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LUDIC LOG

A real entry? Over the holiday weekend? You must be kidding. Here's a standard-issue "Five Things I'm Thankful For" log entry instead. Maybe there'll be a real entry tomorrow. Keep checking to see...suckers!

1. I'm thankful for The Sopranos. After literally years of badgering by various friends of mine, who variously claimed it was good, great, the best thing on television and the best thing ever wrought by the hand of man, I finally took the plunge and rented Season 1 on DVD, and goddamn if it isn't pretty fucking good. It's smart without getting away from its roots, it's got great scripts and generally terrific acting, it does its homework, and for a pop-culture entertainment, it skirts around the edges of some Big Issues. It's also tremendously addictive with demanding proaieretic sequences, as any good soap opera should be. Of course, once I catch up to the current run, I'll have to either pony up some jack for HBO or pony up even more jack to buy the DVDs, but, you know. You get what you pay for. Speaking of which...

2. I'm thankful for every one of the fine people linked over there on the left. They have done something truly amazing: they've given me hours and hours of reading enjoyment for free, with no expectation of reward. Some update daily, some monthly; some provide links, some photos, some stories and jokes, some diaries, art, music and journals, but they have all done things worth paying attention to. What's more, I have met a number of them, and personally communicated with more of them, and they're all good folks to know. A few I count among my best friends. I hope you're giving them a little time every so often. And, as cheesy as it sounds, that leads me to...

3. I'm thankful for each of you who bother to read this log. I know there aren't many of you, for which I have no one to blame but myself. And I know that a lot of times, this log (which still exists largely just to amuse myself and a handful of my personal friends, and keep me in the habit of sitting down to write every day) is boring, derivative, cliched, messy, sloppy, unfunny, or downright lame. But it's coming up on 10 months since I started it -- 300 entries -- and I still enjoy doing it. The fact that at least some people are reading it, and that a few of you have had extremely kind words to say about it over the last several months, is quite amazing, and very personally gratifying to me. And, on the topic of personal gratification...

4. I'm thankful for Vanya, Stewart, Florian and Ned, who came over yesterday and made my Thanksgiving enjoyable. They helped me get everything together, they made a few tasty foods and seemed to enjoy the food I made, they helped clean up, they were kind enough to free up my refrigerator space by taking lots of leftovers home with them, and best off all, they provided me with hours of company and intelligent, funny conversation. Having friends you can talk to all day and never get bored is one of the things that makes life good. I have lots of good friends like this, all of whom are in my head and heart this holiday if not my home. So thanks to Cori, who has stood by me and been an incredible friend for many years; Michelle, who I love more every passing year; Michael, who pulls off the amazing trick of being both the smartest and the funniest man I know; Lara, who may be the most incredible person I've met since moving to this beautiful city, and her husband Jeff, who's a talented, dedicated and fascinating person; Rob, a fantastic musician, a great guy, and a truly twisted human being; Doug and Andrea, who I respect enormously and who still put up with my bullshit even though we're not in the Marines anymore; Eileen, who has been through more than I can imagine and has stayed wide-eyed and insightful through it all; and James, who I owe more than I can say, both for being a great friend and for guiding me to the city I have come to love so dearly. I have tons of other friends not listed here, but I am thankful for all of them. Probably the best thing I can say about myself is, I have smart and interesting friends. And if they're getting drunk with me, all the better. Which brings me to...

5. I'm thankful for beer. Now, don't get me wrong; I love hard liquor. As evidenced by the bumkilling array of intoxicants in and around my apartment. But a really good beer -- from watery domestics like Rolling Rock to fetching little local brews like New Glarus to shivery Belgian lambics like Lindemann's to brain-searing Polack concoctions like Okocim -- is worth your mother. (Or, someone's mother, at least. I'm hanging onto mine for the time being.) Beer is filling, it's delicious, it can be served warm or icy-cold, it's more ancient than any hard liquor, and it comes in neat little glass bottles that you can pound back while you're doing any number of enjoyable activities. I don't, and probably can't, drink the way I used to (you know, in the good old days when I was an abusive alkie), but beer is so mind-alteringly good that it's something to be happy you can enjoy whenever the occassion strikes you. And, if you live in a big city, then you can get all kinds of tasty brews both foreign and domestic that will further make you thankful that you don't live somewhere that Bud and Miller are your only options.

Okay, enough of this sentimental crap. Tomorrow, List Day and a new Sausage page, and then Monday, back to the serious buisiness of snide, hostile half-jokes.