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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Thursday Morning Open Thread: Thanksgiving Chestnuts

Reader Interactions

159Comments

  1. 1.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Can I just go back to bed? Wake me tomorrow and it will all be over? Really, I have things I could be doing today. Thought about doing one now to try and beat the rains, but it’s still dark. Damn sun, never shining when I need it to.

  4. 4.

    Zinsky

    Doing a 5K Walk for Hunger this morning early at the Mall of America in Minneapolis. Giving back before we gorge ourselves. Be kind to those with less than you – an important lesson the stubby-fingered greedbag Donald Trump never learned!

  5. 5.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Your wife has my sympathies (not for missing the whole T-day exercise in overindulgence but for having to deal with the thundering hordes taking overindulgence to levels of decadent excess not seen since the fall of Rome).

    Truly tho, I fell out of love with x-mas when I was 20-25. T-day continued as my favorite holiday because it was all about family (brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews). Then divorces, death, and the scatterings of time whittled it down to the point where the people I really want to spend the day with, just can’t get together anymore. So why bother?

  6. 6.

    satby

    Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I woke up at 4:30, which is too early to do anything but have my coffee. And I’ll end up needing a nap after we have our feast. Which, now that I think about it, may be another thing to be grateful for.

  7. 7.

    satby

    @BillinGlendaleCA: You know, as bad as I need a job, I worked in retail for the first 10 years of my adult life and never again want to work another Black Friday. I haven’t gone to a Black Friday sale since I quit working retail 25 years ago.
    Sympathy to your wife.

  8. 8.

    JPL

    Today is the day that we eat, drink and look at the ads in the paper. Passing around the newspaper ads is a tradition. Although we like to see what’s on sale, we don’t do shopping on black Friday.

  10. 10.

    Elizabelle

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Will make a special point of staying out of Macy’s this year, after hearing they’re open on Thanksgiving. Shame on them. (Does that tradition go back a long way, since they sponsor the Tgiving Day parade?)

  11. 11.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @satby: While she has to work this evening to the wee hours of Black Friday and Black Friday evening, she’ll probably avoid the worst of it. I’m providing chauffeur services for her commute. Being that I’ll be providing said services until Christmas, I’m thinking of getting a chauffeur’s hat.

  12. 12.

    donnah

    Up early to finish the cooking. I cooked fresh green beans yesterday in advance, and made two apple pies. Today the first wave of cooking will include a pumpkin swirl cheesecake and brownies, followed by the biggies: the turkey, and homemade bread.

    We’ll have fourteen for dinner and then everyone will lie around looking bloated. Thanksgiving is all about the tradition!

    Happy Thanksgiving to all. Be safe and share the goodness of the day!

  13. 13.

    Evap

    I love Thanksgiving, as I love any excuse to eat, drink, and be merry. My entire immediate family will gather and I am extremely lucky that we all like each other and get along (and agree on politics).

    My daughter works at the local REI and is getting paid today and tomorrow, but doesn’t have to work. It’s the REI policy.

  14. 14.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @donnah: A pumpkin swirl cheesecake just sings ‘decadence’! My teeth are rotting just thinking about such a concoction. I want the recipe.

  15. 15.

    JPL

    @Evap: That is a great tradition. When I heard that, I decided to do some shopping there. My sister-in-law is an avid hiker, so will get her a gift certificate for sure.

  17. 17.

    geg6

    I love Thanksgiving! Favorite holiday ever! Good food, wine to be drunk, football and gathering with my sisters and their families. We all get along, we actually enjoy being together, our politics agree and it’s a completely secular holiday without mandatory military worship either. My sympathies to those whose gatherings will not be such fun. You are all welcome to join us! We love taking in strays!

  18. 18.

    Mustang Bobby

    I share in the dinner with friends who alternate serving the meal at their house, and I participate by bringing whatever they ask for. This year it’s pumpkin pie and whipped cream, so the bakery and dairy sections at Publix gave their all, and so am I.

    Relaxing while doing the crossword puzzle until it’s time to go. Also working on two one-minute plays for the Miami version of the national 1-Minute Play Festival in January. Writing a long play is easy compared to telling an entire story in 60 seconds… like trying to do “War and Peace” in one tweet.

  19. 19.

    Major Major Major Major

    Had a vegan turkey sandwich thing for breakfast with boba, just polishing off a Löwenbräu with a pretzel, then I guess I’ll pick up some Judaica for the family and hit the gay beach.

    Tel Aviv is weird.

  20. 20.

    geg6

    Oh, and I just have to mention that this year is extra special to me as we will be dining on a table for 10 that my John made as a gift to my sister and her husband for their new house. He also built a small buffet that can be added to the end of the table to extend seating by 4 seats. They are beautiful and I’m so proud of him.

  22. 22.

    Eric S.

    I got automated call from work alittle while ago. The set of (100s) of programs we run every night was behind schedule. By the time I got logged on I received an automated email that we were caught up. So I just billed an hour and now back to bed. See you in a couple of hours.

  23. 23.

    geg6

    @Mustang Bobby:

    I find that one-minute play thing ridiculously intimidating! You are amazing! Not that I’m a writer like you, but I’ve done enough writing for undergrad, grad and my career (and even, back in the day, some blogging about “Survivor”, don’t ask) to know that it’s devilishly difficult to get you point across in a concise manner, let alone having to resolve an entire plot.

  25. 25.

    geg6

    @JPL:

    My babies run the house! My heart swells every time I think of them. Lovey is such a headstrong, assertive little thing and Koda is just perfect with her. They are the best of buddies.

  26. 26.

    satby

    @BillinGlendaleCA: I have a completed application ready to go for a job at one retail establishment a fair distance in the opposite direction as the girls’ school that is waiting until after tomorrow to be submitted. That’s how bad I hate Black Friday.

    I got a call on a different job yesterday while we were volunteering though, so I’m hoping I doesn’t end up getting submitted.

  30. 30.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    After the kid and my last hike up into our local hills, she said that she wanted a hike with TREES. Most of the local hills, not the San Gabriels, are mainly scrub brush. So I happened upon a short and not too demanding hike up to the tallest mountain in the neighboring, Ventura, county. Most of the distance and elevation gain is via automobile, but the hike may be challenging due to elevation, starting at 8300′ and snow. She seemed receptive to the idea, as long as there’s not too much of the white stuff on the ground.

  31. 31.

    Mustang Bobby

    @geg6: Thank you. I have the small advantage of having a job in radio some thirty-five years ago where I had to write commercials and public service announcements, so that should help, but I’m not sure “See the brand new 1979 Plymouths at Case Motors on US 131 in Benzonia today!” will do the trick…

  37. 37.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud: What is this ‘vacation’ you speak of? Back in my days working for Satan, vacations amounted to laying on a beach with waitresses bringing madame and I drinks. On the other hand, since the kid is in school, I guess they’re vacation hikes for her.

  38. 38.

    donnah

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    It’s actually Pumpkin Marble Cheesecake from the Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cookbook. I make it every year and also in between.

    Crust:
    1 1/2 C gingersnap crumbs
    1/2 C finely chopped pecans
    1/3 C melted butter

    Filling:
    2-8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
    3/4 C sugar
    1 tsp vanilla
    3 eggs
    1 C canned pumpkin
    1 tsp cinnamon
    1/2 tsp nutmeg

    Combine crust ingredients, press into bottom and up 1 1/2 inches on sides of a 9″ springform pan. Bake at 350 for ten minutes.

    Combine cream cheese, 1/2 C sugar, and vanilla, mixing at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Reserve 1 cup of the batter. Add remaining sugar, pumpkin, and spices to remaining batter, mix well. Alternately layer pumpkin and cream cheese batters over the crust, cut through with knife for marbled effect. Bake at 350 for 55 minutes. Loosen from rim of pan, cool before removing rim. Chill.

    It’s easy and delicious!

  39. 39.

    Baud

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    That’s sad to hear. You being in California, all of the country’s best hiking is relatively close to you.

    On happier news, I ordered my laptop. Got a lower end Dell from MS store. It has the HD screen and $400 was too good a deal to pass up.

  40. 40.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud: Back in my wasted youth, I was a Boy Scout; I did quite a bit of hiking both in our local mountains as well as the Sierras. I’ve also done a little hiking in Yosemite with my church group in the summer between high school and college. Until recently, I’ve not hiked at all since my teen years. Madame and my vacations were always a bit less physical, but quite varied as far as destinations: Japan, Korea(not really a vacation for the Mrs.), Tahiti, France, the UK, Mexico and a number of destinations in the US.

    Good luck with the laptop, sounds like a good deal.

  43. 43.

    magurakurin

    @Baud: There is actually a lot of places to go hiking in Japan. Over 80% of the country is mountains. There are lots of mountain trails and hikes that go along seaside cliffs and beaches. Where I live, on Shikoku, there are many, many trails to hike and on a week day there is not one single soul on them. The Northern Alps on Honshu are an area of great beauty even if the trails are much more crowded. But Japanese people are incredibly friendly and chatty up on the trails and it is great place to meet people and share a drink of tea and a mandarin orange during a break in the hike.

  46. 46.

    mai naem mobile

    Happy Thanksgiving BJrs! Theres a whatimthankful4# in the tweeter. Bunch of kids tweeting One Direction. Thank god twitter wasn’t around when I was growing up because this is one of those things I would be embarrassed seeing ten years later like really bad hairstyle or clothing choices.

  48. 48.

    debbie

    @Elizabelle:

    Macy’s was always closed on Thanksgiving Day before this Black Friday madness started.

    I wish I could afford to Christmas shop at Nordstrom as a way of thanking them for not only not being open on Friday, but for not putting up Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving.

  49. 49.

    magurakurin

    @Baud: It’s an okay place. I’ve been here for 17 years. It’s not really cheap, but you can find ways to save money here and there. Business hotels are pretty reasonable in the cities, around 50 to 100 dollars a night for two depending on just where it is. Food can be fairly reasonable as well. Public transport is pretty good even if it is quite expensive. And the country is super safe. No one will cheat you in a store, there are few pick pockets, almost no robbery and nobody except the mobster have guns…and they only shoot each other once every other year or so. Don’t come in June, though unless you like rainy days. Best time is May and October. But if you like skiing then winter is great in Nagano and Hokkaido.

  55. 55.

    Origuy

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Have you ever been to Mt Pinos, in north LA county? The LA orienteering club has an event there every year; I’ve been down from the Bay Area several times. It’s east of Frazier Park, off I-5. You can drive to the top of the mountain and hike from there. Might see condors.

  56. 56.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Origuy: That’s where we’re going.

    ETA: It’s actually a bit west of the LA-Ventura county border, the road no longer goes to the summit. You have to park at a campground and hike the 1.5 miles to the summit.

  57. 57.

    magurakurin

    @Gin & Tonic: Hokkaido has amazing powder but the weather can bad. If you cant ski in snowstorm you might be stuck in the lodge. Northwest skiers are probably better prepared for it than Colorado or Utah skiers. Nisseko is amazing. The Hannazono lift has heaps of powder and if you hike up to the top and drop into the back of the mountain its endless glades of deep deep powder. Nagano has better weather but less powder. They groom a lot in Japan. Nozawa Onsen is a really cool place with a big ski area and great base village with cool free public baths in the town. The season is long in Hokkaido but shorter in Nagano. But February is good everywhere. Skiing is more relaxed in Japan than the States. Minshuku lodges are fairly cheap right next to the lifts, 60 to 100 dollars per person with dinner and breakfast included. Food in the resorts is cheaper an better. Big plates of spaghetti, steaming hot bowls of ramen and curry rice. Its fun. I recommend it.

  58. 58.

    Gin & Tonic

    @magurakurin: Wow, thanks for the tips, very helpful. I’ve heard that onsens tend to be segregated, though, and the nicer ones are for Japanese only, as us gaijin don’t know how to behave. Any truth to that?

  60. 60.

    Mike in NC

    Happy Thanksgiving. I have a bunch of nieces and nephews I barely know; only get together for weddings and funerals. Tomorrow we’ll visit the cemetery in Canton, MA where our parents are buried, then tour the Samuel Adams brewery before packing for the flight home first thing on Saturday.

  62. 62.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    Nancy LeTourneau has a good piece at WaMo on Lydia Marie Child – the author of the poem that became The Thanksgiving Song:

    There is an awful lot of music associated with the Christmas holiday. But when it comes to Thanksgiving…not so much. If you’re anything like me, the one song you grew up singing on this holiday was “Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother’s house we go.” But until this week, I never knew anything about the origins of that song.

    It comes from a poem written in 1844 by a woman named Lydia Marie Child.

    […]

    Have a happy and peaceful Thanksgiving, everyone.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  63. 63.

    magurakurin

    @Gin & Tonic: No, in fact it is the opposite. The only place you might have trouble in a bath would be in the nasty ones that the Yakuza go to and the chance you would ever find one is zero. A bath in Japan is no big deal. But if you have a little gym bag to carry a towel and fresh clothes brush etc it is easier. Many places give you a towel but I always bring my own. Most places have soap and shampoo but I keep somme in the gym bag anyway. They have little white hand towels for the bath. When you go in you first wash and shampoo at these little shower stations. Use the towel as a wash cloth then rinse and ring it out. Most guys then use it as a dick towel for modesty. When you get in the bath you can put it on your head or on the side of the bath but dont put it on the water. Basically just take your time and copy what everyone else does. But it isnt anything to stress over the whole thing is very casual and mellow. Great after skiing and some onsen have outside baths. Those are awesome in winter.n

  64. 64.

    jeffreyw

    @Mustang Bobby:

    “See the brand new 1979 Plymouths at Case Motors on US 131 in Benzonia today!” will do the trick…

    …Hi! I saw your ad in the paper and thought I’d drop by! What?! Oh god, NOOO! [Dragged into adjoining office. Sounds of chewing.]
    Announcer [trying to sound like Rod Serling], “We are not the only species celebrating Thanksgiving.”

  65. 65.

    WereBear

    @satby: I am thankful we have a world with someone like Satby in it: your animal rescue, your fostering of students, your entrepreneurship. These are things we have been told this nation treasures.

    Yet it is hard to see that when we actually live it.

    Eat all you want and take that nap! The tryptophan in the turkey is what does it.

  67. 67.

    WereBear

    I am a bit humble bragging: I have rescue kitties, I am trying to be an entrepreneur, and we have fostered a child from primary and now, high school. It’s a wonderful organization called:

    Children Incorporated

    They were the only ones we could find who would let us sponsor a Native American child.

  68. 68.

    Phylllis

    Happy Turkey day to my favorite group of cranks. Just discovered Desk Set is streaming on Netflix, so my morning’s good to go.

  70. 70.

    gogol's wife

    Grading papers until 5:00, when we go to a friend’s for roast goose. Happy Thanksgiving, BJers, and sympathy to those who have to work.

  72. 72.

    Mike J

    @OldDave: I had to do the local Applebees spots. Had a jingle with singing in and out and a 20 sec doughnut hole in the middle where you’d put the weekly special. No salad bar spots, no matter how David Brooks cries.

  73. 73.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    Mr. Mingobat and I are going to a minor league hockey game tonight. This morning he’s visiting his father in the nursing home and taking him to IHOP. I’m going to the gym and possibly for a walk in the park.

    Not stuffing my face — the Weight Watchers thing is going well and I don’t want to screw it up. I’m down 28.9 pounds as of last night –only a million more to go!

    Happy Thanksgiving!

  74. 74.

    Randy P

    I am meat guy in our house. The turkey is in the oven and I’m now contemplating duck (as in what I’m going to do with it and starting when).

    I’ve tried duck every year for the last 3, and never like the results (shrunken to about 1/2 the volume I expect, and dry), though everybody assures me it’s wonderful.

    This year I just bought breasts. Going to try pan-searing, which sounds easy, quick and (most important) juicy.

    Our gathering is my siblings and spouses and children and boyfriends of children. We’ve learned not to talk politics as there are a couple of wingnuts in the bunch. Other than that, I adore all these people.

  75. 75.

    Germy

    Bobby Big Wheel @BobbyBigWheel
    So do conservatives agonize over dealing with their liberal relatives or are they just too mad about other stuff to care?
    3:34 PM – 24 Nov 2015

  77. 77.

    p.a.

    I’ll do the trad: food, booze, football but this year thankfully not at Crazy Cousin Freedumbs place. Tomorrow has been the winter coat exchange outside the Big Urban Maul, but I haven’t seen any word of it this year. I will give the spot a drive by. I always have decent winter wear that inexplicably shrinks in off-season storage ;-) to donate.

    Oh yeah… Happy TDay!

  79. 79.

    WereBear

    We will boot up the Mystery Science Thanksgiving program at noon, (hat tip to Mnemosyne) and be able to watch one and a half until we leave for our Friendsgiving.

    Numbers vary each year at a local buffet; this year it is four of us.

    Working on the holiday batch of clementines this weekend. Goal: not to waste a single one.

  80. 80.

    WereBear

    @Germy: Yes. Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Gig Young, Joan Blondell.

    Fun! We saw it on Netflix a few days ago. And this is the time of year we do: Christmas Movie? Or not a Christmas Movie?

  81. 81.

    debit

    Happy Thanksgiving everyone. This morning I have time to do some treadmill running, then it’s off to my Mom and Dad’s for dinner prep help and then feasting. Tomorrow, I am apparently spending time with my ex and ex inlaws. Not quite sure how that wound up happening, but I’m bringing pumpkin cheesecake, so I’m sure it will all be fine.

    (Different cheesecake than the Philly one mentioned above-no crust, which sounds weird, but I swear, this is the best pumpkin cheesecake I’ve ever made.)

    Creamy Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe

    Ingredients

    24 ounces cream cheese
    ¼ cup crème fraîche or sour cream
    ¼ cup cornstarch
    3 extra large eggs
    1 15-ounce can pumpkin purée
    1½ cups sugar
    1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
    1 teaspoon ground ginger
    2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
    Soft butter for greasing pan

    Suggested optional toppings:

    ½ cup finely chopped pecans
    ¹⁄3 cup white chocolate chips
    3 tablespoons candied ginger, finely minced

    Directions
    Preheat oven to 350 F. Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, crème fraîche, and cornstarch until smooth. Add eggs, pumpkin purée, all but 1 tablespoon sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Heavily butter a 10-inch, removable-bottom cake pan*. Pour in batter. Bake 30 minutes.

    Top with pecans, white chocolate chips, and ginger (or toppings of your choice). Bake 40 minutes longer until firm. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours before serving. If enjoying cheesecake plain, sprinkle with remaining sugar.

    Amount: 12 servings

    *I use a 9 by 13 glass baking dish and it’s perfect. Really butter it up, as it helps sort of caramelize the bottoms and sides of the cake.

  82. 82.

    Tomtofa

    Oddly, no mention of Thanksgiving here in Budapest, nor of the US in general. A quick browse of the news sites and a few blogs give me my dissonance for the day.

    Hungary has an uber-nationalistic government that is trying to co-opt the rabid right wing and posture to the EU, so things have a funhouse mirror familiarity to events at home…

  83. 83.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @WereBear: Excellent of you to help out like that. Your blog is interesting and well done. It’s been decades since I had a cat – they’re neat animals. Our dog Sophie is interested in them but doesn’t quite know what to make of them. I can almost see the gears turning – “Should I try to play with it or run away??” ;-)

    Best of luck with your new charge, and with your business!

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (Who notices that The Other Chuck’s Stylish/Tampermonkey scripts seem to disable links in author handles here. I’ll drop him a line about that.)

  85. 85.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @satby: I was happy to read that your furnace and auto issues were relatively easy fixes! Have a great day today. I’m sure your girls will love Thanksgiving with you. Enjoy!

    Best of luck with the job hunt!! We’re sending good thoughts.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  86. 86.

    gene108

    @Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA:

    Not stuffing my face — the Weight Watchers thing is going well and I don’t want to screw it up. I’m down 28.9 pounds as of last night –only a million more to go!

    28.9 pounds!!!! Amazing!!!

    I struggle to lose and keep 10 pounds off.

    That’s a great job.

  87. 87.

    NotMax

    Because somebody has to say it.

    You can get anything you want, at Alice’s Restaurant. (Excepting Alice.)

  92. 92.

    kped

    I’m amazed, and I mean that literally, at how little coverage the Minneapolis racial shooting is getting in the mainstream media. You have a group of white guys going to a mainly black rally and shooting people, and I go to CNN and search, and there is one brief story. That’s it.

    If this was a bunch of BLM protesters shooting at people, all day every day we’d have Don Lemon and Anderson Cooper on the scene, smelling marijuana and wondering what was wrong with the protesters. Honestly, this is awful how it is being ignored.

  94. 94.

    PurpleGirl

    @WereBear: Good to hear there is a sponsorship organization which works in the US with Native children. I realize the other organizations do good work internationally but I’ve always wondered “who is helping our children who live in poverty?”

  97. 97.

    PurpleGirl

    @NotMax: At some point over the weekend (not sure if it is tonight), PBS will be showing a special concert by Arlo to celebrate the 50th anniversary of writing the song. I remember when WNEW played it every Thanksgiving morning for years. Had a friend in college who could play it quite well. True story: I and two friends are riding the subway from Brooklyn into Queens. At some point Carl and I break in to “glossy pictures with arrows and circles and paragraph on the back of each one…”. Our friend walked away from us with a “I don’t know these people, I’m not traveling with them” look on his face.

  98. 98.

    joes527

    @BillinGlendaleCA: OK. I know I’m weird, but I like the sage, scrub, yucca, and very occasional oak tree that cover the local hills. They survive the summer and flower in the spring. You can see scars of old fires on the manzanita, but they grow back. I just find it very soothing to look at because this is exactly what belongs here.

  99. 99.

    Schlemazel

    @kped: @Mike J:
    I have been surprised the amount of attention it has gotten on local media. Naturally it’s all couched in “let’s nit jump to conclusions” a chore they seem to forget when the victim is white. The gathering is only a couple miles from our house, I am thinking I should go over & join but I am not sure how welcome a white guy would be there today.

  100. 100.

    WereBear

    @PurpleGirl: I’ve always wondered “who is helping our children who live in poverty?”

    You would not believe the trouble I had tracking down a reputable organization who was:

    *secular (we are not paying for Bibles in their hands, we want schoolbooks and lunch there)
    *had a good reputation
    *worked with special needs populations
    *here in the US

    so I’m passing on the time savings to all of you!

  101. 101.

    WereBear

    @PurpleGirl: The station in NYC used to broadcast it every Thanksgiving, and it was a part of our holiday tradition, along with a kosher turkey that was much too large and had to have the hairs singed off, and the King Kong marathon.

  107. 107.

    PurpleGirl

    Checking the PBS website, the show of the concert should be on tonight at 8 pm.

    ETA: Can’t say it seems like only yesterday the song was written, but damn… 50 years.

  108. 108.

    Schlemazel

    @raven:
    I take it you didn’t have to sit on the group W bench during your draft physical. I did but I don’t recall it being named “group w”

    Alice’s Restaurant – BTW

  109. 109.

    jeffreyw

    @Schlemazel: You know, I’m of two minds on the coverage. I often think the terrorists are getting too much coverage and worry that it will lead to copy-cat yahoos thinking they need some of that glorious light shining on them, and then, as here, I worry that the lack of attention is not helping in the battle for attention to the actual menace.

  117. 117.

    NotMax

    @Schlemazel

    True tale.

    Was loudly verbally threatened with all sorts of dire consequences when went to the draft board to register, because I was “late.”

    The reason for the lateness? My local board’s office was above a restaurant. Said restaurant suffered a grease fire about a week or so before my 18th birthday and the building had burned down. It took some time for the system to figure out someplace in another town we could travel to for registration, and to provide notice.

    Told ’em point blank to stick their threats where the Sun don’t shine.

  118. 118.

    Schlemazel

    @raven:
    I don’t think I had ever head of Big Wednesday” before, thanks. That was a good scene, I’ll have to look the movie up.

    ‘Best’ draft story happened to a friend of mine. At the end of the draft physical 2 Marines came in and gave them a spiel about joining the corp. Being 1968 guys know what that entailed & everyone was checking out their pedicure. Finally the 1 Marine says they are 3 short on recruitment & wanted volunteers. My friend laughed out loud at the. The Marine said, “OK, son you just volunteered!”

    It got worse because at basic he was singled out as a draftee & blamed for ever thing that ended in punishment. It’s a long story but it ends with him doing 2 tours, deciding to make a career of the Corp and then being released because he was a draftee once recruitment was back up.

  119. 119.

    PurpleGirl

    @jeffreyw: Awww, a momcat and her itty bitty kittys.

    My rescuer friend has a cartoon on her FB page of three kitties, one of them peeking out from a pilgrim hat, and the caption says “We thank our human parents for adopting us. Happy Thanksgiving.”

  121. 121.

    raven

    @Schlemazel: I didn’t like Big Wednesday when it came out but it has grown on me. The documentary about Milieus really helped interest me. He always wanted to be a fighter pilot but his vision excluded him and he became a screenwriter/movie director. He did some awful right wing stuff but Jeremiah Johnson, the Robert Shaw description of the Indianapolis in Jaws and a number of other films are great. One thing he points out in the voice over of Big Wednesday is that the buddies went down together, some wanted to go in and others did everything they could to get out. The important thing, to me, was that they didn’t think any less of each other no matter what their choice was. Now you see this big whiny divide between those that did and those that didn’t. I think it’s bullshit.

  127. 127.

    PurpleGirl

    @jeffreyw: “Need a new laptop? Adopt a cat.” Love it, just love it. Just two weeks ago I was visiting my friend and playing with kitties and cats she has in her home. One cat, about 7 months old, sat with me and head bonked me. So cute.

  128. 128.

    gene108

    @kped:

    I’m amazed, and I mean that literally, at how little coverage the Minneapolis racial shooting is getting in the mainstream media. You have a group of white guys going to a mainly black rally and shooting people, and I go to CNN and search, and there is one brief story. That’s it.

    Black people start trouble with white people. White people defend themselves. Why is this a story?

    The theme that’s being pushed by right-wingers and probably accepted by most of the media.

  129. 129.

    Schlemazel

    @raven:
    I can’t even imagine. I know how scared my buddy was, he had made peace with the thing by the time he left for basic. It’s a Minnesota trait to accept your fate & try to make the best of it.

    @raven:
    I have Marines in the family I think they would disagree with that but they do have some interesting jokes about the Navy.

    As for me, if God wanted me to go he wouldn’t have given me spina bifida. The only time I feel bad about not going is when I think that the sacrifice was not equally shared. It is even worse today, Churchills line about so many owing so much to so few certainly would apply but since it does not touch so many lives today it would be “Never in the field of human conflict so many ignored the sacrifice of the few.”

  131. 131.

    max

    Damn. I woke up earlier thinking today was Wednesday and not Thursday. But then I’ve been a little distracted.

    !

    max
    [‘Happy Thanksgiving or other festive holiday greeting of your choice.’]

  132. 132.

    Suzanne

    Happy Thanksgiving, Balloon Juice friends! I am thankful for this place, where I reaffirm my faith that there are other funny, intelligent, only-crazy-in-a-good-way people who have their heads and hearts on straight.

    We are watching the parade while our breakfast strata is in the oven. Then we start the real cooking. I’m doing the macaroni and cheese and tarte tatin, Mr. Suzanne is doing the prime rib, then my mom is doing the mashed potatoes and vegetables. We’ll be doing Skypesgiving.

  133. 133.

    raven

    Why is it so critical to defrost the turkey in the damn wrapper? I let it defrost all day yesterday in the fridge and took it of the wrapper this morning to do a combo defrost/brine.

  134. 134.

    Kathleen

    @WereBear: Another thing that struck me was Tracy’s assertion that the purpose of the machine was to help the women, not replace them. I do find that a tad quaint. Also the depiction of the office of the 50’s brought back some bad memories (though the women characters were smart and not pushovers).

  135. 135.

    PurpleGirl

    Happy Thanksgiving to everyone here at BJ. Thanks to John for hosting this great place. (I’m off shortly to Donovan’s Pub for lunch.)

  138. 138.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    My sister – my younger sister – is dying. She’s 50. This will be her last Thanksgiving, her last holiday of any sort, her last anything. I am trying so goddamn hard to be grateful.

  142. 142.

    WereBear

    @Kathleen: though the women characters were smart and not pushovers

    It was incredible that the woman was shown to be the equal of the man in the brains department. I always loved Hepburn for that.

  149. 149.

    pamelabrown53

    Happy Thanksgiving to all BJer’s and their loved ones. Enjoyed reading about all your plans and aspirations. Special thanks to the recipe posters. Will be back lurking after I’m too stuffed to do anything else but enjoy my “lurkitude”.

  153. 153.

    Suezboo

    Merely popping in to say to my stuffed American friends (non-turkey kind) – have a Happy Thanksgiving – we all have a lot to be grateful for, even here in the Third World.

  155. 155.

    Central Planning

    @WereBear:

    Eat all you want and take that nap! The tryptophan in the turkey is what does it.

    No, it doesn’t. That’s a myth. I would put in the link to Snopes but that would probably get me in moderation

    And, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

  156. 156.

    J R in WV

    @Comrade Colette Collaboratrice:

    So sorry for your predicament. It’s hard to be accepting and thankful in the face of a slow tragedy.

    Take care of yourself, and your other relatives and friends, as well as your little sister.

    My father spent years fighting CMML leukemia. Eventually Dad was so sick for so long that death was a huge release for him. I spent all day with him for weeks, holding his hand, watching TV with the sound off when he slept. His Hospice RN was an angel. So calm, so understanding, such a blessing.

    I hope you have help from Hospice, I’m sure some are not the blessing that we had from them. Their medical director where Dad was was a Pakistani doctor, and he was really great. So mater of fact about death, and trying to make it not be as hard as it could be.

    Best of luck for you and your sister in her end days.

  157. 157.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    Thanks to all for the kind thoughts. This is so awful, especially for her husband and our parents. She’s in hospice care at home and enjoys having company but seems not to be terribly aware of what’s happening, so that’s some kind of blessing. Hospice is a godsend.

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