Giving Thanks

"For everyone who helped me start
And for everything that broke my heart
For every breath, for every day of living
This is my thanksgiving"
--My Thanksgiving, Don Henley

So it's now been called to my attention that people actually read this little thing, meaning that a) I need to be more diligent about producing a blog every couple days (not waiting two-plus weeks, as is currently the case) and 2) I need to watch what I say a little bit. I don't think I've ever really called anyone out on my blog, but it's a good reminder to keep it all positive. Oh yeah, I've definitely called out Rocky Biddle (recently released by those Washington Nationals), but I'm fairly confident that Rockpile is not among the loyal few who patronize this place.
That being said, it's the aftermath of Thanksgiving weekend, and what a wonderful weekend it was. If I needed reminders about the people and things that matter to me (and for which I am thankful), I received them en masse Wednesday through Sunday. A brief recap, if you don't mind...
Wednesday: Thought I might be able to make it up to LC in time for the alumni game and/or the TP experience, but work beckoned--as it often does--and I was immersed in Antonio Gates NFL films stuff until 9. (Quick related note: Gates is in studio tomorrow (along with fellow Charger Keenan McCardell) and I'm beyond stoked. This will mark the first time I will have requested a photo with a guest, and it will maintain a prime location on my wall.) Exhausted from just three days of long work, I decided instead to head back home, enjoy some honey wheat thins and an 11 o'clock bedtime. From what I gather, I didn't miss much at the alumni game (not much of a game at all) or at Twin Palms (out of control as usual). Sleep sounded way better than either one.
Thursday: Woke up and packed for a weekend in LC, then headed up (after a game or two of NCAA Football on XBox, in which my San Jose State Spartans have been promoted to the Pac-10, replacing lowly Washington State...it seems that all the top high school kids want to come play in the Silicon Valley now, meaning my program will continue its domination of college football for years to come--and yes, I'm even playing on Heisman level these days). Long parenthetical departures from the main story--my bad. So I got to mom's in time to help--very little--with Thanksgiving dinner preparation, and then proceeded to enjoy a wonderful time with brothers and mother and cousins and others, well into the evening. We got to continue the turkey day tradition of attending the Clippers-Nets game and sitting courtside, which definitely didn't suck. Saw Rob Kane and his dad, Becky Johann and her dad, Andy Carlson's brother Craig, and a few members of the Trumbo clan (though I didn't know it at the time)--LC representing strongly. Clips won the game, too, behind Marko Jaric (23 points) bombing threes and some solid team defense (though in all seriousness, New Jersey might be worse than UCLA right now--after Richard Jefferson, they don't have a single person who can score with any kind of consistency. And watching Alonzo Mourning suck and complain and then suck more is just sad. Really sad). Got back from the game pretty late and played some Halo 2 with Side and the bros--part of the reason I don't have time to do anything else these days is that Halo 2 has crept in and now occupies many of my at-home awake moments, of which there are few. We need to just beat the game and be done with it so I can resume normal living patterns.
Friday: Slept in a tiny little bit (9 a.m., about four hours after my normal rising time), and got to read and play guitar all morning, which was quite lovely. Had an Imports lunch with Joel and Nick (Wang and El-Saden in attendance as well), and opted for the sandwich over the pizza. I know you can't really go wrong with either one (Joel actually chose both), but I agonize over that selection every time I'm there--thank goodness I don't live close enough to make it a regular thing anymore. I then headed down to the HS for the big football game--and speaking of football games, Peyton Manning threw six (!!!!????!!!!????!!!!) touchdown passes Thursday and is on pace to destroy Marino's single-season record. The way the Colts defense has looked, Peyton will likely be matching Marino's post-season history as well, meaning 0 Super Bowl wins. Suss definitely did not resemble Peyton Manning (except maybe during last year's AFC Championship game, when the Pats picked him off like nine times), but the 00 v. 97 game was fun, albeit one-sided. I spent the duration on the sidelines pretending to be a cameraman and am hoping to turn the results (a 32-minute digital tape) into some sort of a cool piece, cut to music and everything, but we'll see when work will allow such a project to be undertaken. Went from the game to Joe's and tried to start the editing process, but computers weren't being friendly, so it wasn't happening. Had a couple turkey sandwiches for dinner (thanks mom) and went to the LC playoff football game with Suss and his friends, excited to watch Tom and Pat and Ben (not dressed, unfortunately) take on the No. 2-seeded squad in the division. It was a fun game, not just because it was competitive (28-23 in favor of North Torrance, after several back-and-forth sequences in the second half), but because of all the people I got to see. Philip Swenson is perhaps my favorite person ever (that's only a slight exagerration), and I also got to see the D'Elias (Chris, Matt and Bill), EI, Ross and Mikey, Perry and Cindy, among countless others. It's fun to go back and see people on occasion, but I can't do that more than once a year--too overwhelming. Got out of the game around 10 and took our time getting up to the Schmitts' house, which was another overwhelming situation waiting to happen. Fortunately, it didn't turn out that way, and we stayed until 2 or so, enjoying all kinds of pleasant company. By the way, when I said Ben wasn't dressed, I meant he wasn't wearing his full uniform, not that he was naked. Fortunately, they don't usually let people do that in high school football.
Saturday: Tried to sleep in again and was again unsuccessful, so I got some more guitar (new Sister Hazel) and reading (Ted Williams autobiography) in before meeting Ben at 76 and going to lunch at Baja. Of course, we encountered numerous familiar faces--Darren, Stu and Daniel Fekete among them--and enjoyed the Mexican grill a great deal. Hung out at his house for a while afterward and then joined the bros at your father's for his dad's birthday--93 or 94, both of which are remarkable numbers. During dinner and dessert and presents and whatnot, we were able to watch the Matt Leinart Heisman party against Notre Dame. Dominant performance from the amazingly accurate lefty, and another sweet Reggie Bush moment on a swing pass that turned into a long touchdown. That team is ridiculous. Home in time to join Darren and BZ for a screening of "The Incredibles," which was well worth the free price of admission. It would have been worth several dollars, as a matter of fact--a thoroughly entertaining film. Back to mom's around 1, and then down to home in Manhattan by 2, which meant not nearly enough sleep for a day of football work.
Sunday: Up early to get to Fox on time, then got to watch several bad games and a couple good ones--hmm, Chargers 34, Chiefs 31 comes to mind--through the course of the morning and afternoon. Spent some time after the games continuing the Antonio Gates project (which was finished today, and it's a solid production, I must say) and then headed up to church, where I met up with Suss and BZ. Good (not great) sermon from Jim Lee, who doubles as an assistant football coach at Oaks Christian (where sophomore quarterback Jimmy Clausen, Casey's younger brother, has thrown for 51 touchdowns this season). Chatted a little with my two compatriots, and also saw the Colemans, Stu and Niemann (LC everywhere you go), then headed to Ashley's house for (another) Thanksgiving dinner with her and her mom. Quite a lovely evening--I'm still full, seriously--and I departed after 10, which meant that I would again be limited in sleep heading into a full work week.
Oh well. Sacrifices must be made. I'll gladly give up a long weekend's worth of sleep in order to spend time with all the quality people that God has put in my life, and that I had the pleasure of encountering throughout the weekend. I'm eternally grateful for the guys and girls that have blessed me with their friendship. If you are one of those people (I'm again reminded that people do evidently read this), then thank you.
Looking forward to my picture with Antonio and Keenan tomorrow. Yup.