Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. Ours was "ok," as Thanksgiving is for me usually (sad to say) kind of a hassle...not that I ever really have to DO anything, but my memories seem to center on women doing all the work while men sit on their asses and watch football. It's not that way anymore, certainly, but I still persist in thinking of Thanksgiving as a gender-unfriendly obligation and an annoying pebble in a perfectly-good stretch of time off. That sounds very ungracious about a holiday meant to celebrate gratitude, I know. I did enjoy watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, though, as I do every year -- the only show that is more fun to mock is the Miss America Pagent. I like to watch closely and rate performers on their lip-synching abilities. Rick Astley was the big lip-synching loser this year. And the long weekend was notable, also, for the almost absurd number of chores we managed to cross off our list. I realize now that me + Dave + joint weekday off = superpower efficiency (E=dtw).
As for what I'm grateful for....there are some big ones this year. But I also like to appreciate the little things. Below are some smaller, rather random, things I'm grateful for at this precise moment:
- Sinclair Lewis (I'm reading...and very much enjoying...Main Street right now)
- Burt's Bees lip balm
- Glittery Christmas ornaments
- Yardsticks
- The adorable bunny that lives in the bush outside our apartment building
- Dave's warm, strong hands
- Emory boards
- Grilled cheese sandwiches
- Swifter wet jet
- Strangers who say "hi" when they walk past you
- Rain, the neighbor's dog
- Ice cold milk
- The organ in "Autumn Sweater" by Yo La Tengo
- A fresh box of Kleenex
- Having a student ask me what my favorite book is...and actually seem to be interested
- Warming my hands on a mug of tea
- Periwinkle
- The amazing dream I had last night (Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Jude Law were playing
Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, only Byron and Shelley in this case were also members of a vampire cult led by Oscar Wilde and they had to solve a series of crimes taking place amongst a consortium of Cure fans residing in a spooky mansion isolated in the prairie wilderness...and themselves falling prey to the vampiric poets). So grateful for that fantastic blending of the cultural debris in my life....historical research of Frankenstein, commercials for Twilight, my circling of The Tudors DVD set in the latest Acorn catalog, my husband's citing of The Cure as a favorite band in an interview he did for the Hill-Murray student paper, the setting of Main Street, and I'm not sure how Oscar Wilde made his way in there except I do own an Oscar Wilde action figure that was recently dusted.
- A lunch hour where I'm momentarily so carefree that I can spend my time blogging and worrying about which particular cookies to bake this Christmas!
I hope you also take time to appreciate all the little things that contribute in their own wee way to your happiness, comfort, and satisfaction.
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3 comments:
Sinclair Lewis is under appreciated these days. "Arrowsmith" and "Babbitt" are also both quite remarkable.
In the beginning of "Main Street" there is a scene where Lewis contrasts the main character moving to the small town with a different, random woman's impression of Gopher Prairie as the biggest town she has ever seen. I kept that scene in mind during my years in Morris, MN, going to college. It was remarkably accurate.
Oh, and your list? Those are all good things to be thankful for. And you do have a very solid point about the gener roles of the holiday.
He's totally underappeciated! What's up with that? Nobody talks about him as they do other "serious" writers...and only now am I finding out how brilliant he is (was)! I never expected him to be, you know, funny! I never expected actual 3-dimensional female characters. Nor did I expect that kind of gorgeous description. I feel like I've been duped all these years, left to think he's some grumpy overrated writer whose work only applies to "olden times" or "social commentary." Boo! Hiss! I'm definitely going to read Babbit next. By the way, I also feel Graham Greene doesn't get anough cred for being freaking beyond-belief brilliant. Let's start a "neglected genius writers" club.
Funny you should mention that. Seems that the "G.K Chesteron Society" occasionally holds their meetings on campus. However, I am fine with the idea that his works are deemed neglected.
I'll have to investigae Graham Greene. I just found out who David Foster Wallce was too.
Maybe the problem with the reputation of Lewis is that turning down of the Pulitzer. Just a thought. Or maybe folks don't like to be reminded by a superior observor of their folly and shortcoming. Hard to say.
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