What’s top of my mind: Thanksgiving. We are going to have a Thanksgiving dinner. It will be a modest supper, just the two of us. We purchased a modest turkey breast along with a small bag of sprouts, just enough for two people. I will mash a few potatoes and there is a jar of gravy for all of it. Normally Someone makes a couple of pies, but with neither one of us supposed to consuming sugar he will make only one. We will each have a token slice and that’s about it. It is enough; I am glad to be having something.


Where I’ve been: The liquor store. Someone needed a bottle of Fireball whisky * for a birthday prize for a co-worker if his. It is also Nouveau Beaujolais season. We like a Gewürztraminer with our turkey dinner. So it was off to Total Wine to get these three items. Sooner I’d eat rats at Tewkesbury than enter a liquor store prior to Thanksgiving but I hoped by going near closing time it would not be so hectic. At 7PM it wasn’t bad at all. But there was only one crate of Nouveau left! Normally they have a display of many bottles! I bought two bottles, which is enough.


Where I’m going: The post office. A few years ago I made a Spo-shirt that alas doesn’t fit. The shirt has been hanging in the closest, waiting for an owner. In Palm Springs I met a new friend (thanks to ‘Frog’-endeavors) who will receive the shirt. This means I have to go to the post office this weekend to mail it. Going to the post office right after Thanksgiving is worse than a pre-Thanksgiving visit to the liquor store. I plan on bringing my Kindle and good set of headphones to block out the almost certain orchestra of scorched cats that is a long line of cranky customers at the post office.


What I’m watching: Two men in a bath tub. I was recently learned of a series on The Tube of Yous, made by a Damon L. Jacobs, who interviews celebrities in the gay community. The gimmick is both Mr. Jacobs and thems he interviews are in a bathtub. I am not 100% certain this is sincere, or even if the bathtub is real (it looks like a prop). I’m also uncertain if I will continue watching. The guests often talk about their struggles and their body issues, but all of them are hotties (as is Mr. Jacobs). Hearing these well-built guys talk about their subjective short-comings seems a bit bogus. The series resembles a road accident: I want to not look, but I do anyway.


What I’m reading: To be determined. Last night when I should have been trying to sleep I stayed up to finish ‘One Last Waltz’ by Ethan Mordden. The novel gave me the emotions I love having when reading a book: I felt sad to seeing its end, and when I got to the last page I felt the emotion of having read a marvelous story. Well done! Would all reads ended like that! Now, what next to read? There is no lack of options on the ‘to read’ shelf. I’ve been reading a lot of fiction lately, so perhaps some non-fiction may do. Say, do you know why the librarian slipped and broke her hip? She was in the non-friction section!


What I’m listening to: Do you want to take a walk. Annette Hanshaw was a singer, I think she mostly sang in the first third of the 20th century. She had some dreamy, whimsical songs, which are fun to hear from time to time. Those were happier times. “Would you like to take a walk?” is a sweet sonorous tune, although I’ve often wondered about the lyrics; they seem slightly suggestive.


What I’m eating: Baba ganoush. The other day I ordered wraps from ‘Pita Jungle’ and I asked if they had baba ganoush. They sometimes don’t have such. This time the answer was ‘yes’ so I ordered a small serving. For thems not familiar with this delicacy, Baba G is like hummus but made with eggplant, not chickpeas. I like eggplant and I like saying ‘baba ganoush!” out loud. I also like to think the stuff is better nutritionally than is hummus, being made from a vegetable, but this is probable wishful thinking. Do you like eggplant?


Who needs a good slap: The Overlords. Ever since my bosses sold the joint to a conglomerate, I’ve been wondering when the new Overlords will make their presence known by making some changes. Last week I got two forms that look like standard stuff given to all employees at their establishment. One form asks for my ‘areas of interest’, not ‘areas of expertise’. I took this literally, and circled what I like to do/treat rather than what I am experienced doing. ** The second form is more ominous. It asks for a copy of my drivers license, my Medicare/Medicaid/AZ license numbers and others. What a tedious treasure hunt this will be. I hope the house manager knows these things. I am dubious to give them my drivers license. Does anyone know if this is legal/standard of care? They also want my CV. I don’t have a CV; I’ve never needed one. I wonder if I will get fired for not providing such. Someone says I should quit whining and write one, particularly if I do get sacked for being a CV-less smart-alec about the whole thing.

On a 1-5 scale, I give The Overlords three slaps.


What I’m planning: Prizes for Someone. Now that Thanksgiving is here, I can turn my thoughts towards the next two holidays: Christmas and Someone’s birthday [not in that order]. I haven’t a clue what to do for a birthday prize this year, let alone Christmas. Someone is one of those odd-ducks who doesn’t celebrate birthdays; he never wants lavish prizes or parties or even eating out. Poor fellow! If only he had asked a few logical questions when he met me. I love celebrating birthdays, and this means prizes. I usually get him electronic gadgets; these are often hit or miss. What to do?


What’s making me smile: Stained glass ornaments. Whenever I visit Michigan, Brother #3 presses me to take home items from our parent’s closed house, which are piled up in boxes in his basement. Last time we gathered the brothers and I divided up our late Mother’s stained glass collection. She had heaps. She would hang them on the kitchen window, rotating them, apropos for the season. Whenever one did dishes one looked out the kitchen window into the backyard through a pastiche of colored glass. I got some of the Christmas ones. This weekend I will hang them on my kitchen window, as she did, and remember her and Christmases long time ago.

*Oh the horror.

**I’ve learned from experience the listed areas I do/don’t doesn’t greatly discriminate the type of cases I end up seeing. People just want a shrink and I’m like a democratic drawbridge, going down for everybody.