I'm thankful for Thanksgiving. It has always been my favorite holiday. Even when I was a kid, Thanksgiving trumped Christmas.

It's a day centered around getting together and eating. It's a day for taking stock of what's good in your life. As Americans, we spend too much on "the pursuit of happiness" (thanks, George Carlin) and not enough on just being happy with what we have.

I'm thankful for waking up this morning next to the warm snuggliness of the woman I love. I'm thankful that she's always in my heart and I in hers, even when we're miles apart.

I'm thankful for my legs and my heart for getting me through the 5-mile race I ran this morning and the half-marathon I did less than 2 weeks ago. I'm thankful for the health and psychology that allows to overcome physical obstacles and meet my goals.

I'm thankful for the bounty from our CSA and our farmers market that rosepurr turned into a fabulous feast today and that has filled my belly for all these months.

I'm thankful for my job, which has been secure throughout this economic downturn and still has been the best job I've ever had.

I'm thankful for our cats, who entertain me and are great company.

I'm thankful for books and reading and great writing. They inspire and entertain me. They motivate me and raise my will when it's at its ebb.

I'm thankful for having the good taste to appreciate these things and the discipline to pursue them and keep them close.

I wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving.

[Posted for LJ Idol Season 6 - Free Topic - The Giving of Thanks]

First We Read, Then We Write: Emerson on the Creative Process by Robert D. Richardson


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A short book (really a long essay) on Ralph Waldo Emerson's approach to the writing process and product, culled from his journal, letters, and essays. As an Emerson fan and an aspiring writer, I found it motivational, inspiring and fascinating.

I discovered this book through John Banville's review in the New York Review of Books (link to a preview of the review but a paid subscription is required to view it in its entirety).

View all my reviews >>

Because you need to be punished and you haven't had enough stupid yet today . . .

I'm at work today. This is not as bad as it sounds. I like my job. Today, my boss is off. Actually, all the pains in the ass are off today, too.

Let me make it clear: my boss is NOT a pain in the ass, which is good. But I work with several people who are. Magically, they are all off today. Maybe they are at a pain in the ass convention. If there is such a thing, please let me know where so I can avoid it. :)

Bright sunshine comes in through my office window. Almost everyone - faculty and students - is gone so the place is quiet and there's really nothing to do but be here in case I'm needed.

So I'm doing a long overdue office straightening, email purging, and catching up on some work-related reading (as the afternoon wears on, the reading may get less work-related).

Tomorrow, I will get up early to run the Boulevard Bolt here in Nashville. Then rosepurr and I plan a walk around the beautiful Radnor Lake. Then it's on to turkey and all the fixings. Hooray!

The rest of the weekend I don't think either one of us even plan to get dressed. We're going to drink a lot of coffee, eat leftovers, read, and watch TV. Our apartment complex scored a deal with the local cable provider so we got a discount on cable. Before, we just had basic cable, which was pretty much the channels you could previously pick up with a basic antenna plus a bunch of religious programming. Now we have real cable. Which is why we spent Saturday night curled in front of the TV watching made-for-Syfy Kevin Sorbo movies.

Real cable is a dangerous thing.

With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching (YUM!), there is a short voting period for this week's LJ Idol.

If you liked my entry (or even if you didn't), you can vote here. I am in Tribe Beauty. Voting ends tomorrow.

Thanks for your continued support. Happy Turkey Day!

For all you fellow book junkies out there,

Stephen King has a fascinating review of a new biography about and a new collection of stories by Raymond Carver. When I was in college, Carver was worshipped as immortal among my creative writing professors. So I find the revelations about how Carver wrote versus how much his editor Gordon Lish actually contributed to his trademark style.

I like that King describes the biographer as enamored of Carver the writer while pointing out how much the biographer avoids Carver the drunken asshole. Why are so many artists bad people? King may be a bit self-condemning in this way as he has struggled with the bottle himself. The alcoholism may have played a role in the whole editorial brouhaha as Carver needed publication and a rise in self-esteem since he quit drinking. Lish could get him those things, but only on his terms.

Anyway, the review is a fascinating read. I find it completely appropriate that King, who was not highly regarded by my literary establishment wannabe creative writing professors, writes very intelligently about Carver as a man and as a craftsman. I'm curious to read both the biography and the unedited versions of his stories.

( Bearing False Witness )

The worst lies are not the ones we tell ourselves. The worst ones are the ones we are.

[Posted for LJ Idol Season 6 - Topic 6 - Bearing False Witness]

Murder on the Leviathan by Boris Akunin


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A classic set-up for a nautical closed room mystery with the usual twists and interesting characters. It was good enough to keep me turning pages (or keep listening, as I did this via audiobook), but it's not exceptional. A decent mystery story.

View all my reviews >>

I'm still working on the 101 things in 1000 days that I mentioned forever ago. It's more like someone plinking a toy piano in the back of my mind these days - a constant irritation or consideration rather than something I'm actively working at.

Today I pulled out a copy of the list. (Now that I completed the VERY BIG PROJECT at work, I'm working on straightening up my office, which may qualify as another VERY BIG PROJECT.) In reviewing it, I found that I have accomplished several things while failing at one spectacularly.

1. See a classic movie on the big screen.

rosepurr and I caught "Nosferatu" on the big screen here on campus Halloween night. It'd been years since I've seen it. I just remember it being a good film and I was right.

2. Visit our friends in Minneapolis.

We visited them last week on vacation. It was fun, too. The weather cooperated so we got to do a lot of fun things, including seeing the Mall of America and doing a 9-mile run (okay, maybe that's just my idea of fun) around Lake Calhoun. One of the other things we got to do was . . .

3. Hash!

I've been talking about it for awhile, but our friends in Minneapolis, purple_phys and tbec are already part of the group up there, so for our virgin hash, we ran through woods, crossed train tracks, darting oncoming trains, and drank.

For those of you who have no idea what hashing means, the short version is always "A drinking group with a running problem." There's an entire vocabulary, but really it's about creating running and walking trails as an excuse to exercise and drink beer (like I need any reason for either, but especially the latter). rosepurr and I are planning to attend Nashville's group soon. The Music City Hash House Harriers website has a lot of detail about the hashing phenomenon.

On on!

4. Run a half-marathon.

I mentioned this earlier and I couldn't recall if it was on the list. It is. Huzzah! I ran a better time than I expected and I had a great time. As I've gotten older, I'm not as fast as I once was, but endurance has gotten much easier to build. The first couple of miles of everything just seem to suck, but then I find my rhythm and feel like I could go on a long time. At the half, I ran 10 and a half miles before I walked at all (damn hill!).


Overall, I'm doing well. But there are a couple of items that worry me.

1. Write a blog entry every time an item is complete.

Obviously then, this entry should be at least 4. Perhaps this wasn't the best goal to set. Many of my 101 things are linked together and, as here, will be accomplished together. So I'm rephrasing my goal to "Write blog entries about each completed item."

2. Complete Nanowrimo.

I have a very hard time with Nanowrimo this year. Today is the 18th and I don't even have 3000 words. Vacation is partly to blame, but I have to make the time and put my ass in the chair. I have to get past the mental blocks I have (too numerous to mention) and just work. Maybe lightning will strike and I'll burst out in the week or so I have left, but it's not looking good.

Sigh.

Junior Ray by John Pritchard


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
An entertaining and often hilarious novel about a sheriff's deputy in the Mississippi Delta who decides he needs to kill Leland Shaw, a WWII veteran who just escaped a mental institution. The novel is written in the first person and very much in the dialect of Junior Ray, who is racist, sexist and ignorant. This makes it sometimes difficult to read, despite its shortness. Sometimes, however, Junior Ray inadvertently provides keen insight into the human condition. The book, like its narrator, is profane, irreverent, and hysterical. Highly recommended for those who aren't squeamish.

View all my reviews >>

I continue to roll on in LJ Idol.

If you liked my entry this week, please vote here.

Thanks for your support.

"Girl, you're a beauty like I've never witnessed
And I've seen the Northern Lights dancing on air" - John Hiatt, "Icy Blue Heart"

( Moments of Devastating Beauty )

[Posted for Season 6, Topic 4 - "Moments of Devastating Beauty"]

Those of you who know me know how I feel on this issue, but I post this story to rouse more ire. Have a great weekend.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/78655.html

"Smile. It makes everyone wonder what you're up to." - original author unknown

( Remembrance )

Goodbye, Grandma B. We love you & we miss you.

[Posted for LJ Idol Season 6 Week 3 - "Smile"]

While I mentioned it briefly in my last entry, I want to remind everyone that this week's LJ Idol poll is up.

Here is my entry.

Here is a link to the vote.

Thanks for your support.

Not a traditional Halloween, but fun in its own way. I ran a 5K late yesterday afternoon. I did about what I set out to, which is good. I didn't wear a costume, but a lot of folks there did. Which means did I get to outrun Kratos, Lara Croft, and Rainbow Brite. However, I didn't outrun the dead sorority tennis players or the Hulk or the Ninja Turtle. rosepurr got her hair colored pink and a bright star painted on her cheek and greeted me with a kiss at the finish line. YAY!

After a couple of free beers from the race sponsors, we went over to campus for a viewing of "Nosferatu," the classic silent film (1922). They had a 6-piece ensemble playing live with the movie. The group apparently just does soundtracks for silent films, writing and playing and touring. They were fantastic and the music added even more creepiness to an already creepy film. I'd seen it before, but it had been many years. I'm always amazed by how well it holds up. It's still eerie and mesmerizing and the pacing is extraordinary.

Then, because I was ravenous, rosepurr and I stopped off at Red Robin on the way home. Word of advice: Red Robin is deserted late on Halloween night. Which was kind of awesome. While we had a great time out and about, we were a bit people'd out. So we shut down Red Robin with peachy drinks and a Monster Burger with turkey patties instead of beef (a small effort at eating healthier).

Today, we're busy bees. Which kind of sucks. I just want to lay around on the couch, preferably in nothing more than underpants, reading a good book between dozing spells. But there's laundry and other housework to be done, LJ Idol posts to read and vote upon, a Nanowrimo novel to begin (it would probably help if I had any ideas), and some attempts at rest before the new workweek (which is promising to be harrowing) begins.

Sigh.

‘PW’ Unveils Top Titles of 2009 :

Seven books from the Random House imprints, two from Norton and one from Penguin comprise the first-ever Top 10 list of the best adult books of the year as compiled by the review editors of PW.

Really?  Really?  It's not even November 1 yet, and I'm hit with my first "Best of" list. 

Sigh. 

I guess I should have seen this coming when I saw Christmas decorations in the stores over the summer.