Thanksgiving and Thankstaking

Tis' the season for wishing each other well and being thankful for what we have. Most of us have been given great opportunity to flourish in our lives. Whether through education, friendships, family, or plain ole' luck, we have been put in positions to have success. We should actually start taking the time (if we don't already) and reflect on how much we have each and every day. Once a year is nice, but how about throwing, hard work, fate and luck a bone now and again?

Since most of you will be taking the time to be thankful for friends and family (which is great), I will take up the slack and do some thanking for things we sometimes don't notice in our every day life.

Here are things that I will be thankful for, on behalf of humanity, and many of these "thankings" go hand in hand.....

Pauley Shore is no longer a part of our celebrity culture.

Elizabeth Banks is.

The incredibly simple, useless, no talent of a toy, the Slinky isn't taking the nation by storm again.

DJ Hero is.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are losing games.

The Dallas Cowboys are not.

There will be no more Rocky sequels.

There will be a sequel to The Boondock Saints.

Don Rickles is still alive!

Jerry Falwell isn't.

Michael Jackson is as popular as ever.

Richard Marx is back to singing in high school gyms.

Parachute pants never made a comeback.

Mickey Rourke did.

Robin Williams has never done a nude scene.

Naomi Watts has.

Nicole Kidman has.

Charlize Theron has.

OK....better go ahead and stop there!

Nobody that I have known has died, and come back as a zombie.

I have yet to die.

Caller ID was invented.

The ability to ignore a ringing phone.

TiVo is taking the nation by storm.

VCR technology is dead.

Clay Aiken and Lance Bass being gay is not hot.

Anne Heche and Portia DeRossi being gay is hot.

And here is a list of honorable mentions to be thankful for;

chicken wings, Seth Rogen, The Office, The Godfather films, Christopher Hitchens, Frank Sinatra's music, Fenway Park, Freedom Hall, PS3, blu ray technology, pizza, Sixlets, Al Green, gotvape.com, having a job, funny friends, Woodford Reserve, Waylon Jennings music, flip flops, MP3, MP3 download sites, the Coen Brothers, boxer-briefs, marijuana, indoor plumbing, Paul Rudd, art that my kids make, times that I'm alone, and finally, sweet tea!

And finally, to end this on a serious note.....I am personally thankful that we have brave men and women who are selfless enough to serve their country and other human beings around the world. It can't be said enough that our nation owes a huge debt of gratitude to those in the armed services. If anyone needs a big "THANK YOU" today, it's those folks.

And so today, my world it smiles, your hand in mine, we walk the miles,
Thanks to you it will be done, for you to me are the only one. 

"Thank You" by Led Zeppelin