thanksgiving again

okay I admit it. I rewrote an article from a few years ago changing for the passage of time..but it hits the spirit I had in mind. happy thanksgiving

Over the woods and through the hills to grandmothers house we go..actually grandma is coming to me this year having talked me into cooking after a several year hiatus( we will not even talk about last years frozen turkey incident)...in fact mom is not allowed to cook holiday dinners as her idea of cooking is to take expensive meats and poultry and cook them until they are serviceable as arctic footwear, vegetables not cooked to the consistency of porridge are considered underdone and mashed potatoes come from a box....if her cooking was indicative of southern women, there wouldn’t be a fat man south of the mason dixon line......mom never quite enjoyed cooking it seems ..she does like eating however so its time to make the stuffing, cook the bird and all the assorted side dishes.Mom was one of those women, who although cooking eluded her, felt the need to arise on the anointed day and begin cooking at daybreak,serving the meal in the fine old southern tradition of 1:00 sharp. She looked puzzled when told that dinner was at 4 until my sister gently explained that there was more chance of the turkey escaping from the freezer and flying to cleveland than there was of me getting up at sunrise to cook.I had to stop at three separate stores last night to gather all the fixing but I finally got all the needed ingredients and will start Wednesday night to prepare the feast.It’s a task I secretly enjoy especially since all of my recipes start the same way. Open wine and pour carefully into the cook. all the same the thanksgiving holiday is upon us and as we’ll all pack up for the lovely drive, maybe a couple of lifetimes on the jersey turnpike or a rugby scrum through an airport to travel to far destinations to see people we are still pissed off at for tearing the head of our kung fu grip GI Joe 40 years ago, as we stand in the middle of the airport parking lot with the broken suitcase spilling on the tarmac, our significant other giving us that that quiet, thin lipped “I told you we needed new luggage” look, or in a car with children arguing at approximately the decibel level of an f16 fly over and the radio stations blaring christmas music over the din of 5000 hopelessly gridlocked cars, it is time to reflect up the year gone by and the moments and things we are thankful for, the things that make life the special wonder that it is.....

For starters I am grateful for a holiday that does not involve me having to purchase gifts for anyone, attend a mass that lasts just slightly less time than the middle ages, or do anything but eat enormous amounts of food and watch football whilst sipping and swigging wine....I have never figured out exactly how eating and drinking to excess while watching steroid fueled behemoths bat hell out of each other chasing a pigskin around a field is a sign of gratitude..but who am I to argue with such a fine tradition? I have much to be grateful for so I ll have an extra piece of pie, more wine than is good for me and watch every damn game that comes on the tube.....for living in a land and in a time where I can screw up, blow up, start, fail and do it all over again, to be part of a culture and society that allows me get up after a disaster and start back up the stairs,where the only real limits I encounter are those I put on myself....for my family, even if my extended family is truly the bunch that puts the fun in dysfunctional, for my kids, my daughter, 22,health problems seemingly behind her now and only an occasional attack.Shes working now, fitting in classes around her busy life.Shes been through a lot with the gastro condition , but through all of it she was still able to smile and laugh, to muddle through school and work, enjoying her friends, her books and at long last after a decade and a half of dads cajoling and begging, her books....my son, the eternal class clown..... out of high school now, attending college as well although he is still somewhat mystified about the concept of paying to go to school.Hes still the jokester and cut up but between work and school theres a little less time to be the funny man.worst thing ever happened to that boy was seeing a jim carrey movie...naturally all the little girls think he is hysterical and cute, therefore dads warnings to straighten up fall on deaf ears,,,my joke cracking snake raising son. He lives with me now, along with the traveling menagerie, a six foot ball python whom he occasionally lets out to crawl around the house( After the bookcase incident it was explained to him that this wasn’t going to hasppen if the old man was home.) a smaller mean tempered corn snake and a turtle who prefers to dine on ham and strawberries.. Every so ofter a caravan of his friends or his sisters gaggle descend on my place like a pack of locusts, consuming enough mountain dew code red to keep a small nation jacked up on a sugar caffeine rush and devour enough to keep several take out joints in the area in business and driving Cadillac’s for years to come( I ve actually come home to see them lined up three deep at the door delivering various pizzas, chicken, subs) listening to that horrid music and watching truly idiotic movies .....they re noisy, eat constantly , stay up until insane hours and I love every minute.....

For friends of course, because what is life without friends..people to talk with, laugh with, cry with, drink with, people with whom we share our thoughts, our ideas, pieces o our souls...people who put up with us not because of some birth related accident but because they choose to...the ones who answer their phone at midnight when we have some great idea or major crisis, who call on Sunday mornings to wake us up with their latest great idea or crisis....for those whose companionship as walk the road of life makes the journey all so much more enjoyable.....for the spec list, which has been a source of so many new friends ( in scattered time zones so you never know when the phone will ring), a source of ideas, of incredible conversations, intelligent arguments, new philosophies and ways of looking at life, a simple email list that has allowed me to meet some of the most incredible( to say nothing of a few of the strangest) people I have ever been blessed enough to call friend.....the wiz, the oregonian, the irishman, the crazed tank driving day trading floridian, the bombastic genius of mr e, the chicago crew,the chemist ,my sun baked friend, the columnist, the authors and the editor( this year especially the editor. She has opened up a lot of doors for me and helped make a couple of dreams come true. Blessings upon you and all your oversize dogs)..and of course the thrice blessed voodooprof..theres too many to name them all but each has had a positive impact on my life over the past few years,and of course as we look over our life on thursday and raise a glass, I think we all have to include the chair in our toast as it was his idea and drive that created a very unique, inspiring and worthwhile community of minds and souls.....

For the island crowd, that group of friends that has come to mean so much to me over the past few years. For all the island guys who have been broken up with by a parade of girl friends because we spend too much time with our friends in an assortment of waterfront distilled spirits establishments. For all the boat rides, thirsty Thursdays,long summer afternoons at red eyes, and winter weekends full of ravens and terps.The surfer dude and co-worker,the tic-tac kid(the cab is to take you home not to another bar)the logistics guy, Beach Club man, the tire guy,rip-rap man, the dallas cowboy cheerleader( that’s a story for another day. But trust me, look away if he bends over), the poker player, the entire group that makes up the Kent Island crowd,I don’t have the time or space to name them all here. They are incredible friends and very high up on the list of things for which I am grateful this year. I am not sure if they keep me sane or insane but whichever it is, it’s a good thing.

Of course, me being me I am thankful to whatever benign creator created the fairer sex, ah yes women...they have inspired me, they have comforted me, excited me, enraged me, engaged me, and on two occasions damn near bankrupted me. They are the most frustrating creatures that god, with his infinite sense of humor, could have ever designed...without them, I would be rich enough to retire young, still have brown hair instead of this grey stuff growing over my Grey matter, I would get more sleep at night, be more productive, and have more time to spend working and studying. But I would rather be a gray-haired property settlement paying insomniac than lived in a world where there were none....

For the other temptress in my life, the markets, with her siren song of changing notes, a constant daily challenge to get ahead and stay ahead of her dance, for the intellectual challenge of figuring her song, endless variations, price to book, high correleations,low z scores, new knowledge gained, free cash flow,arbitrage, liquidations..an endless dance and flow of ideas and strategies to test and trade.....I can imagine a more challenging or frustrating way to make a living...I cant imagine doing anything else......

Thankful just for this dance called life, to live, experience to learn, to fail, to succeed, to read the poetry, drink the wine, to kiss the girl...so carve up the bird, pour a little more bubbly stuff over here...hey whats the score....it s a life,,,up, down, sideways, its a hell of a lot of fun and each of you on this list has made more interesting and enjoyable....so I raise my glass to you and say Happy thanksgiving...