Happy Thanksgiving! Or, you know, Happy pre-Thanksgiving. However you want to commemorate the day before our nation's oldest original holiday ritual, remember to count your blessings -- be they loved ones, health, wealth, Anne Hathaway salvaging SNL's season... you name it. They're in your life and in your culture, often interfacing in powerful ways. Let's all gather now to give thanks. The turkey won't get cold, I promise.
I'll get started with what's admittedly an incomplete list in no particular order (apologies to anyone/anything I've omitted):
· Pepperidge Farm Goldfish.
· Health (for now).
· Academy screeners, especially Animal Kingdom.
· The prospect of another Paul Thomas Anderson movie at some point or another.
· Loving, responsible parents married 36 years this week.
· Smart, capable, conscientious coworkers.
· A job (for now).
· The Awl, The Hairpin, The Smiths Project and the other increasingly rare joys of Webgoing.
· Bourbon. It used to matter which, but not so much anymore.
· Robert Duvall ("Living Actors" bracket).
· Joseph Cotten ("Deceased Actors" bracket).
· Grace Kelly ("Any Actors" bracket).
· Nice publicists. You know who you are.
· A pair of New York City's friendlier, more upstanding landlords (for now).
· The unfailingly consistent, satisfying quality of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese -- particularly the "Thick & Creamy" variety, but sometimes "Spirals," too.
· My proximity to ambitious artists from whom I've learned so much over the years. I am very thankful.
Your turn!