Last year, inspired by Kisha's Facebook posts, I participated in the 30 Days of Thanks project. I did it again this year, along with a bunch of my Facebook friends. Here are all of my posts:
1. Houseguests! I am thankful that Jude Vachon is sleeping on a foldout couch in my living room. And I'm thankful to the neighbor who sold it to Eric and me when she moved out.
2. I am thankful for reproductive rights and proud of my sister Danna for running the Providence Planned Parenthood.
3. Occupy Wall Street Movement. A lot of the NYC activist scene seemed to be skeptical and dismissive of the idea. I'm thankful that we were wrong.
4. I am thankful to my parents for mailing me the NY Times Magazine crossword puzzle every week, even when they have no electricity because of freaky early snow storms. It's a small thing, but so thoughtful and sweet. It makes me feel loved.
5. Kitty overlords, to whom I humbly and gratefully submit.
6. I can't begin to say how thankful I am I don't have any debt. Through a combination of privilege, frugality, hard work, and luck, I have been decently educated and well-employed. (copied and slightly altered from Melissa Morrone)
7. Books. I am thankful for the pleasure I have gotten since childhood from reading. Books are a wonderful addiction.
8. Interlibrary loan. I know, two book related posts in a row, but I can't help it. Today I was deliriously excited to pick up Another Way to Dance from Butler Library at Columbia, via our pals down Broadway.
9. I am grateful to the people of Mississippi for not counting their chickens before they're hatched.
10. I am thankful that the student center sells baskets of french fries for $1.25. That is helpful when I work a 12-hour-day. I am grateful that the french fries are not very good and so not tempting on a normal work day.
11. Papa's got a brand new hip! I'm thankful that my father has returned home after hip replacement surgery and rehab. Go, Dad!
12. I am grateful for potable water and all the other things most 1st worlders get to take for granted. I love being able to take a shower whenever I want, having reliable heat and electricity, and being able to drink water from the tap.
13. My maternal family, which is loving and forthright. We may have a brain-to-mouth filter problem, but I prefer that to families that play games and keep secrets.
14. My father, whose birthday it is today. I am thankful that I had a father who is loving and supportive and has lefty politics.
15. Beverly Brumm for teaching me the most useful thing I learned in college or even grad school--to respond to what is in front of you and to answer the question asked. What I learned in Acting 2 has served me well in theater, librarianship and in my personal life. Thanks, Bev!
16. I am thankful for the Barnard Library Zine Collection for enabling me to combine passions to do work that I think is both enjoyable and important. I am thankful to Lauren Jade Martin, Yumi Lee, Marissa Falco, Sara Jaffe and others for trusting me to take care of the zines from their adolescence. I am thankful to be able to host MEET ME AT THE RACE RIOT: People of Color in Zines from 1990 - Today at Barnard, and I am most grateful to Celia C. Perez for turning me on to perzines.
17. I'm thankful that I have never personally had to deal with an injustice greater than some idiot pedestrian or driver messing with me in the bike lane. Hello 1st world, middle class, white, etc. privilege. I hate that it exists, but the benefits sure are beneficial.
18. Since I'm feeling a bit grouchy today, my @Thanksvember, Day 18 post is a little more glib and snarky that I'm aiming for with this project. I am thankful for, or at least enjoy, Manhattan Mini Storage subway ads like this one:
19. I am thankful for Kelly Shortandqueer, who inspired my participation in this project last year and who always inspires me with his positive attitude. [I later realized it was Kisha, not Kelly!] I love his "Best thing that happened to me today" zines where even in challenging times he finds something good to say. And not in an annoying "the sun'll come out tomorrow" kind of a way. I would kind of like to see him star in Annie, though...
20. The thing I am most grateful for in my life is my partnership with Eric. Today is our 6th wedding anniversary. Yay us!
21. I am thankful for creative, political internet silliness like Pepper Spraying Cop inserted into Guernica.
22. I want to say that I am moved by how many of my friends, especially those who don't believe in marriage, or if they do, can't enjoy the federal tax benefits of marriage, liked my anniversary post. It means a lot to me that you accept and even approve of my aberrantly non-aberrant lifestyle. So thanks for that.
23. I am thankful for zines for probably a dozen reasons, but today I want to focus on their imperfections. I love that they're often messy, late, immature, angry, have bad spelling and grammar, and awkward illustrations. I know some of y'all's zines aren't like that but mine are (mostly except for the bad spelling and grammar), and I love that zines give me a space to not be a driven overachieving perfectionist and to appreciate others when they aren't at their best.
24. I am thankful that I've never been hungry due to a lack of resources.
25. I am thankful for bad-ass women: women activists, athletes and artists, and radical mamas and grandmas.
26. I am thankful for print culture and print correspondence (and apologize to everyone to whom I owe a letter Celia, Marissa, Caitlin, Ciara and about a dozen others).
27. On my father & stepmother's wedding anniversary I am thankful for two of the best things their partnership has produced, my extraordinary siblings Danna and Jesse, who are extraordinary.
28. I am thankful, tickled, and heart-warmed whenever I get a "Sei gesund!" phone message from Sandy Berman.
29. Copy as plain text (Firefox add-on), stickers, Cheerios, Whac-a-Mole, Scroogle, FOIA, the Jersey shore (the place, not the show), grandparents with candy drawers and jello molds, California aunts with pools, gaff tape, Coney Island, letter openers, electric blankets, days without alarm clocks, rubber stamps, tail chasing cats, parents who let me hold their babies, silverware, journals, the world wide web, anarchists, paranormal fiction and tempeh bacon.
30. I'm thankful that finding 30 things to be thankful for wasn't hard. I've been a real crank lately, but I have a pretty great life, and it's important to remember that.