Hello everyone and happy Thanksgiving!  It’s been a little bit and I feel like I have a lot to go over with you.  It would be flat out wrong for me to not start out by saying how excited I am about the Presidential Election.  I know I am a month late here but I have been a busy man.   Not busy compared to many; but I am more easily overwhelmed than most.  I should probably dedicate an entire post to my thoughts on the decision our country so decisively made on November 4th, so I’ll keep this brief.  While I tried to keep race out of any discussion I had leading up to the election, after Obama’s victory it has to be commented on.  I was gleaming with pride that so many put their petty prejudices aside to vote for Barack on Election Day.  Let’s face it, racism is still alive and well in this country and will be for the foreseeable future.  But, what a huge step we as a country made.  For those of you out there with young children, your kids are not going to understand racism as we do just like we don’t understand it as our parents probably do.  They are going to grow up in those formidable years that shape how they think and who they are living under an African American President.  It really is a beautiful thing that is still so hard to grasp.  Obviously it was going to happen eventually, but even just a year ago I don’t think anyone saw it coming so soon.  And now that Barack Obama has been elected, can my Microsoft Word please recognize his name and stop underlining it in red like it’s a spelling error.  Martin Van Buren, Rutherford Hayes, Calvin Coolidge – no red lines under any of these Presidents’ names.  Does anyone have Bill Gates phone number so I can give him a call and have this updated? 

***

In my office, there is a guy who every year comes by each person’s desk and asks everyone individually if they would like to buy Girl Scout cookies from his daughter.  Every year I buy a box or two and they end up sitting in my cupboard for a year until I am suckered in to buying more boxes.  At that point, I toss the old boxes and replace them with the new wasted boxes that will sit there for year.  Well it’s that time of year again I guess.  He came by my desk the other day and asked me what I wanted to buy.  As I was reaching in to my pocket for my wallet, I stopped, looked up at him and told him that I never eat them anyway, so I’ll pass this year.  He looked at me with a little bit of shock and kept walking.  The next day I saw him as I was getting off the elevator and said hello.  He totally cold shouldered me.  Just looked and me and kept walking.  Am I really that bad of a guy for not buying a box of DISGUSTING Girl Scout cookies from his zit and brace faced daughter (I actually have never seen her, I am just assuming and being mean).  Isn’t he the scum bag?  Guilting people in to buying these cookies and making them feel like schmucks if they don’t.  I personally don’t like any of them, never have.  Make a descent product girls; your cookies are terrible.  Maybe if they were half way edible I would buy them again.  What are we teaching these girls?  They are going to grow up having no appreciation of what a quality cookie is.  I can’t stand it when I am walking out the grocery store and there is a pack of these little girls in their green outfits swarming around with boxes of Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos and a clip board.  I used to not be able to say no to them, but now I don’t think twice about it.  I used to lie about not having any cash on me and ask if they take plastic, but now I go for a much more honest approach.  When I walk out of Safeway and the Girl Scouts surround me with the boxes of stale crap they a peddling; I just whip out a box of Chips Ahoy or Oreos from the grocery bag and say something like, “Sorry I just bought some real cookies”.  The mom who is usually hovering a few feet away usually drops some dirty looks at me, but I can live with that.  There are enough suckers out there buying Tagalongs and Peanut Butter Patties from these girls to keep their camps funded. 

***

Just a quick movie recommendation.  I got Pete Seeger: The Power of Song on Netflix last week.  It’s a well done documentary about on of America’s great musicians.  Pete Seeger is a folk singer who got started back towards the end of the depression.  He had some communist ties from before the war.  His communist membership took place during the depression when the party in this country was fighting for workers rights and racial equality, nothing sinister.  Because of this past membership, after the war and after a few hit records he was blacklisted from making any television appearances for 17 years until Johnny Cash had the balls to let him perform on his show.  He was actually a very patriotic man.  He loved this country and fought for equal rights for all people through music.  Greats like Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen who were heavily influenced by Seeger add commentary to the film.  Aside from being about a great man’s life, it’s also an interesting history lesson about what was going on in the country at the time.  Seeger is still alive and adds plenty of insight. 

On a side note, Bruce Springsteen has a live album covering many of Seeger’s classics.  It’s called Bruce Springsteen We Shall Overcome – The Seeger Sessions.  He puts a little bluegrass spin on the music with the help of a great band and it’s definitely worth a listen.

***

Here’s a good gift idea for all of you kinksters out there.  They’re called Fundies.  I really have no comment here.  Just check out the link, it speaks for itself.

***

Here are a couple of Thanksgiving tidbits.  

Every year on Thanksgiving I like to give a listen to Arlo Guthrie’s, Alice’s Restaurant.  It’s a fun song and great Thanksgiving story about some old school draft dodging hippies.  I’ve made it a tradition, you should too. You can check out the album or movie too. They also play it every Thanksgiving on KFOG, 104.5.

Lastly, this is a really funny Thanksgiving story that took place at work today.  I was talking to a girl here in the office, asking her what she and her husband have planned for the holiday.  She went on to explain her plans, when another girl who sits by us asked her if she celebrates Thanksgiving.  Here exact question was, “Do you guys celebrate Thanksgiving?” 

We both looked puzzled and asked what she meant.  She went on to ask, “Aren’t you Jewish?  Do you all celebrate Thanksgiving?” 

I was speechless.   This is an honest to goodness true story.  We went on to explain to her that Thanksgiving is an American holiday, not a religious one in any way.  I would venture to guess that the only Americans who don’t celebrate it are the Native Americans.  I think the reasons are obvious.  I mean, we have been shafting them horrendously ever sense that nice meal they made for us. 

So keep that in mind this Thanksgiving when celebrating with family and friends.  It’s a new day in the United States and hopefully we can really start looking at each other as fellow Americans and not as whatever color you are or country your great grandparents were born in.  Have a great Thanksgiving everyone and safe travels.