  She adores you, but if you leave her, she'll remind herself that life is short, and simply wrap herself around someone else.  Everyone else, actually.  Her willingness to love others leaves you desiring her even more.

Sometimes, Summer falls down, but she always thinks it's funny.

If Spring is the chase, Summer is the conquest.  And it's a mutual conquest - the very best kind.

Summer is comfortable in her skin, whether she's sleeping by the pool all day, or howling, thundering, and storming all night.  She is who she is.

Summer doesn't mind making you uncomfortable.  She'll bite you, sting you, make you sweaty, even lightheaded, and give you poison ivy - all of which remind you that you're alive.

Summer doesn't need to drink; she wants to drink.

She doesn't care where you've been - she's happy that now, you're here instead of there.  

Summer doesn't watch the news.  She loves baseball, but has no idea where her team is in the standings, and she doesn't care.

Summer says come sail away with me.

Summer Sails

She makes you stare, catches you staring, and smiles at you when she does.  If you don''t stare, that's okay, too - she knows she's hot.

She's a smiling stranger in an open car, peering mischievously over shiny sunglasses, tempting you to climb inside and take off into the still warm air, where you entertain thoughts of never going home.  Summer has nowhere to be, and everywhere to go.

As August becomes September, Summer kisses you with strawberry-stained lips, says she loves you, and promises to return.  Hers is one of the few promises that, over your lifetime, will never be broken.

She is the rarest of first-loves - the one that never dies.


Another post prompted by the words of a fellow blogger, this one springs forth from "strawberry stained lips," which can be found in Theinnerzone's post NUCLEUS, on the blog A Beetle with Earrings.  There are over five hundred bloggers at Studio 30 Plus - check us out...