Gratefulness: I give up!

[what are you talking about dude?]

OK, I give up, this phase of my enlightenment project is too stupid to continue. I can actually feel the enlightenment ebbing from my soul (or the place where I *would* have one) with every gratefulness entry. I guess I'm more a no-pain-no-gain kinda guy when it comes to my enlightenment. And this gratefulness stuff is just too new-agey/enlightenment-lite for me. Starting next month I'll have a new enlightenment project and until then:

I'm not grateful fer nuthin'.

ps. and don't forget: all terrorists believe in Intelligent Design.

Gratefulness: computers

[what are you talking about dude?]

I really, really, really love them. And yes I love them so much that I want to marry them. All of them.

I am grateful for computers.

Gratefulness: angels

[what are you talking about dude?]

Yeah, that's right, angels. If I can be grateful to an imaginary being, why not be grateful *for* imaginary beings as well? I thought I'd take a look at the site that inspired this whole gratefulness project for some inspiration. And well, being grateful for angels sort of jumped out at me.

I am grateful (gag) for (choke) angels.

Gratefulness: yoga

[what are you talking about dude?]

Tai chi is really relaxing. I'm no expert but I've found the few courses I've taken to be surprisingly effiecitent at putting me in a physically relaxed state. Physically relaxed, but mentally irritated to no end. The absolute torrent of BS the instructors issue forth about chi and fabricated stories about the feats of tai chi masters always threatened to undo my calm. But yoga turns out to be a better balance of physical and metaphysical. At least for classes at our local health club the "spiritual" aspects are so little emphasized that when they do get mentioned in class they really stand out. If you've never done yoga, it's an ass kickingly good exercise. And the best part for me is that I'm fairly inflexible to start with so I have a lifetime of improvement ahead of me.

I am grateful for yoga

Gratefulness: Harry Belafonte

[what are you talking about dude?]

Come on! He's awesome. We've been listening to him almost non-stop for the last week. My kids found a tape of him in a big box of things-I-haven't-seen-since-the-80s. And they've been playing it almost continuously ever since. And I'm not even close to sick of it. I mean, dude, Day-O!

I am grateful for Harry Belafonte.

Gratefulness: grandparents

[what are you talking about dude?]

So I never really understood what grandparents were about until I had kids. I mean, they're good natured and give presents and don't smell too much but they just didn't fit nicely into my world view. But now I understand. They are all about travelling across the country to provide free babysitting for extended periods of time. Sweeeet!

I am grateful for grandparents.

Gratefulness: dentists

[what are you talking about dude?]

OK, to be honest I can still taste blood in my mouth from my trip to the dentist 9 hours earlier. I seriously believe that the hygenist was re-enacting a scene from Marathon Man. Any way it's still pretty good to know that I'll be able to keep my teeth in good working order most of my life with a little help from my friendly neighborhood dentist (and friends).

I am grateful for dentists.

Gratefulness: airplanes

[what are you talking about dude?]

Isn't that cool how you can get in this metal tube, wait a few hours and magically be in a place so far away from your starting place that only a few generations ago it would have taken weeks to get to the same place? Well, I think so at least.

I am grateful for airplanes.

Gratefulness: Joss Whedon

[what are you talking about dude?]

OK, I admit it. I'm a total Joss Whedon fanboy. I had seen an episode or two of Buffy when it first came out and it just seemed sort of silly so I gave it a pass. Many years later when Firefly arrived, ever desperate for some scifi that doesn't completely suck I saw a few episodes and was blown away. And then of course I was crushed when the series was cancelled. Well I had to have more of Joss so my wife and I fired up Netflix and watched Buffy and Angel straight thru. Every episode had me saying: I am not worthy. I will go on record saying that the all musical episode of Buffy is the finest hour of TV in any genre. Evar! And of course the fact that he's an atheist just sweetens the deal.

I'm grateful for Joss Whedon.

Gratefulness: refrigerator

[what are you talking about dude?]

As usual it's easy to notice and be grateful for things when they are not quite working. Today I realized a tupperware of leftovers that I had planned on taking to work had gone past it's freshness date. Goodbye spinach pesto! I hardly knew ye! But still I had a refrigerator full of perfectly good food for the taking. How awesome is that? Food just sits in this box and stays edible for days/weeks.

I am grateful for refrigerators.

Gratefulness: my house

[what are you talking about dude?]

Today as I was watching pinball size hail try to destroy me and everyone I hold dear, it occurred to me how nice it was to be indoors.

I am grateful for my house.

Gratefulness: the internet

[what are you talking about dude?]

Or is that internets? Either way, how seriously cool was that of Al Gore to provide us this this series of tubes? For one, my job literally wouldn't even exist without the internet. Of course I barely have time to do my job *because* of the internet. :) Any way, I give the internet two opposable thumbs up.

I am grateful for the internet.

ps. I'm a little sceptical that the whole gratefulness thing is going to move me too far along the path of enlightenment. The flatulence experiment was more work and felt like a bigger pay off right away. But I'll give this the month. I'm also wondering if I'm actually grateful for 30 things...

Gratefulness: South Park

[what are you talking about dude?]

The first episode I ever saw was pig makes love to an elephant (or something like that). I could tell that this was clearly a different show. It has gotten better every year since. If you've never seen their history of Mormonism episode, do yourself a favor and go find it now. You'll thank me. Dum dum dum dum dum.

I am grateful for South Park

Gratefulness: Bach

[what are you talking about dude?]

J. S. Bach. No one else is even close. 'Nuff said.

I am grateful for Bach.

Gratefulness: my job

[what are you talking about dude?]

So I'm one of those people who has never gotten over the fact that we need to work for a living. I'd have plenty to do just playing video games and reading books among other things. This work thing is such a gross injustice it makes it hard to believe in a benevolent deity. :)

So no one is more surprised than I that I actually like my job. I like what I do (programmer with emphasis in automating sysadmin tasks), I like the people I work with and I like that I'm the main provider for my family. Don't get me wrong, work is evil and I do not forgive the universe for being designed in such a way that I can't just do what ever I want, when ever I want, but work is a surprisingly sweet evil.

I am grateful for my job.

Gratefulness: Dawkins

[what are you talking about dude?]

Dawkins is the man! I know Sam and Daniel are working hard, but is there *any* doubt that Richard is the main driver of the whole "new atheism" thang? I mean who would have thought a couple years ago that there would be constant news stories and debates and best selling books coming out one after another. It's hard not to see him as the lead of this charge. Hopefully we can keep the momentum going. BTW, for a special treat I highly recommend listening to the audio book of The God Delusion. You are really missing half the fun by just reading the words. His reading of a letter from a Christian to Brian Flemming is just priceless.

I'm grateful for Richard Dawkins.

Gratefulness: This American Life

[what are you talking about dude?]

I'm an NPR junky. Or at least I was until my wee ones arrived and started eating up all time in all waking moments. But there's one show that I have refused to miss and that is This American Life. Really irritates me to miss an episode. This weeks episode fittingly enough is about the Ten Commandments. I can't guarantee you'll like this show, but if you don't you might seriously consider getting professional help. Seriously.

I am grateful for This American Life.

Gratefulness: electricity

[what are you talking about dude?]

I mean, come on. Electricity is cool. (The coolness of electricity occurred to me today when our electric lawn mower died.)

I am grateful for electricity.

Gratefulness: malware detectors/protectors/cleaners

[what are you talking about dude?]

Got something bad a week or so ago (even though I had up to date virus/firewall rules in place - serves me right for running windows). Partly my fault for not tricking out firefox with all the latest security goodies (I heart NoScript). But after much pain I got everything cleaned up and ready to go. SpyBot and HijackThis are your friends.

I am grateful for malware defenders.

Gratefulness: dinosaur comics

[what are you talking about dude?]

This comic strip cracks me up like no other.

I am grateful for dinosaur comics.