Thursday, November 23, 2006


I'm grateful for too many things to name them all. I hope everyone has a nice time with loved ones, good food and glorious daytime napping. Heaven!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

8:30 AM addendum:
You know, I typed this post before I went to bed a little before 1 AM, but I want to add something.

I'm very grateful for the community we have here in blog. Of course I have my friends and work and creative imperative and family that keep my days full, but blog really is the amusement I treasure that keeps me tethered to an idea of community that knows no boundaries. I started my blog in 2002 and only posted sporadically as inspiration would strike, but more than a year ago I worried that I was languishing creatively and I committed to myself to blog daily to have something creative to show for each day. Now, though, this is not simply me tapping the old plastic in my fuzzy slippers and tossing it out into the ether never to be seen again--you wonderful people respond and when necessary commiserate and indeed make this a community. I love the conversational aspects of the comment section, and I appreciate all of you who participate in that forum.

Through this I've conversed with people who share my passions for music and glass bead making and fiber arts and books and popular culture, and I've discovered much life-enriching stuff through many of you, so thanks for the recommended publications and music and creative references. Thanks for the encouragement. Thanks for the information. Thanks for being here. Thank you for your blogs - they amuse me and I often tell you so.

Not so terribly long ago, people in my family would travel from Arkansas at harvest time out to California to fruit tramp. They would pick fruit all summer, following the harvest up or down the coast, and then head back home. Sort of Grapes-of-Wrath-ish, only maybe not so classy. As a result, flotsam-esque bits of the family branched off and stayed in California and Washington, and I now have some relatives out there. So the trips to California morphed over time from an economic imperative into a familial custom.

There was an old joke that said if you see a car heading toward California with a mattress strapped to the roof, it's an Okie (Oklahoman). However, if there's a mattress on the roof and bare feet sticking out one or more of the windows, it's an Arkie. Yeah, that's how we roll.

Anyway, a great-aunt of mine was named Inez, and she was a bit of a fruit-bat, and would ride back and forth on the California trip with whomever was heading out that way. Nezzie, as she was called, had a strange compulsion. When the group would stop to eat along the way, she would ignore the people at her own table and sit, raptly focusing on the conversation in the booth or table behind hers. She was so obsessive that she would neglect to eat her own food. When they'd get back out on the road, Nezzie would proceed to regale the family with the gossip she'd heard about these random strangers. Invariably she'd cry because she was famished and no one felt sorry for her.

Anyway, for all of you who come here daily and don't comment, I think of you as my Nezzies. Whether you're enjoying the onlooker slow-down aspects of my crash-in-slow-motion life, or if you chuckle wryly, nod appreciatively and think you simply don't have anything to add to the discourse, thanks for stopping by and thanks for reading my blog, and remember to eat something or you'll be hungry later on, and we're not stopping again!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

You too, babe!

Love the dog!

Just Another Old Geezer said...

Happy Thanksgiving to you kiddo. Give Doglet a hug for Felix and Ginger, okay?

HollyB said...

I took a break from my cooking {my Angel Baby girl is coming early to help, so I can afford the break, Thanksgivings!} to check email and read a couple a blogs. I KNEW you wouldn't let me down!
I am so glad I followed the link from Tam's page to here, you are a never ending delight!
I hope you have a magnificent day with your fam, from the way you've talked about them ,how could it be otherwise?
Boo sends Doglet a friendly sniff and lick.

Meg said...

You know, Phlegmy, you bring joy into my life, so the least I can do is to occasionally throw in 'witty' comments, but my old gray cells get grayer, and I'm not naturally witty, so I want you to know I have a great laugh, and it is heard all around Chamberlain Street most mornings when I read FA.

All the best to your entire human and canine family, Nezzie included. Have an extra spoonful of whipped cream on the pumpkin pie for me.

Anonymous said...

Happy Turkey Day!

karen said...

Happy Thanksgiving from England! Nezzie sounds like my sort of lady. Other people's conversations are the best.

phlegmfatale said...

barista - thanks so much! That dog is a little beam of sunshine. Happy THanksgiving to you, too!

leazwell - :)

bottle job blonde - I know you know good dogs when you see them!

myron - same back at Felix & Ginger from doglet

hollyb - aw, shucks - I like you too! I'm glad you come here - I love reading your blog and I love when you comment on mine. You're my kind of chick. Good on you! Same back to Boo from doglet.

meg - thanks so much, honey. I'm glad you enjoy my blog. I appreciate your creativity and I find your work inspiring, and I also love your photoblog.

tony - same back at ya!

kees - Thanks, honey! Yeah, Nezzie was a real character. I love when I overhear something outrageous and I get to blog about it. Mostly, I'm too self absorbed to notice other people saying outrageous crap, but when I do, it's usually a doozie.

Barbara Bruederlin said...

I feel very much the same way about the friends I have in the blogs. I can't quite believe my luck sometimes at having such great people around the world with whom to giggle and rant and share stories and experiences. And you, my dear, are among the finest.

Happy Thanksgving to you, and I want turkey so badly it's killing me.

FHB said...

I'm so glad I found you on this thing, and all the others too. Can't remember now how it all came about, but it was certainly a case of surfin' and reading posts, and discovering a group of folks I thought I could care about. And it's a huge load of fun. You are a real treasure. By the way, my mom's name is Inus, sort of like Inez, but I wouldn't dare call her "Nessy". She'd take it wrong.

Zelda said...

I am also grateful for the blog community - yours being right up there at the top. The opportunities are endless and I think we're all lucky. Happy Thansgiving.

Christina RN LMT said...

Phlegmmy, yours is one blog I can't be without!
So I'm very thankful that you decided to share with us, it is a real privilege.
Happy Turkey Day to you and your family, especially Doglet.

Heather B said...

I agree with everyone else, of course - a day is not complete without a dose of Phlegmmy!

phlegmfatale said...

barbara - Yeah we are blessed in our blog friends, are we not? I had a little turkey just for you, ok?

fathairybastard - I like you and your blog too - however it happened, even if by accident, I'm glad we've come across each others' blogs.

zelda - Thanks, and likewise - you're an astute, clever and adorable gal, and I hope you and Jethro & the little ones had a splendid holiday.

christina - thanks SO much! I'm gald you enjoy it. Oh, and doglet is getting lots of attention. :)

heatherb - I'm humbled, truly I am - Love your blog, too, and I meant it when I said I want to come along and be part of one of your girl parties someday - your photos always look like you had a blast!