I have a confession. I was talking to my agent in Hong Kong on the phone today and mentioned that we would be out of the office for Thanksgiving for the rest of the week. The conversation proceeded to go as follows:

Me: Are you familiar with Thanksgiving?
Louise in Hong Kong: Ahh...no.
Me: Well...it's a celebration...with a big feast. 'Cause when America started, the Indians or Native Americans were here. And then Columbus came. And then they were called 'pilgrims.' And then they had a feast between all of them.
Louise in Hong Kong: Ahh...
Me: Yeah and there's always a turkey. A big one. Um...not really sure why.
Louise in Hong Kong: Have nice holiday!

Yes, I completely lost the actual story of Thanksgiving somewhere between eight and twenty four years old. But, hey, Thanksgiving isn't about pilgrims anyway. It's about being thankful.

So, let us give thanks:

Thanks to my parents for never allowing me to rely on them to bring me my homework at school when I forgot it -- I'm responsible now. Thanks to my dad for teaching me independence by telling me "You can turn the thermostat down to sixty-eight when you have your own house!" Thanks to my sister for teaching me tolerance, when she used to make me listen to Lisa Loeb "Stay" every morning in her 1994 Neon on our way to school. Thanks to my mom, for giving me my dog Gus, and thanks to Gus for reminding me what it is to lose someone you love. Thanks to Chubby Charles for teaching me that you can in fact have an Ivory Cat anytime you want. Thanks to my coworkers for making me laugh when Bangkok airports get shut down due to "political protests" (read: people carrying sticks chanting in the terminals). Thanks to George W. Bush for giving me a voice, and thanks to FUBAR for giving me an audience. Thanks to Obama for reminding me of accountability, and his supporters for restoring my faith. Thanks to all the lovely people I've encountered who have made 2008 a better year, a better country, and a better world.

Happy Thanksgiving.