(Another) Gratefulness Post

Today,
I'm grateful,
for the kind, thoughtful and generous people in my life.
Who make being,
That terrible, terrible thing sometimes,
easier.
Grateful enough
to do
this public post.
And
gentle reader,
I wish for you,
the same kindness, thoughtfulness and generosity,
that some stranger once wished onto me.

Giving Thanks

I've been meaning, for a fortnight now, to do a post giving thanks (of the non-bird-killing-variety). Recently, my life has turned into a vast and mapless wonderland. And especially during weeks like this one (it's nearing the end-of the semester, people), any sense of gratitude I have is beaten to death by its natural predators (plagues of self-doubt, uncertainty and painful neighbors).

But today, I'm thankful for old friends. Especially for this old friend - for his patience, wit, humor and persistent wonderfulness. Without you, I might still have made it through the terrible times, but I'd be in significantly worse shape. And certainly, without you, my life would be a lot less fun, a lot less engaging.

It would have fewer birds, less Ogden Nash and no Richard Armour or Peter Sellers.

Without you, my mind would not know The Old Man and Mr. Smith.

And I would have grown up without knowing  this gem:

I would also know a lot less dirty jokes and terrible puns and pick up lines than I do now.

In other words, I'm thankful for you this holiday season.
And so this holiday season, here's to being friends for a long, long time. 

An Odd, Odd day

I'm having one of the oddest days that I have had in a long, long time.
(And not in a ooh-look-chocolate-people kind of way.)

Today has been full of dropping hot coffee, knocking over a glass of hot water, headaches, losing my wallet, and running out of gas, bad feedback on thesis work, and dealing with drunk students (okay, a drunk student, but several terribly prepared ones).

But oddly enough, it has also been a day of finding much affection and random acts of ordinary kindness: like free coffee (a friend was buying me coffee and when the barista heard of my wallet loss, he was kind enough to make me a free drink and threw in a pastry) and the timely rescue by another friend who lent me money to buy gas to get home (thanks, Miz Z.). Eventually, I also found my wallet (by far the most unexpected of today's weirdnesses). Anywho, I'm incredibly grateful for all of this.

Sure, I still have to deal with the unexpectedly bad feedback about my own work.
And with that whole issue of the passive-aggressive, v. entitled and mildly drunk freshman.
But, for the moment, I'm sending out a great whopping thanks for some very reasonably-sized mercies.