Marmalade Daydreams

I'm preparing to descend into a work-filled weekend in a push to be done with the East Asian Buddhism seminar whose professor, a polyglot Korean monk (who has academic mastery of 9 or 10 languages, regardless of his ability to express himself grammatically in spoken English). The visiting Venerable Dr. Mun has made my first semester much easier by being completely unprepared for lecture, assigning minimal reading, and largely disregarding the assignments that he gave on the syllabus. But now it is the time of reckoning for my first semester: four papers, two presentations, two exams -- one oral and one written -- and I'll be on the other side, that blissful state beloved to educators and educatees: winter vacation. I get excited thinking about going back to Brooklyn, about Vermont with the family, New Years with old friends.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Before I return to the present, where many assignments are pressing (especially as tonight I'm going to my first college football game in ten years, the last game of UH's historic WAC-championship season. I hope it goes better than the last game I attended, Hamilton's 1997 season opener, where the D-III Continentals were mentioned as a note in Sports Illustrated after being shutout by Amherst's Lord Jeffs with a final score of something like 67-0.), I figured I'd take a minute to post about Thanksgiving, perhaps in bullet format:

- I'm thankful that my grandfather bought me a ticket to Arizona, so we could have that whole side of the family present for Thanksgiving.

- I'm thankful for the continued health and success of my my family, especially in light of a scare we had over the weekend.

- I'm thankful for my family's continual support and love (despite my grandfather busting my balls for being under poverty line -- on a similar note, any thoughts on the morality of my potential application for food stamps?).


- I'm thankful for all of the Chanukkah presents.

- I'm thankful that my aunt and uncle are active people so that every Thanksgiving we hike during the day, go for long walks under the desert stars after dinner, and go dancing at night (probably wouldn't get done without them).

- I'm thankful that the UH Warriors, with their definitive win Thanksgiving weekend over their biggest rival (the Boise State Broncos), seem destined for the Sugar Bowl (you have no idea how happy this makes people out here -- it's fun to be along for the ride).

- I'm thankful to the Universal Life Church for providing free ordinations (yes, you can now call me Reverend without irony), so that I can marry two of my closest friends next fall (I welcome any and all suggestions for the theme of the service -- so far the leaders are "Under the Sea" and the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre").

- I'm thankful to be out here, on a beautiful tropical island, with lots of new friends, undergoing research that interests me towards a degree that's challenging and stimulating (as opposed to my joke of a Masters in Education) at an institution with good faculty and resources. Hooray for Interlibrary Services!

- I'm thankful to Andrew of songstowearpantsto.com for thoroughly entertaining me this week with his hilarity. A one man They Might Be Giants who composes by request -- a talented musician who has hit on a goldmine of ridiculous ideas for funny songs.

- I'm thankful to be getting paid to hang out with kids again (as a "tutor" in an after-school program, where I'm even more of a babysitter than I was in Brooklyn). There's something about 12 and 13 year olds that makes me laugh whenever I'm not getting aggravated.

Alright, enough thanks-giving. It's December. Must get the rent check in the mail, stock up on some comestibles, and buckle down for the day. If I can write 8 more pages (already done the research) before the game, I'll be right pleased with myself.

Go Warriors!