10 things I'm Thankful for
1. The serious stuff: Family, friends, health.

2. Country: America has a lot of brave men and women risking their lives so that we can celebrate days like today. I'm thankful for that.

3. I'm thankful people read this blog. Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this. I'm sure many of you disagree with me on politics, sports, music and everything else. But I appreciate everyone who reads. It gives me more reason to write.

4. I'm thankful for writers like Christopher Hitchens, musicians like Bob Dylan and Van Morrison and for artists of all kinds, who make life interesting. They also inspire me to keep creating, in the hopes I can one day be a tenth of what they are.

5. It's trivial in the grand scheme, but I'm thankful for three winning Cleveland sports teams. I don't think there has been a year in my lifetime with this much success and promise.

6. I'm thankful for my job. It allows me to do what I love, and get paid for it.

7. I'm thankful for turkey, pumpkin pie, stuffing and more pumpkin pie.

8. I'm thankful that the next day, I have a gym membership.

9. I'm thankful for Mystery Science Theater, Christopher Guest movies, The Naked Gun Trilogy, Simpsons DVDs and other things that make me laugh out loud no matter how many times I see them. Oh, and The Office. Can't forget that.

10. And I'm thankful to God. I don't write about him too much. All my favorite writers are athiests and religion has yet to really find me. But I know God is up there, and it's a good day to say thanks for the blessings he has brought to my life.

Thanksgiving
Long ago I stopped trying to understand this holiday in an historical context. We spent a great deal of time learning about things in school, about how the pilgrims and Indians had a feast and ate and drank and played football outside and then watched The Christmas Story 12 times on TBS.

When you grow up, you discover most of what you're taught about the holiday is fantasy. It is Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny in a big black hat.

When I was in second grade, I played Gov. William Bradford in the school play (I stole the show, despite looking little like the man). Those memories are good ones, and I prefer to keep them that way, despit coming to the realization that the play much like Remember the Titans, has very little truth to it.

But that doesn't mean one can reject the holiday all together. It's one of the few holidays not bathed in commercialism. There is a shopping day afterwards, of course, and you may see more pictures of turkeys, but that's about it.

What Thanksgiving really is about is family. Football is also on pretty much all day, but the holiday usually involves seeing people you don't always see, remember things you haven't thought of, and reminding yourself what you have.

In that sense, Thanksgiving is one of our country's most rewarding and honest holidays, even if the feel good story they taught us isn't exactly true.

Thanksgiving is a time to say thanks. In a society where it is often easier to complain than rejoice, it comes not a moment too soon.