Tag: thanksgiving

  • GOURDS!

    I bought gourds this morning at Trader Joe’s. You know, the Fall/Autumn/Halloween gourds that come out on October 1st, and are sold through Thanksgiving. Well, it was two tiny pumpkins and a gourd to be exact, but as I get deeper into the season, I will buy more of these. I wouldn’t call it a weakness, but it is the one seasonal decoration that I indulge.

    Soon, most likely this weekend, we’ll go to our storage space and get the box of Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations to put up. Most of what is in there are silly, kid-like things to put up. Also in that box, there is a collection of dollar store small glittery pumpkins. Soon our kitchen table will be a collection of both real and fake gourds. You know, how the Pilgrims intended.

    When the kid was little, two or three, she would paint the white pumpkins to add to the decorations. I don’t think she does that anymore. And I start to wonder how long we’ll keep decorating the apartment with these cartoonish and child-like decorations?

    My parents kept reusing all the old holiday decorations until I went away to college. With me, the final child was out of the house, so my mom decided that it was time to have more grown up decorations for all the holidays. Gone were the doe-eyed cats and bats, to be replaced with wreaths of fake orange leaves and gourds. (But her gourds were plastic and ceramic.) Christmas even got more mature with an all-white lights on an all-white tree. You get the idea…

    I have a feeling we’ll do the same thing when our kid heads out of here, to college or where ever.

    But I like my gourds.

  • It’s Thanksgiving, Ya’ll!

    Yup, it’s Thanksgiving, and I can say that I do have many things to be thankful for. My amazing wife, wonderful daughter, family, and friends. I did want to also say thank you for taking the time to read this silly little blog. I also wanted to mention that I am thankful for the bots, from China, Vietnam, and Croatia, who continue to check out my posts for some reason. Maybe you’re looking to hack me, or maybe you are a real person who finds short story reviews, Ikea essays, and general bitching about the state of Tottenham Hotspur highly entertaining. Either way, thank you, all of you, for taking your time and spending it on me.

    Now, here’s to the Cowboys beating the Giants!

    Happy Thanksgiving!

  • ODDS and ENDS: World Cup Starts on Sunday, Twitter-ageddon, and Thanksgiving

    (I came all this way…)

    I shouldn’t watch the World Cup. FIFA, the organization that runs the World Cup, is corrupt as the day is long, and they were paid off by Qatar so that this authoritarian nation could host the competition. Just gander at this, if you haven’t heard it yet. That’s bad, but let’s not forget that Qatar has a history of human rights abuses, and in the rush to build these stadiums in the desert, thousands of migrant workers died. That is truly horrendous, and unconscionable. Then today, Qatar banned beer sales at the stadiums. Now, now, wine and alcohol will be available in the VIP boxes, but not for everyone else. Yes, fans will be able to get alcohol at their hotels, and other designated spots. I don’t know much, but I do know that when you ban something, people will just find a way around it. That leaves me to believe that there will be a whole lot of pre-gaming from certain fans from England and Germany. Well, actually, all the teams from Europe, if I am to be honest. The World Cup in Qatar is a shitshow before it even started. And yet the whole world will watch. Myself included. There is a little shame in that, sure, but I really like the idea of a global sports competition. It’s not the equalitarian event I want it to be, but I keep hoping that if all of us who love this event keep putting pressure on the organizers, that soon we can have the fair, sportsmanship advocating event that we all really want. Also, Mexico will choke in the group stage, USA will make it to the knockout round but lose their first match, and England takes third place. That’s my prediction, as I have no idea who will win the whole thing.

    I keep expecting Twitter to blowup – just explode in a ball of flames. Sadly, I see now that it will be a slow decline, like Myspace and Tumblr. Everyone will migrate somewhere else, and the trolling begins anew. I just can’t make heads or tails of Mastodon. (Seriously, I need to pick a sever? Whatever.) I think my Tumblr account is still active. Just look for me @mlgroff wherever handles are used.

    I’m ready for Thanksgiving. We’ll be shopping for the meal this weekend, as we have had our menu ready to go for two weeks now. I’m looking forward to this holiday because in our house, we hang around in pajamas all day, and eat when the meal is ready. It is a very lazy day in our house. As I have gotten older, and now that I am a father, Thanksgiving has come to symbolize for me the last full day of rest I can get before the crazy marathon of Christmas starts. So, Here! Here! Turkey Day!

    (SAY! Thanks for making it to the end of this post. If you have enjoyed my wordsmithing, then please be kind and give a like. No one shares or comments on my posts, so you don’t have to do that, but following my blog would be a super awesome bonus. I’ll update the website soon. I promise!)

  • After Thanksgiving

    I have never really understood the excitement of Black Friday. I understand that there are people out there who love to hunt for a bargain, and who treat shopping like a sport. Fine, that’s your bag, and go to town with it.

    Since the advent of online shopping, which I guess was the late 90’s, it now feels like we have this almost week-long celebration of consumerism that is covers Black Friday to Cyber Monday… 4 Amazing Days of Shopping!!! There have been stories in the news for over a week of how much money will be spent, and how to find the best deals. I would not be surprised that in 50 years we will have a new holiday that comes out of Thanksgiving and is all about shopping. The government shuts down, and there will be no taxes, and it will be like the Purge, but for capitalism.

    A friend of mine from college, Lori Fox who is an artist and jewelry designer, put the following picture up on her Instagram page…

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    Her statement that accompanied the image is as follows:

    “Think before you buy- it’s not a “good deal” if you don’t need it. Thanks @adbusters.magazine and @makesmthng for helping raise awareness about our often mindless consumption that leads to so much environmental waste and pollution. Be aware this holiday season 👀Have you started any new holiday traditions in your family that don’t involve buying loads of new stuff?”

  • The Thanksgiving Blog

    It is Thanksgiving-Eve, and we have started the preparations in our little California home. I started cutting up vegetables and getting the dips and sauces ready. Tonight, my wife will start making the pumpkin pie.

    In the morning, whenever we decide to get up, but it should still be early. We do have a kid after all. So, when we get up early, we’ll watch the Macy’s parade with the kid and then after that, we start making everything for the meal. It takes however long it takes us. Sometimes we eat at 1pm, sometimes we eat at 8pm.

    Our other tradition is that we stay in our pajamas all day. We go out shopping earlier in the week and everyone gets a new set. Holiday theme is preferred, but not mandatory.

    The goal for the day is that we all take it easy, stay relaxed, and enjoy being with each other.

    All of that is good and well, and fun and silly, and the way we celebrate the holiday.

    But what has really hit home with me recently is that I do have so much to be thankful for. With all of the changes that have come into my life this year, some planned others not so much, I now see with clarity the importance of friends, and family; the people we choose to share our lives with. That these relationships are what truly brings meaning and value to life. I am thankful for them.

    And with that…

    May it be a wonderful day for you, and Happy Thanksgiving to All!