What are you thankful for?
Years ago, I started a list of things I am thankful for as a novelty exercise right around the holidays. It was generally buried in the personal section and unless you knew to look for it, you wouldn't find it. At least once, I backfilled it after the fact.
I feel that I've gained new insight in gratitude and acknowledgement this year and, quite frankly, I didn't feel like the list was getting its due. I really went at it this year. I didn't put everything down, as I was digging in my memory for it, but I went back to last Thanksgiving and carried it through to this Thanksgiving.
Here's my list. This year, I am thankful for...
- Kit and Sarah Bear for hosting me for Turkey Day 2004
- Mary, Kate & Ashley, for the free day off
- That one slot machine at Circus Circus, for being so generous
- Sarah, wherever you've gone, for the much needed s hot of confidence
- Drew, for the School Plague ;)
- Mom and Sis, for coming down to visit so that I didn't spend Christmas without family
- Koreans in Los Angeles, for one of the coolest ways to bring in the New Year
- Soo Sun, for bringing fun and parties to the house
- Henry, Jamie, Paul, Karl, Mary, and Alex, for making birthdays something to celebrate
- Metro Bus 81 and the Metro rail system
- ACUS, for being there and for giving me a place to see all those old friends
- Kit, for La Vie en Rose, even if it never took off
- Patrician, for the Mien Shiang and for her wisdom and guidance
- Cryptic Studios and NC Soft, for City of Heroes
- Jason, for getting me in on the Newsletter team and opening up Anime Expo for me
- Maryssa, for the best cosplay costume I've ever seen
- Mark Spirtos, Gail Le Gassick, Jim Mercado, and Pamela Heath, for showing me what transformation looks like
- JohnBrown, for making the Excellence seminar possible
- Everyone in Group 51, for keeping me true to my word
- Jason (a different one), for taking that stand for me
- Michelle and Ally, for believing in me when I didn't want to believe in myself
- Mariano, n1k0, ArrowOne, and the rest of that crew for a kickass experience
- Henry, Paul and Tim, for lending me cars when I needed them
- The City Attorney Project, for giving me a reason to go shopping for digital cameras and printers
- Lillian and Phil, for their acknowledgement of my photos in a way that inspires me to continue with it
- Sergio and Efren at Diamond Motor for their help in finding me a car that I really like
- Acura, for making the car in the first place.
- George, for taking good care of the car during his stewardship
- Maggie, for late night conversations and setting me straight on wheels vs. rims
- Karl again, for all the help with the car
- All our veterans, for the sacrifices they have made on our behalf
- All the new voters, for finally getting involved
- MovableType, for the best blog engine ever
- Michelle again, for the rhythm
Thanksgivings Past
2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998
2003
Unlike last year, this year, I'm waiting until the last minute. So, with only two days left...
I'm going to miss someone this year, I'm sure of it. There's just so many people to thank.
For me, this has been an incredible year of change and I'm so blessed to have so many friends around and around the country and continent to support me while I went through a pretty bad time. Thank you all, whether you knew you were doing it or not! That said, I'm back in the saddle again, and doing well. If you're ever in the Los Angeles area, look me up.
This year, I am thankful for...
- The incredible generosity and kindness of Jeanne, without whom I don't think I would have made it through my time in unemployment
- Bill, Kevin, and Mei Mei for similar reasons
- Derrin, for advice that he never knew he gave
- Katyia, for moral support and being there and then not being there
- Brian, for being as whacked out as I am
- Heat in the wintertime
- Fried chicken at Sun Sing
- Jennifer, for the back-breaking
- Yong Bin, for one of the strangest starts to a bachelor party that I've ever been to
- Soo Sun and Henry, for getting married
- Soo Sun and Henry's amazing friends in Los Angeles
- The Hump, for the amazing sushi that I can and cannot talk about
- Inspiration Point at Will Rogers State Park
- Apple, for finally getting the TIEbook 100%
- Soo Sun, Henry, and Drew, for helping me through while I was job hunting across the country
- La Jolla Cove in San Diego
- Stef and Dirk, for showing me that there's more to my sketchbook than the occasionally random doodle
- Sungwon, for the long nights of slaying Chinese
- Mary, Kate & Ashley (pseydonym), for taking me onto their payroll
- The animal hospital in Dobb's Ferry, NY, that bailed me out of a really bad situation while transporting my cats to the Berkshires
- Soo Sun's mom, for offering her home to my cats when I couldn't take them with me
- The Metro Gold Line
- The really cool students at Yosan University
- Dinner parties in a house that's reminiscent of The Knoll
- Cowboy Bebop
- Jamie and Paul, for getting married
- The Roach Coach, which I'm sure isn't named that, but still serves the best damned breakfast burritos I've ever had
- Panther
- Soo Sun's mom, for the best life updates one could hope for from a pair of cats
- The coolest group of people to work for
- The coolest group of vendors to go out and do stupid stuff with
- Cha Cha Cha, with the wonderful Caribbean fare
- Long nights and double overtime
- Thanksgiving in Las Vegas
2002
Okay, starting this list way early this year in the hopes that I'll keep it up to date as Thanksgiving nears.
I am thankful for...
- Winning an X-Box at the company holiday party.
- Winning the Superbowl in the office fantasy football league. Booyah!
- The "John Jay." What a ferry boat.
- The indomitable will of mothers.
- The warm fuzzy feeling of my kittens as they swirl around my ankles jonesing for food.
- My kittens, Hack and Diva.
- Live striped bass, steamed dead, and put on a plate for me to eat.
- Reward travel on accumulated frequent flyer miles.
- Continental OnePass Platinum Gold Elite status.
- Football.
- Hockey.
- Being laid off, a mixed blessing.
- New York leisure activities.
- Down-to-earth models.
- Monster Sushi on 23rd St.
- Friends.
- My cats, Hack and Diva. They all growed up.
- Madden 2003.
2001
Yo! In time for Thanksgiving (US) this year! Barely, but in time!
I am thankful for...
- Titanium PowerBooks!
- Not being in the World Trade Center on 11 September
- Continental Airlines OnePass Platinum Elite status
- King's Canyon National Park with Drew, Henry, Soo Sun, Una, Lorena, Lauren, Paulito, Drew's Dad, Nancy, and Chris
- Omakase at Nobu Next Door with Chris, Matt, and Adam
- Omakase at Sasabune with Henry and Soo Sun and all that fine tuna
- New Year's at the Magic Kingdom
- The Margaritaville in Orlando with Ron, Wendy, and Jerry
- 48 hours in London with Rob, James, Gez, Lisa, Abi, Mo, Paul, Ann Marie, Chris, Teresa, Vic, Tony, Jon, Tarce, Stephane, and Oh-God-I-Know-I've-Forgotten-Somone
- Lavendar clothing
- NY Waterway ferry between Hoboken and Manhattan, after 11 September
- The Managing Directors at Kraft Kennedy & Lesser for my promotion to Senior Consultant
- City Critters, for the cute little kitties
- Iron Chef
- Ditching BizTravel
- Drew Warner, for listening to me bitch when things were dark
- Geoff and Lesley Gerrietts, for believing
- Strippers
- Electronic kiosks for MTA Metrocards
- Wil Wheaton Dot Net, for bringing art to life
- Doyce Testerman, for getting me hooked on that Blarg thing
- FedEx, for discontinuing support for FedEx Ship
- LaDainian Tomlinson for giving me wins in Fantasy Football that I didn't deserve
- Red Bull
- Puppetry of the Penis, for reaffirming that I chose the proper profession
- Clementine oranges
2000
Alright, I sorta missed the boat this year. Here's the list, albeit a couple of days late.
I am thankful for...
- Living without a roommate
- Flat-screen televisions
- DVDs
- Feng Shui and Shadowfist
- Friends, for all those things that friends do
- Squatting as a Lion's tail for five hours at Chinese New Year
- Bill Coyle, when I lost my keys
- Continental flight 282, Cleveland to Newark
- BizTravel
- Sifu Paul Koh
- Lunches in Chinatown
- Pat Morgan, for kick-ass help at Hallowe'en
- Washington D.C. in March
- Live black bass at the International Food Mart
- Mitch at the Canadian Passport Office in Toronto, for helping replace my passport
- Sarcasm
- Being deprived of living the lifestyle that I've paid for
- Spending the majority of my life in the Mistake by the Lake
1999
Okay! I'm getting a jump on Thanksgiving this year and compiling the list as I go along. This way, I won't forget anything.
I am thankful for...
- The managing directors at Kraft Kennedy & Lesser for my promotion to Consultant
- Living in Hoboken
- Friends, for all those things that friends do
- Creamed spinach at Smith & Wollensky's
- Big Jimmy
- Sifu Paul Koh
- Sushi in a coastal city
- The 126 NJ Transit bus from Hobokon to Port Authority
- Haircuts in Chinatown
- Boxers
- Soup
- Online shopping
- 1 cent postage stamps
1998
Yeah, I sorta missed Canadian Thanksgiving back in October, so here's hoping the effort's in time for US Thanksgiving.
I am thankful for...
- My new job at Kraft Kennedy & Lesser
- Living in Manhattan
- Friends, for all those things that friends do
- Butter
- No longer wanting my real estate broker dead
- Sunny summers in Central Park
- Sushi in a coastal city
- The 4 and 5 train
- Haircuts in Chinatown
- Sweaters
- The guy who sells gyros outside Cadwalader, Wickersham, & Taft
- PS/2 mice
- 32 cent postage stamps
