A Scenic World

I had to correct my older friend when he thought he was listening to cutting edge music because his daughter had introduced him to Cake. So I made him a present:

I hadn’t done any graphics work for quite a while, so it was fun to work with something besides Photoshop again. You might recognize the photo as a former 365 pic.

In case you’re curious, I picked 50 of my favorite “indie” songs (I know that more than a couple are mainstream, old, or both).

And for those haters who can’t read the font or think that using something other than Helvetica is graphics-suicide, trust me when I say that it’s fully legible when viewed full-size and that if you don’t like mine, you’re more than welcome to make your own list :)

Note to self: Do NOT watch incredibly sad episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy” right before work because you will cry like a GIRL and be forced into taking your default 365 pic because you can’t stop crying long enough to think of a decent photo idea.

Once again, for something like the sixth time in a row, I was the only one of my 23-odd family members to miss Thanksgiving at my grandmother’s house (my mother was kind enough to point that out when I called to wish everyone a pleasant holiday). Instead, I worked from 8am until 4pm then headed off to a friend’s house for dinner, where she had prepared an incredible feast for five.

It reminded me of the random holidays I’ve celebrated since moving away from South Carolina. Tonight, one of the five was Dave the Meat Guy. A couple of years ago, I was invited by Dave’s then-girlfriend Anne to share Thanksgiving with them and a few friends. I accepted without hesitation as I am apt to accept any invitation for free food. As the day drew closer, one by one the people who had said they’d come made other plans or found ways to go home. In the end, just Dave and I ate dinner together. I barely knew him, but we ate his homemade food and watched football. It really was a pleasant evening, and Dave and I are still friends.

I’ve shared a Thanksgiving table with my Indian best friend, her Cuban husband, and his mother who doesn’t speak English. We had an incredibly delicious lamb dish. I’ve had a Thanksgiving turkey with all the trimmings with a room full of nubile socialites and realized I was the oldest person there. I’ve spent Christmases without seeing another person all day.

What’s interesting to me is that I am not the only person spending a traditionally family-oriented holiday this way. I asked one of my co-workers what his plans were, and he told me that he and his partner have a “Catch as catch can” Thanksgiving dinner every year. All of the people they know who don’t have anywhere to go or don’t have family in the area are invited. Every year, it’s new faces, new stories, and none of the family baggage or bickering. He invited me, but since I already had plans, I politely declined.

But it’s nice to know that there are places for us Thanksgiving orphans. On behalf of all of us, I’d like to say thanks for giving us a real Thanksgiving :)