Thanksgiving

Okay, okay, so I lied. I'm going to post about Thanksgiving. But, I'm kicking it old school, and turning the blog over to Winslow & Bradford, the authors of the only two written accounts of the late fall harvest feast that became Turkey Day.

Edward Winslow, Mourt's Relation:
"our harvest being gotten in, our governour sent foure men on fowling, that so we might after a speciall manner rejoyce together, after we had gathered the fruits of our labours ; they foure in one day killed as much fowle, as with a little helpe beside, served the Company almost a weeke, at which time amongst other Recreations, we exercised our Armes, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoyt, with some ninetie men, whom for three dayes we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five Deere, which they brought to the Plantation and bestowed on our Governour, and upon the Captaine and others. And although it be not always so plentifull, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so farre from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plentie."

William Bradford, Of Plimoth Plantation
"They begane now to gather in ye small harvest they had, and to fitte up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health & strenght, and had all things in good plenty; For as some were thus imployed in affairs abroad, others were excersised in fishing, aboute codd, & bass, & other fish, of which yey tooke good store, of which every family had their portion. All ye somer ther was no want. And now begane to come in store of foule, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besids water foule, ther was great store of wild Turkies, of which they tooke many, besids venison, &c. Besids, they had about a peck a meale a weeke to a person, or now since harvest, Indean corn to yt proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largly of their plenty hear to their freinds in England, which were not fained, but true reports."

There are over 3 million descendants of the 52 or so Mayflower colonists who celebrated that day. Pretty impressive legacy for a bunch of city-dwelling religious zealots who just wanted the freedom to commune with their god on their own terms.

Job Self-Actualization

I could write a laundry list of thanks in honor of the holiday, but that would be boring, trite, and really, really long. I'm very fortunate and thus, thankful for a lot of stuff.

So instead, let's see what happens if esteemed pyschologist Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs were applied to the modern American office drone.

Enjoy.

An Open Letter to Gays and Lesbians Everywhere!

I am a totally unofficial representative of my six-state region, so I can do this: On behalf of all of New England, I invite you to move here and keep our economy robust.

So pack your dogs, cats, babies, and TiVos. Bring your income, your companies, your professions, and your brains.

What? New England you say? What do they have that's so fabulous?

Well, we've got oodles of ocean, hundreds of hills, four real seasons, big cities and small ones. We've got Provincetown, Brattleboro, Greenwich, Providence, and Ogunquit. Sure we have expensive suburbs (hello, Dover, Mass!), but we have lots more inexpensive countryside (hello, all of Aroostook County, Maine.)

And best of all: We have gay marriage in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and civil unions in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. (Okay, so Rhode Island is always a bit slow about these things, but give 'em time and buy a summer house for now....)

Rent the UHaul. Pack your bags. And book the Copley Plaza ballroom or the Mystic Aquarium for that spring wedding. Because unlike the rest of the country, it's clear that New England is smart enough to realize that legislating prejudice is not only stupid, it's counterproductive to a healthy economy.

Wish You Had Telepathy? I Certainly Do!

Because believe me, I'd give, oh gosh...now what would I give? Oh, something important and sacred to know just what the Obaminator is thinking in this one.

I'll take a stab it it.

Obama: "I can't believe it: He really is that dumb."
The Shrub: "Hey tall fella...who are you? Are you my new Secret Service fella? Hmmm...seems like a nice kid...I wonder if he'll get me a cheeseburger....where'd that lady from Alaska go...hey, is it time for my nap? I feel funny."

Thoughts for today

Like about, oh, a gajillionzillion other folks around the interwebnet, I think Walt Whitman sets the tone rather nicely for today (or really, any election day).

And to get you weepy, there's this from Salon's Alex Koppleman, who is sharing reader-submitted accounts of today's happenings:

From East Point, Georgia, near Atlanta:

"Huge turnout -- bigger than I’ve ever seen at our polling place. Lots and lots of young African-Americans. People with their children in tow. Taking photos with cellular telephones and video-cameras to document what everyone agreed was a wonderful sight to see. Great to see.

When I finally made it through the 2-hour-long line and nearly to the voting booth, an older African-American man in front of the line kept letting people go in front of him. When he told me to go ahead, I said, “Don’t you need to vote too?” He told me that he was going to need help and that a woman with whom I guess he’d been waiting had agreed to help him. So he was waiting for her. She happened to be in the booth next to me and so I heard them talking when he went up to vote. It was clear very quickly that he could not read. She helped him to make his choices. I couldn’t help but overhear who was his choice. It was a great thing to see that he was so determined to vote -- most likely for the first time in his life. I think change has already happened to some extent…"

Can't think, can't focus, can't wait....

So, you know how when it's an historical day, it usually takes you by surprise, and most of the time, it's not something good? (C'mon, think about it: shuttle disaster/war/shuttle disaster/9.11/another war/financial ruin....these are not good, people. Not good at all. Historic, but not exactly good times you want to recall over and over!)

Well today is not like that.

And I'm so nervous/excited/stressed that I cannot focus. I may as well not even be at work, because I just want to be home, glued to the TV set and interwebnet.

But it's a gorgeous fall day here in the land of the Bean and the Cod, and all I can do is throw my thoughts out to the universe and hope that this time, America will get it right.

(And California. California needs to get it right, too.)

Keep your fingers crossed, wait in line, and do the right thing.