I never really understood Thanksgiving. As a kid it was just a lame warm-up holiday to the cool one that happened 3 weeks later where Santa came and we got presents and money. As I got older I grew to appreciate it more as an opportunity to hang with family and eat like there was no tomorrow. Now that we live in Brooklyn things are a little different. In some ways not so fun (we miss the shit out of our families) but in other ways I guess it's nice to just be able to stay home and have a small, quiet din-din.
Alas, this is our second Thanksgiving here and it's not quite as odd as the first one was. Granted last Thanksgiving was a blast in its own new way, it was our first major holiday away from the Fam (Columbus Day was a real bitch too if you want to count that but we somehow pulled through). Here we are on Thanksgiving Part II. Our first year in Brooklyn zoomed by at the speed of a Slayer record playing at 78rpm. We've busted our asses and are still here as a result of said ass busting. Things are just getting started! Here is what I am giving thanks to:
- My lovely wifey, of course. No duuuuh. I thank her for having an awesome brain, good scents of humor, being very easy to look at, and for being cool with packing up and moving 1,200 miles east last year. I don't know of too many spouses that would partake in such shenanigans.
- I am thankful that we survived our first year as New Yorkers with flying colors. Contrary to what Emo Philips told me when talking to him backstage at ACME Comedy Club in 2007 (true story), it didn't eat us alive. It hasn't been easy all of the time, but learning how to play the guitar wasn't either and look - I'm still playing it over 20 years later. No pain/no gain. Thank you, New York.
- I am immensely thankful for the CVS Ear Wax Removal Syringe. I'll just leave it at that.
- The Number 7. This blog has been brought to you by the number 7. It is my favorite number in the world. I'm not superstitious and don't do things like open a door and close it 7 times or stop and make a clicking noise 7 times every time I hear a trigger word. I've just always liked the number. I always thought it looked cool on the 16 ounce green glass 7UP bottles at my grandma's and on my dad's Heinz 57 sauce. I was born in July, the 7th month. I was 7 when I got my first KISS record. Married to the lovely wifey on 7/7/7. I have 7 stars in my tattoo. 7/8 is my favorite and most comfortable meter to play/write music in. We moved to 7th Ave in Brooklyn - pure coincidence on the street number. My new job that I really enjoy going to is on the 7th floor, also a coincidence (not like I could really hold out for a job until I found one on a 7th floor). I just bought a bottle of Jack Daniel's (more on that later) which has "No. 7" on it. Just like Jack's jackass in Grizzly Adams. Steve Vai's got it for the number 7 too.. I read an interview where he said he makes every seventh song on each of his CDs some sort of big-time ballad. It's true! Although Eight Is Enough, 7 is truly where it's at for this fella.
- I am incredibly grateful that if we want or need something, be it butter, beer, milk, or whatever, we can walk outside and find it within a 2 block radius of our apartment 24/7. The delivery services here are quite convenient too.
- I'm thankful that I don't stock shelves at the Target in Atlantic Center.
- I grew my beard back this year after a year or two of going without. Turns out that I missed the little fella more than I thought I did. Frank likes to rub his face on it, so I guess he missed it too.
- I am thankful that Stevie Wonder's Sir Duke is on right now. That song will always kick major ass in my book.. one of my favorite unison riffs ever.
- I'm glad that the few family peeps and friends who have made it out here to visit made it out here. I hope to see more of you make it out here!
- On that note, we visited MN over the summer. We didn't miss the state/Twin Cities so much, but we sure miss family (Jesus, can I say that enough?) so it was really awesome to see everyone. It had been almost a year and it was great to see everyone. Mad props to my incredibly awesome Grandma Alice and her way cool twin bro John and his rad wife Chris for coming to see us when we were there. I want to be like them when I grow up. Represent.
- I heard that this is Shrek's last year as a balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I am thankful that there is one less Shrek promotional vehicle in the world, even if it's just for one day. ENOUGH WITH SHREK ALREADY.
We got to see Jeff Beck in June. I never, ever thought I'd see him live. Not in a meelion years. Mind-blowingly awesome. He does things with the electric guitar that no one else can, and even if they could get close to what he can do, Jeff was still the first one to do it. We were also interviewed by a Rochester news crew while quite soused on the patio of a bar not too far from the show about attending the Rochester Jazz Festival. Peep this and tell me he's not amazing.- Smash Mouth headlined the Rochester Jazz Festival, by the way. What the name of all things that don't suck is that all about? Not thankful for that. We heard the entire set from our hotel room.
- I'm thankful that there's a Taylor Swift Thanksgiving special and a Beyonce one on tonight as well... and that I won't be watching either of them.
- I'm thankful to be in a no football household. No football on Thanksgiving or pretty much ever is cool with me. Kudos to you if you're a football person, but I'm not. People always ask me about the Vikings out here and they may as well be asking me about how to perform brain surgery.
- I'm thankful for Line 6's POD HD500. That thing kicks total ass.
- I am thankful for a co-worker at my previous job for reminding me how NOT to treat people in the workplace.
- I got to play Iced Ink music in Montreal and some pretty cool spots in NYC. Sorry again to the guys that I had to pull the plug on the band as a live entity, but in hindsight that's what I get for moving here and trying to overachieve without first taking a breather.
- Our automatic cat feeder. The cats no longer wake us up at 5am (unless it's empty like it was the other day)
- I'm thankful that if I don't like something, I'm at a point in life where I'm able to speak up and change it - even if it makes me feel like a dickhead. And I quote Rick Nelson: "You can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself."
- On that note, I didn't like where my work situation was heading and was able to change it by busting my arse to find a new job much closer to home. I seem to have just enough leverage on my resume to do that kind of thing now. I really dig my new job. Like, a LOT. My condolences to the person who took over for me... I wouldn't wish that upon too many people.
Jack Daniel's. It was the first hard liquor to tickle my taste buds way back in 1988. Sorry to break the news to you, Mom and Dad. I have a fear of throwing up which is something that has saved me from many a hangover throughout the years (not to mention a lot of trouble). As a result I only had enough sips back in '88 to cop a decent buzz and I knew damn well when to stop. Hadn't really touched it since but I just bought a bottle. Sipping on that stuff is bringing back some really cool, fun memories. Memories like sitting in the passenger seat of Gyro's Mustang and cruising Maplewood for chicks while blasting Motley Crue and sipping JD (sorry again, Mom and Dad). My recent JD renaissance reminded me of Gyro's Mustang's dashboard: it was black with a white Tron-like grid pattern on it. I think it had maroon upholstery in it. I can smell the strawberry air freshener. Good times & warm fuzzies.- Gyro! There's someone I need to track down. He was amongst the very small group of die hard KISS fans I bonded with in my early teenage years. We talked like Yoda all of the time for no reason. Didn't help us much in the chick department.
- Them Crooked Vultures. They kick total ass.
- Joe Satriani's new album is actually really good too. I lost interest in him in the mid 1990s and have tried all of his records since but they've all left me kinda empty. His new record Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards actually kicks ass, more so in a Jeff Beck kind of way than a Joe Satriani/irritating one trick pony guitar shredder kind of way (I actually discovered Jeff Beck via a Satriani interview in the 80's where Joe cited him as one of the greatest 'lectric guitarists ever). It is a good F5 of why I was so inspired listening to Satriani as a teenager.
- The new peeps I've met since moving here. Y'all rule. Even if I only see some of you once every few months.
- I'm thankful that it's only 3:39 right now and we're about to assemble a delicious Thanksgiving feast for two. The cats will be getting some primo canned food and catnip as well.
As stud muffin Gary Lumpkin used to say on Good Company, "There you have it." And as a sign I drove past in St. Paul Park one year read, "Be Thankful, Eat A Turkey."
