Reasons to Be Thankful

How Do I Thank Thee? Let Me Count the Ways

When it comes to Thanksgiving 2006, to paraphrase the immortal
Chick Hearn — the turkey’s in the refrigerator,
the door is closed, the light are out, the gravy is cooling, the
pie’s getting hard, and the cranberry sauce is jigglin’. For those poor deprived souls out there
who didn’t grow up falling asleep in the car to the sound of
Chick’s voice on the radio, that basically means it’s over. For
most of us Isla Vistans, that means it’s time to start fretting
about finals, worrying about winter break, and generally stressing about
stuff again.

Before the bemoaning begins, I propose a moment of reflection. I
know I’m not the only one whose mother made everyone go around the
table at Thanksgiving and say what they were thankful for — and I
know I’m not the only one who rolled my eyes at the exercise.
But, as last week’s column showed, my
mom is not always entirely wrong or entirely crazy. And, in this
case, she might have just been right. Just don’t tell her I said
that. But seriously, at this point in time — with one of the year’s
most stressful seasons around the corner and a quarter of the
school year almost past — perhaps it is a good idea to take a
moment and be thankful.

So, you may ask, what am I grateful for this year? Well, of
course, there’s the stock greeting-card stuff: I’m thankful for my
parents, my brothers, my family, my friends, my job, etc. But let’s
face it, that stuff is boring. True, but boring. So, in
the interests of keeping this column interesting, let’s go a little
deeper than that. It’s my third year at UCSB, my second-to-last
year of pre-graduation freedom and my 20th year on Earth — so
again, what am I thankful for? Well, now that I think about it, it
turns out I’m thankful for quite a bit. So, loyal readers, here it
is: my laundry list of things I’m thankful for. And, in
the interest of satisfying my interest, I encourage all of you to
put that cute little comments section at the bottom of my column to
use and let me know what you’re thankful for as well. After all, it
can’t hurt to take a second and say thanks — even when there’s no
turkey involved.

I’m thankful for my roommates, who are great friends, copious
cleaners — thank god — and the only people I know who can maintain
their dignity while plastering our walls with tiny turkey decals
before Thanksgiving. I’m thankful for Deja
Vu for making the only French fries that are still
fantastic no matter how cold they get. I’m thankful for Alejandro
González Iñárritu (Amores Perros, 21 Grams,
Babel) and Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream,
The Fountain) for continuing to make innovative and
provocative films, no matter how much the studios, critics, and
audiences balk at them. I’m thankful for Emerald
Video, for continuing to provide a well-rounded roster of
oh-so-adorable film geek guys for us film geek girls to drool over
while we pretend to peruse the foreign films.

I’m thankful for the UCSB men’s soccer team for once again giving us
students something to cheer about — and for making knee socks look
so good. I’m thankful for Al Gore, for inventing
the Internet, and to Myspace, You Tube, Facebook, and independent.com for providing me with plenty of ways to
procrastinate on paper-writing.

I’m thankful for Netflix, for providing DVDs of
Police Squad — the short-lived but sensational series my
parents introduced me to over the Thanksgiving weekend. I’m thankful for Andy at
CompUSA, for going above and beyond the call of duty and
taking all my late-night calls when my computer broke. I’m thankful
for the UCSB Film Studies Department becoming the UCSB Film and
Media Studies Department and giving me an extra two words on my
future diploma. I’m thankful for Airborne,
because right now it’s the only thing standing between me and my
roommate’s horrible hacking cough. I’m thankful that I have a
relatively safe driveway in which to park my car, and I really hope
whoever stole my side-view mirror last week is thankful that they
managed to pull it off — literally.

When it comes to things I’m thankful for, that’s just the
beginning. But I don’t want to bore you, the fantastic folks who
actually take the time to read my weekly columns, with the rest of
the lengthy list. Which brings me to the last — but by no means
least important — thing I’m thankful for, this column and the
readers who make it worth writing. Thank you for taking the time to
check out Eye on Isla Vista each week and here’s to this column
lasting much longer than that leftover turkey chilling in your
fridge.