Journal of Post-Ralphaelite Thought

Years later I worked with a guy who was a couple of years older than me who said he never dated anyone who couldn't tell him where they were when Kennedy was assassinated - they were, he opined, either too young or too out of it. As for me, my family had moved from Fort Worth to the Chicago suburbs the summer I turned nine. The elementary school I attended in Park Forest was close enough that I used to walk home for lunch. That Friday 50 years ago, my brother and I had come home as usual and were watching Bozo's Circus on WGN when the station broke away for news flashes that President Kennedy had been shot. I wasn't sure what to think other than it seemed shocking - impossible to believe. But I'd seen it on television. My class had introduced to the idea of  "current events" that year. We were supposed to tell something we'd heard or read about in the news. This seemed like the ultimate current event. I headed back to my classroom (I have no recoll...

Thanksgiving 2012 is remarkable for a number of reasons. Officially it falls on the 4th Thursday of November, which is usually the last Thursday as well, but because of how the calendar played out this year, we have another Thursday in November which falls after Thanksgiving. If you use Black Friday as the start of the Christmas Shopping, it means an extra week of Ho-Ho-Holiday sales for merchants, for which they are surely thankful this year. Speaking of Black Friday, I'll leave that again to the more intrepid - I have no desire to go out and mix it up with bargain-crazed shoppers. It used to be this annual Orgasm of Consumerism started at 5 AM or so, Friday morning, but it has steadily crept forward, first to Midnight, and now, in some cases to 8 PM Thanksgiving day. To which I say, shame on you Merchants. And shame on you, Shoppers, since without your enthusiastic support, this inexcusable practice would not happening. This year is also notable for the fact that Thank...

Traditionally songs about Thanksgiving focus on the harvest and gathering of family: "Come Ye Thankful People Come," "We gather together," and so on. Today, families are often far-flung and distant. This is the first year neither of my two sons will be coming home for Thanksgiving. The youngest is spending the holiday with a college friend in upstate New Jersey (the rural, "Garden State" part, not the petrochemical part), and the oldest is in Antarctica. Though not really a Thanksgiving song, I've had the Beatles standard "In My Life," on my mind today; it's a song about looking back on the people we aren't with. There are places I remember All my life, though some have changed Some forever not for better Some have gone and some remain All these places had their moments With lovers and friends I still can recall Some are dead and some are living In my life I've loved them all But of all these friends and lovers There is no o...

I was chatting with a colleague based in New England the other day and the topic turned to Thanksgiving. "What kind of dressing do you make?" I asked. "Oyster?" "No, just traditional," was her reply. I pressed her for details and it turns out traditional for her meant bread dressing. When I was growing up, traditional meant cornbread dressing -- more specifically made from cornbread baked according to my East Texas granny's cornbread recipe. It is *not* the same as the cornbread dressing you'll get from most Thanksgiving venues. Since my wife's family is from Chicago (though she was born in Ohio and grew up in Dallas) her Thankgiving tradition is for whitebread dressing. Hence at my table we have two types of dressing every year. She makes hers, I make mine. One of my wife's best friends makes oyster dressing. Another makes chestnut dressing. This year I noticed (and bought) tamale dressing from the Central Market chef's case....

It's just after 8 AM on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. Large numbers of my fellow Americans arose in the pre-dawn hours to stand in line for bargains in the unofficial beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Sorry, not me. I prefer to lounge in bed, enjoying a cup of coffee; newspaper and wife at my side. I'll let others shop. In the family room are two sleeping figures: friends of my youngest. We tend to be the place where he and his friends land for their gatherings. In the living room are two more, stretched out on the sleeper couch. At around 2:30 last night I sent a text message to youngest son informing him the party needed to wind down, else I storm out in my boxers and chase everyone out. They are techno-geeks. Unlike older brother, instead of alcohol, this crowd goes for caffeine so they can game and the like all night. Hence the 2:30 shutdown message. This is why I like Thanksgiving. Unlike Christmas, which we've allowed to devolve into...

The spousal companion is splitting time between watching the Macy's Parade and making pumpkin pie . Youngest son, newly reunited for the long weekend, is upstairs asleep. My time in the kitchen will come soon: I'm making purple mashed taters and green bean casserole for the family gathering in a few hours. I've looked over the Black Friday ads and have confirmed there's nothing worth getting up at 4 AM and fighting crazed bargain hunters for. Time to reflect briefly on what I'm thankful for. First and foremost, I'm thankful for my wife and sons, who continue to give meaning to my life.  I'm thankful everyone in my family is healthy, both physically and mentally. I'm thankful my two sons are finding who they are and what makes them happy. I'm thankful I have a roof over my head. I'm thankful I have a job. Despite my occasional grousing, I feel fortunate to be doing what I'm doing. I'm also thankful former colleagues who lost their...

In honor of Texas Christian University (my alma mater) and their number 4 nationally ranked   football team, I will be serving purple mashed potatoes at the family Thanksgiving gathering this year. For those in my family whose loyalty to the Horned Frogs does not overcome their aversion to funny-colored food, I will be making normally colored mashed potatoes as well. It will be interesting to see which go fastest. Go Frogs!

Thanksgiving has nudged out Christmas as my favorite holiday. Maybe it has something to do with the Christmas displays appearing in stores before Halloween. Just to make it a Triple Colbert week, here's the cast of the Colbert Christmas Special singing Elvis Costello's (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding -- that's Elvis in the bear suit. I can't think of a better holiday message. The Colbert Report Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c A Colbert Christmas: Peace, Love and Understanding Colbert at Christmas Colbert Christmas DVD Green Screen Bill O'Reilly Interview