By David Gewirtz
Thanksgiving is upon us here in the United States. While the true history of Thanksgiving is subject to some controversy (isn't pretty much everything, these days?) there are certain elements of the modern Thanksgiving celebration we can all take to heart -- even for those of you who don't live in these United States.
The food
The first such element, of course, is the food. Turkey, in particular dark meat turkey, is the food of the gods. It must be celebrated and consumed. It must be sought out with a level of sociopathic abandon reserved for only the most important things in life.
I wrote about this back in 2003, in David's guide to surviving Thanksgiving (and some computer stuff). It's a worthwhile read if you really want to understand the true Jedi skills necessary to master the quest for the dark meat.
The fuss
Thanksgiving in the U.S. is nothing, if it's not a fuss. For years, when my family and I were separated by a 3,000-mile wide continent, a few of my friends and I would do Thanksgiving in whatever Chinese restaurant happened to be open in San Francisco. While you'd be amazed at how creative a Chinese food chef can get when you're the only customer in the place, there's really no substitute for the family table.
Cari Cooney just wrote a great article on this, in Thanks for the memories: how to take perfect Thanksgiving pictures. If you're having a family gathering, she's got some great tips.
If it's over the river and thru the woods you're going to be traveling this week, Becky Wolfe has shared some great ideas for fall photos in Getting intimate with fall photography.
Of course, you can take fall photos only if you're in a part of the country where there's a fall season. Here in Florida, the only way you can tell it's almost Thanksgiving is because the Christmas carols have started and the snowbirds have come to roost.
The gratitude
It took me a long time to learn, but learn it I did. Gratitude is a powerful feeling and getting with some gratitude can bring perspective to a crazy world. Each Thanksgiving, I make it a practice to list those things I'm grateful for, and then notice just how many of them there are, and just how wonderful they've made my life.
Of course, at the top of the list is always my wife. Getting married in my mid-40s, it took me a long time to find the right woman and an equally long time to convince her to marry me. But she's wonderful and I'm reminded every day how lucky I am.
I have a lot more to be grateful for, but because many of the items I'd list are personal, I'm not going to subject you to a full reading. Instead, I'm going to recommend you make your own list, and then notice just how wonderful each of the items you list has made your life as well.
I will mention three groups of people I'm incredibly grateful for: you, the readers, our authors, and our advertisers. Without all of you, we couldn't be producing these magazines and, together, especially with projects like this summer's exploration of White House email, we can also make a difference.
By the way, we've turned our article series on White House email into a book called Where Have All The Emails Gone? How something as seemingly benign as White House email can have freakly national security consequences. It's our first printed book and we'll be formally announcing its availability soon. In the meantime, you can read some excerpts at http://www.EmailsGone.com.
The sheer insanity of it all
Finally, Thanksgiving sometimes seems to open a doorway to the craziness that's human nature. The post-Thanksgiving, pre-Christmas season often means the big income time for many businesses, lots of profligate spending, and sometimes provides a window into the darkness that's also within us all.
Back in 1998, I wrote about a business trip the day before Thanksgiving. It was nine years ago today, exactly, that I wrote It's a small world. This disturbing article tells the story of a fellow traveler, in this case another Lotus Notes administrator, who had a very tough time at the airport. I never found out who she was, or whether she was then or is now a reader of DominoPower, but I've always hoped she somehow found the article and knew that someone cared that night.
Before I wrap up this ode to the American psyche, it's important I end with a warning: Black Friday is a day when you should practice extra caution, both online and out in stores. As Hackers poised for Black Friday discusses, you should watch out for emails and offers that seem too good to be true.
A common scam is to pick the hot toy of the season and send out a spam email blast offering it for much less than the typical price. Victims end up entering credit card information on malicious sites designed to look like well-known, trusted ones. They might also unknowingly download a keylogger that can steal personal information people type in when making any kind of Internet transaction.
Be careful out there, ok?