On one hand it sounds great but on the other actually pretty gross.

Originally I thought the day is meant to prepare and share food with others – something I could see as a very worthwhile endeavor back in the days when there was a lot of poverty around while the country was established. Doing something for others which they might be thankful for. Doing something for others – cooking and sharing some great food - to also say “thank you”.

Oh, I finally realized how wrong I was.

I’m all in for traditions. You would not have thought so, correct? But yes, I am for the traditions which brings people together, I like gathering of Christmas (but not the shopping frenzy nor the fact that Xmas songs and decorations are being hammered onto and into you already by the end of October). Thus I also like the family gathering on Thanksgiving. Usually I could do with less food, but that is another story and has rather todo with poor personal control than the fact of the gathering.

Thanksgiving though is an odd one for me. It’s this “let’s all hail together and be happy together because it’s this day”. Huge aversion to something the like. Now be happy and say thanks. BE THANKFUL ON COMMAND. Ugh. It’s the same as LOVE SOMEBODY ON COMMAND because it’s February 14th. A day created and gotten on the gravy train by Hallmark.

Of course I’m thankful for a lot of things. But I do not feel compelled to go around and announce it to everyone what a good person I am that I’m such a grateful person! Too close to be nothing more than a lip service and we have enough of that when it comes to various religions and politics.

Thus, for all it’s worth, I will keep enjoying the gathering aspect of it and the food itself, while glossing over the points which remain alien and fake to me after all these years.

Currently I am playing with a cool little app on the iPhone called STORIE – you can get info about it @ http://www.storieapp.com and it allows you to bundle photos under one theme / subject. The cool thing about this is that you can embed it via an iframe on any website.

OF COURSE the theme of today would be, guess what, my birthday – with emphazis on DAY.

Thought I’ll track my day – THE day I generally devote just to myself and my current moods. Today is devoted to hanging out, spending some money (including my $200 cash gift from last Xmas), going to the movies and eating to much while the first winter cold and snow front is approaching.

Next to this decision I’ve made some good progress this week on several projects of mine. Of course never as much as I would like it to be, but good enough to feel it moving. A good feeling.

One of those larger projects was to transfer my PhotoBlog from Pixelpost to Wordpress, from a sub-directory to a sub-domain. Over the course of 7 years a lot of photos have accumulated and getting all over and not losing dates, comments and the lot plus to transfer the monthly grid – a biggie for me – I dreaded it for a long time. But the past year almost made the site fall into absolute non-existence just because I no longer was able to send photos easily via the iPhone to the site. It just HAD TO be done.

And here it is in it’s new glory: myVIEW – life through the viewfinder.

Tomorrow will be another big step – I’ll be back in the painting room. No words to describe that feeling.

Today I was reminded of that once again. It’s not the costs. Of course it is a factor, but not THE factor. And I think it’s not my fear of flying either, even though this is a hard one to believe. But it definitely has to do with being locked into a plane for miserable 8+ hours, 31,000 feet above safe ground in a canister barely big enough to rely a false impression of safety. It is being bound to these tight seats, cutting off the blood flow to the hamstrings, sending tingling feelings down to the toes, intensified into a numb sensation due to the airconditioner. Knowing that the flight will be over an hour less than originally announced does not help the caged feeling which sets in latest after dinner, around hour two. Sleep is a thing of impossibility, even though there is that lucky one lady who scored three seats all to herself and whom I could watch these past hours comfortably craddled and curled across them, slumbering away, while myself I was counting sheep which didn’t show and fighting the gaps and crevices, black holes for my tiny pillow being gulped away, leaving me with nothing else than countering, tensed and aching neck and shoulder muscles.

The lights in the cabin just turned back on. The smell of freshly brewed coffee is finding its way. Only another half an hour and these past, endless hours will culminate into these couple minutes of plain terror while this plane is finding its footing and grounding and then coming to its end.

And after that it will be that little sigh and loosening of tension into this all relaxed feeling, evaporating those intense moments into nothingness, like lovers after their climax.

AND to do the million other things which need to be done before leaving. Like work. And the cat sitter, get all updated info to him. The plants. Wash clothes. Check that the camera for Anna works. Make notes. Try and foresee what will be needed. Let it all drop and just be.

Feeling so sorry to leave the kittens for such a long time alone. We BTW. have a retired cop as our sitter. He is fully into cowboy stuff. Also his website. Which was almost the reason I did not contact him. But his engagement for animals and knowledge of first-aid made me change my mind. I think they will do as well with him as they can with us gone. Sky was even out and about, playing around him the other day. Right now I’m filling in all the cat info – this time online, hoping that I never, ever, ever again have to fill out forms asking for the same things.

Beginning to feel stressed when working, makes it hard to concentrate on code. Feel I should have another 3 days of only work before leaving. Will not happen.

We need to run some errands, get a backup drive for Anna, get MaxALT, bring our backup drives to the bank before noon, possibly buying a pair of pants or something else. Plus more, but forgot what all.

Let’s get back at entering cat info.