Randomness I'm Thankful For

These are the things I'm thankful for. Without these in my life, I wouldn't be who I am:

My Dharma Chalupa Mug-- It may be one of a kind. After it was offered through the Apropos of Something blog during his yearly "Lostvivor" series, CafePress shut it down. I'm one of the elite few who received one before hand. It's currently my favorite mug for my morning coffee and newspaper reading.






Little Nemo DreamMaster- rediscovered in Greg's boxes, this Nintendo game (8-bit NES--very retro) was amazing for it's time. Narrative, intertactivity, immersive content, all the theory elements that now get played out in MMORPGS (like World of Warcraft) and the Wii. It was also rich with intertextuality. The original story of course comes from the comic "Little Nemo in Slumberland" which was a turn of the century funnies page thrill. It also might explain why it never caught on enough for a sequel. Not to many 80-year-olds played the regular Nintendo.





The Brothers K- out of my entire collection of books, this is one of the few where I can honestly admit that I would not be who I am without it. This book made me think, laugh out loud and several times (more than I care to admit), the book made me cry. It's a powerful tale of a seventh-day Adventist family raised in faith bubble coming to grips with the real world and learning to rediscover faith in new ways. Powerful stuff.





My '67 Ford Mustang- I killed the engine a year ago after I blew a head gasket. It's sitting under a tarp on a concrete slab at my Dad's farm in North Florida. And that's just fine. When I've got my degrees under my belt, I'm going down there to get that car fixed up and then I'm going to drive it to my new campus. Yes, I'm going to be that professor with the cool car. I couldn't find a good picture of Christine on this harddrive. But in her better days, my car looked much like this. But with Krager wheels.



"It's A Wonderful Life"- Indeed it's a Thanksgiving tradition: Macy's Parade in the morning, (Mimi leaves on the dog show if a Cocker Spaniel is competing), then the movie It's a Wonderful Life in the evening. It remains one of the most central stories of my life, putting into context that which is really important. My parents made me watch it as a kid during one Christmas season. I hated it. Then later in my high school days, I watched it again and was struck by the rich narrative of the story. The story of how the movie itself became classic is interesting in it's own right. Originally, it flopped because people expected it to be a comedy. It's a Wonderful Life is a dark movie. But that's my kind of movie after all, melancholy with the touch of hope.