Happy Thanksgiving, everyone

Today is Thanksgiving.

It’s a day of mega-overeating. The Johanns have two Thanksgiving dinners to attend today. Ooof! It’s a day of planning tomorrow’s 3AM attack — for those who are insane enough to go. No offense to anyone that is going, but I won’t go deal with all those idiots at all on the day after Thanksgiving- hell, if I don’t have to, I don’t set foot in the mall period until mid-January- I sure as shit am not going to get up in the middle of the friggin’ night to go.

Another rant for another time… sorry…

It’s a day of football. Today we’ve got Packers-Lions, Jets-Cowboys, and of course, don’t forget the Colts-Falcons game that is on the NFL Network, which is offered by only about 6% of the cable markets in the country, unless you’re willing to pay some mega-premium for the package — which means there’s about 700 people that get to watch that game.

Daniel-san- must stay focus!

Anyway, as I said, today is Thanksgiving. It is a day of giving thanks. It’s easy to be thankful for the Lexus and the Porsche and the timeshare in Boca Raton and the season tickets on the 45 and the corporate car and unlimited “business” spending account and the 75-inch plasma HDTV and all that other stuff that, expensive as it is, is completely worthless. It kills me when I see supposedly mature adults, on those “man on the street” type interviews on the news, say they are thankful for things like that, as though shit like that actually matters. That’s pathetic. We’ve become such a narcissistic, material, selfish, pretentious, completely freakin’ shallow society anymore.

Myself, I’m thankful for:

Family: I’ve got a beautiful wife, two great boys, my parents are both alive and in good health, my sister and brother each have a spouse and two kids, my in-laws are all doing well… and every last one of those people I listed is here in town and all within about 2-3 miles of Casa Johann. Even my 92-year-old grandmother is still with us. I’ve got terrific extended family spread throughout California, all of whom are doing quite well. That is enough to be thankful for each and every day. Life is good.

Friends: My good friend Doug (known by many as proprietor of Daddy O’s and one great bass-playin’ motherf…) has been my best friend for 21 years. He and I have literally been at our best and our worst together. There’s been, among other things, two marriages, a divorce, numerous breakups, several moves, countless fishing trips, and even more countless (um, what?!) gigs. I have another good friend Cindy in Florida- I miss her every day. You don’t necessarily need a lot of them, just make the most of those you have.

Freedom: We need to be extremely grateful for our military personnel- from those currently serving in Iraq to those who fought in the Revolutionary War. Millions of men and women have died protecting our freedom that we take for granted. It sounds very cliché to say that, I admit it, but it’s true. We haven’t always been in wars for “the right reasons” (another argument, another time), but our soldiers and sailors swore to protect you, me, this country, and our freedom, and were willing to die to do so. Thank you to all veterans and retired and current military personnel and National Guard members for keeping our country the greatest on the planet, regardless of all its problems (most of which are self-inflicted, but again, that’s for another time). My greatest wish is for all of you to get to be home with your families very soon.

Health: Everybody has the sniffles from time to time. Everyone has “a gassy chassis”, as my mother calls it, from time to time. The flu, a sinus infection, diarrhea, gonorrhea, whatever- everyone gets “sick” occasionally. But you know what? Get over it. A lot of people are stricken with cancer and MS and HIV and ALS and shit like that, for which we have no cures — YET — and are having their bodies wasting away. THAT is being sick. We need to consider ourselves very lucky we’re not hooked up to machines and tubes and what not- some aren’t as lucky. While we’re at it, let’s give some thanks for the fact we have a warm bed in a warm house in which to sleep. Let’s give thanks for the fact that we’re able to eat 1 or more very large meals today, that we’re able to eat any meals period. We’re not better than those who aren’t able — just more fortunate.

It’s all about perspective, mujeres y hombres. Think about what’s really, truly important in your life. If it’s homes and cars and electronic gizmos and other shit like that, I pity you. Your life is empty and so is your heart. Not to mention, your brain. If what truly matters to you are things like your spouse, your children, your parents, your friends, etc., you are indeed blessed.

Enjoy your meal(s) today and savor the company of your friends and family. Tell them you love them. They (or you) could be gone tomorrow.

Here endeth the sermon. Talk to you all soon.