Happy T(of)urkey Day

Tomorrow in the United States, it's our annual Thanksgiving holiday. (wikipedia it for more on history, rituals, etc...)

They Know We're Grateful by the Quantity We Ingest
I will be attending my Nth annual "Orphan's Feast" at/with/for a group of friends in the southwest Valley. (A potluck for those who aren't/can't go to their families.) It's a buffet of cuisine, and I can't wait to sample the wide menu. I will, of course, contribute my potluck staple: green bean casserole. (I'm also taking some Santa Fe Stew, which is similarly easy-to-make and popular.)

So, as I eat thanks for all the positive I have in my life, a few memories with you in the hopes that you too have and appreciate your bounty.

• Harianne ("Yenta" of Ed Debevic's fame) and I ate veggie patties and watched Native American movies. Both of them. (including a favorite of mine, Sherman Alexie's Smoke Signals. "John Wayne has no teeth, hey-ya...")
• On a similar note, I'm also fond of the First Thanksgiving as portrayed in the movie Addams Family Values.
• Finally, menu-wise, when I was a hall director (campus housing), my fellow directors and I had a monthly potluck dinner as a bit of team-building. Each month, I took my green bean casserole --the only really decent thing I can cook (i., stir and heat). When December came, the host suggested we do a cookie exchange instead, and everyone turned to me, worried about what Thomas would bring. Non-plussed, I asked whether they hadn't heard of 'green bean casserole holiday balls.' Mmmm.

I took sugar cookies, made from the recipe on the bag. (But you gotta admit it sounds intriguing...)

Bourne Justice

At long last, the entertainment establishment has acknowledged what I have long known:

The Sexiest Man Alive
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21789226/

I will admit seeing ads for The Rainmaker years ago, with attached buzz of the up-and-coming new star, and thinking 'no big deal.' I have since realized the folly of my ways. And, finally the cultural definer that is People, agrees.

The line for congratulatory snogs starts behind me.

Somewhere, a place for me...

This was the first Veterans Day weekend in a number of years that I did not spend on "retreat" in Winslow, AZ at the La Posada hotel. With its front door on the historic Route 66, and the its back door on the intercontinental rail line, the hotel is being restored to its halcyon state. After first visiting for work in January 2002, I have visited almost every fall to enjoy the changing-foliage drive up, in-room fireplace, no phones, sunken garden, gourmet restaurant, train shaken anonymity. Not this year.

Consolation prize
No, this year, pending comprehensive exams and diminished grad student income have kept me from the annual escape. Instead, I am sorting, reading, outlining, cursing, synthesizing and attempting to (re)learn everything-there-is-to-know about Communication theory, qualitative research methods, whiteness, communication & identity, and intergroup dialogue. Tomorrow's forecast: sunny, and more of the same. Long range forecast: Ditto.

FYI, here's what the HIGHLIGHTS (i.e., non-cumulative) of seven years of doctoral work looks like spread in your living and dining rooms:



(House usually looks like as shown here.) More books and stacks of articles to come, by the pound!

All this so I can retort, "That's DOCTOR Shift Manager, thank you very much."