— that I have a great doctor. Really. He’s the best.
— friends who send me emails just to say hi
— my lilac-scented candles, placed all over my house
— Endust
— rescue swimmers
— my big fat dictionary
— Anton Chekhov
— new sneakers
— Grey Goose vodka
— the people who read this blog
— Glendalough
— my dad’s garden, and the Adirondack chairs on the patio
— my beautiful lamp from Pier One
— the fact that my bamboo plant is now flourishing
— Beth’s tiki bar in her backyard, with the blue gleaming swimming pool
— Alex’s back porch
— Gena Rowlands
— all my friends’ kids
— Cashel and the letters he writes to me, and his smile with his big-boy teeth
— my sister Siobhan’s music
— my sister Jean’s smile
— my brother Brendan’s kindness
— my entourage of cousins
— my dad’s staunch belief in me
— my mom’s entire personality
— my framed old map of Ireland on my wall. I bought it at Trinity College. It has sea monsters and mermaids leaping around the borders.
— Lake Michigan
— the Bible
— Metallica
— the constellation Orion
— Pat’s albums
— my skin
— and speaking of that: Eucerin Q10 Anti-Wrinkle cream. Phenomenal.
— the Consitutional Convention of 1787
— Judy Garland
— Ryzsard Kapuscinski
— The Sewanee Review
— Tennessee Williams’ Summer and Smoke
— charades
— Winslow Homer
— Jeff Bridges’ acting
— firemen
— men, in general
— women, in general
— David McCullough
— my incense (the scent is called “sensuality”)
— Alexander Hamilton
— along with that – The Federalist Papers
— 6 Feet Under
— warriors/commando-types/SEALs/Delta Force … you know, “those guys”
— Seamus Heaney
— John Gribbin
— my pale pale yellow walls, and my thick brown curtains, and my ceiling fan
— kissing someone I really really like
— engineers
— Anne Frank
— Anne Frank
Hamilton gets only one mention? For shame.
No!! He got 2! I mentioned Federalist Papers, too! Come on now. Hamilton’s my dead boyfriend! Of course he’s gonna get his props!
You may be the only person in history to mention “the Bible” and “Metallica” adjacently (in a positive sense)
hahahahahahahaha
Right on!!!!
What, not Cary or Bogey or Kate? For shame!
Oh for God’s sake. Are you all just gonna nitpick my list OF WHAT IM THANKFUL FOR??? How ’bout just adding to the list? How about something positive rather than negative?
Besides: Cary Grant is the star of Only Angels Have Wings. So he’s on the list by default. That’s one of my favorite movies ever made.
I am NOT thankful for people who nitpick my list of what I am thankful for!
Here’s an update:
As I wrote that post, I burnt my soup. Literally. To a crisp. I forgot I put the soup on the stove, typed away, and came into the kitchen to find a burnt horror. No more liquid, and pasta clinging to the sides of the blackened pan. I have ruined one of my pots.
So. That’s the flipside of expressing myself.
No nitpicks here, I think it’s a fine list. And a great time to think about it too.
I haven’t forgotten about Gena Rowlands, by the way. Just swamped at the moment.
Oh, and Cullen – I suppose technically, Alexander Hamilton could also go under the category of the Convention of 1787. So he gets 3 mentions!!
And I have an old map of Ireland with sea monsters and things! But I used to draw on mine as a kid, and it’s in generally crap shape.
Anne – I forgot to tell you: did you know that gena and diane are great friends? weirdly, I just read that this past week.
!!!!!!!!!!
Insanely weird. Where did you read it?
Some interview with diane lane … Let me try to track it down. They’re old friends.
I love my map – because it’s kind of inexact … it’s very old, way way before satellites and stuff … But it’s very cool.
Grey Goose vodka
Ugh. Remind me to get you some Charodei sometime. Immeasurably better.
Ok, I’ll stay to the positive side!
Manhattan? a specific special place or a particular landmark?
Acting? (not the acting of a specific person, but acting itself)
Do you have a specific, non-alcoholic foodstuff you love?
More as I think of them — I’m sorry you ruined your pot!
in re: the list
John Gribbon.. and John Gribbin’s new book The Fellowship.. which I’m currently reading and enjoying very much.
Ron, you’re missing the point. This isn’t about trying to figure out what I left out. I was watching the news, and feeling awful for the people in the south, so I jotted down things I’m thankful for. Why does my list have to be incomplete?
peteb – yeah, I got your link about the book – it sounds wonderful.
no mint oreos? well….ok.
mere … do you have any grey poupon?
hmmmm. I don’t know….I bet my mom does, though.
i just don’t like mint-y things. hahahaha Except for Girl Scout thin mints. I looooove those.
Sheila
It reads wonderfully, as expected, but it also looks wonderful, it really is a beautiful book.
However, I am starting to think of certain members of that Fellowship as Those Guys.. hmm..
hahahaha Yes – “those guys” indeed. :)
Did you intentionally place Orion and Metallica next to each other? Orion is one of my favorite metallica songs… Which I thought was kind of wierd since it’s entirely instrumental…
Great list btw. It is definately good to be reminded that we really do have a lot to be thankful for!
curtis –
wow! No. That was not deliberate – a complete coincidence. so weird!!
I am probably the only one that noticed that. But I love that song. Totally gets me pumped up.
Things to be added for my list:
Wife Sarah
iPod
Atlas Shrugged
Coffee (and a starbucks on every corner)
Adirondack Mountains
Advil, so I can enjoy the adirondack mountains
The Kuyaba hotel on the beach in Negril, Jamaica
Good Beer Bars: Esp. Rock Bottom Brewery, Clarks Ale House in Syracuse, The Mews, RFD in DC, The Swan Pub in London…
Bless you for being thankful for The Mews!!
The Mews. A Rhode Island institution!
I noticed Orion also, Curtis ;) I’m not a huge Metallica fan though, so I didn’t want to bring it up (I’m a Megadeth fan).
Sheila, I didn’t mean to sound nitpicky. I had noticed, of course both the Federalist Paper and Constituttional Convention entries. I was poking fun. I think it’s a great list and thread.
My list would include:
*My wife
*My children
*My ability to provide for them
*Music in general
*The ability to make music, however crappy it may be
cullen – megadeth!!!
In the documentary about Metallica (Some Kind of Monster) – Dave Mustaine emerges as a tragic figure of Shakespearean proportions. I’m not even kidding.
It’s like he feels he is a failure – but … but … it’s not like Megadeth wasn’t successful! I mean, damn!!! It’s just that compared to Metallica – you just can’t compare yourself to Metallica. They are outrageously successful, and they skew the entire conversation.
Mustaine was just so full of “what if”s, and regrets. I felt really bad for him.
Megadeth is very cool, too.
There was a time when I liked Metallica, but their music was always more polished than Megadeth. And Megadeth always put more emphasis on musicianship than production/marketability. I guess that’s why I was always fond of them.
I appreciate their success. I’ve never felt they had much musical integrity though. That said, Dave Mustaine sold his out around the Train of Consequences time frame. And I’ve always felt that Mustaine was too whiney.
Pantera. Now there’s a band. Dream Theater. Now there is THE band.
That is, I appreciate Metallica’s success. I never felt they had much musical integrity.
Pantera. Yup.
Cowboys From Hell Double Yes!
Red, I admire how you took your viewing of the New Orleans crisis and turned into something positive like your list. It’s been hard to deal with because it’s so overwhelming!
Things I’d list:
running water/indoor plumbing (not just because of recent events; my mom grew up without it and I heard stories…)
the fact that I have a roof over my head
my research student. He helped me collect data for a project unrelated to what he’s doing HIS research on, and he THANKED me for “letting” him work with me on this project – he’s the kind of person who’s eager to learn and he has the best attitude.
the peace and quiet of the early morning
Carl Larsson’s paintings
Bach, Vaughn Williams, Dvorak
Dearest; who the hell is john gribben? love, dad
What does “lack of musical integrity” mean? It seems like people make that complaint a lot. I have heard that about metallica, and I think that is part of what sheila doesn’t like in the new Tori. A lot of people think that Ani Difranco’s new stuff is crap.
Why shouldn’t artists change? Wouldn’t it be boring (for them as well) if they didn’t?
This comment isn’t meant in a snide way at all, I am just curious what is meant by “lack of musical integrity”. And why that lack should make music any less enjoyable for it’s own sake.
It’s the difference between making music for the sake of being consumed and making music for the sake of making music.
Sheila – great list, and great idea. Part of my list would include
– My children – Alex and Julia
…and the sound of their laughter mingling together…and their impossibly beautiful little faces.
– My husband – Bill
…and the way he moves earthworms off of the paved driveway after a rainstorm and puts them in the yard so they won’t get picked off by birds or dry out in the sun.
– My sister – Meredith
…she is the best.
– my mother – for showing me to be fearless in the kitchen
– my father – for showing me how to look at the world
– strong coffee – hot in the winter, iced in the summer
– early weekend mornings in autumn
– pulling up lobster pots in the fog
– plain bagels
– brie
– my Canon AE-1
– the typing lessons I had in high school
– the smell of freshly cut lawns
– irises (the flower, not the part of the eye)
– my ears
– champagne and oysters
– my Subaru Outback
gotta go…should probably get to work now. Again – great list, Sheila. It got me thinking.
dad – hahahahahahahaha
He wrote one of my favorite little books, called In Search of Schrodinger’s Cat. He’s the one who made physics seem comprehensible and kind of fun to me.
Jayne – damn, your entire list feels almost like a short story. beautiful.
pulling up lobster pots in the fog. wonderful.
That distinction makes sense. In my outlook I don’t have a problem either way (this might be due to being musically inept). If I like a song, I am going to listen to it. But I can respect that some people feel differently and understand why they would.
Thanks for the explanation.
That’s the great thing about music. There’s so much for everyone. I hate it when people get mad just because someone else doesn’t like what they do or share their opinion about something. I mean, variety IS the spice of life.
There are those who would disagree with my definition, but that’s what makes it special to me. It’s mine.
The Back Porch.
:-)
Nice list. Everyone should write one of those every once in a while. I know I should.
Ok, I need to put mine in…with all the crap going on thinking of the good things in life is good therapy.
– My Husband
– The little teeny weeny person growing in me. Haven’t met him or her yet only, but that doesn’t matter. The ultrasound made me cry.
– My parents..the older I get the more I love them.
– My grandparents…both those gone and those still alive, I’ve been blessed with fantastic grandparents.
– My brother, aunts, uncles, cousins…they’re part of who I am and I love each and every one of them.
– My best friend of 25 years…awesome.
– Friends in general…the glue of life
– My pets (1 dog, 1 cat)…life would be boring without them
– Football (I grew up in Green Bay, can ya tell?)
– John Denver
– TV
– Our DVD collection (which needs to expand further). I love having movies I love at my disposal.