At Thanksgiving, one of the stereotypical traditions is the family goes around the table, stating what they are thankful for. Generally they are things like “having this family” or “my health” or “Great-aunt Mildred leaving me the beach house in her will”, and while all of those are valid, and of course I am thankful for my family, friends, and relative health, I realized there are a few other things that would get short shrift in the going-around-the-table conversation.

So here are some things I am thankful for (outside of the usual list):

• Pandora’s collection of Northern European heavy metal.
• co-workers who have a sense of humor. Nothing helps get through the day without having the pressure of not being able to crack a joke for fear of having to fight with an HR report.
• Whoever the genius is at JetBlue that first put the TVs in the headrests of the seat in front of you. Now if that person can come up with a way of not having the person in front of me ALWAYS recline.
• Sweet Tarts.
• This election cycle’s crop of GOP candidates. So many of them are so ludicrous and making the lives of late-night talk shows and The Daily Show’s writers’ lives so much easier.
• Not having cable TV as a kid. No, really, having to mess around with rabbit-ears or worse, that circular UHF antenna, gives a deeper appreciation for cable tv.
• A bunch of friend in college that I have since fallen out of touch with, for the most part, but helped me get through an incredibly difficult period in my life, and at least waited a few years before judging me.
• The dynamic of the internet that has somehow made it so that I have good friends in most of the major cities in the country, and some in other countries. Explaining to people about being invited to a wedding in Toronto for two people I know a ridiculous amount about but have never actually met was not what Tim Berners-Lee imagined, I know, but it’s interesting nonetheless.

There are more, but really, that’s enough.

Happy Easter! Thanksgiving!