Considering Thanksgiving is just a day away, it would be a travesty, I feel, not to take this opportunity to give thanks (or no thanks, I suppose), which is why I turned to the one and only Facebook as my muse this beautiful Wednesday morning. To be more specific, the recent trend of giving thanks on everyone’s favorite social media site each day throughout the month of November. For example, on November 1 ... For day one, I’m thankful for AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” because fictional zombie apocalypses are much more pleasant than the real thing. Just ask George Romero. On November 15 ... It’s day fifteen and today I’m thankful for finding that last clean pair of socks that were buried among the various t-shirts which have taken over my dresser since I never get to wear them anymore. I guess it’s time to do some laundry.
Silly, I know, but such is life on Facebook.
And then there’s that other Facebook phenomenon, the “meme.”
“Today I will live in the moment ... unless the moment is unpleasant, in which case I’ll eat a cookie,” is a good one, as is, “Sometimes we don’t need advice, we just need someone who will listen” and “There are two types of people in this world: People you drink with, and people you are with that make you want to drink.”
With that said (and with Facebook as my guide), these are some of the thoughts I’d like to share as the holiday season prepares to kick off with that great old American tradition that is Thanksgiving (you know, turkey ... nap ... football ... in that order).
• People can post on Facebook (or Twitter ... or ‘30 Seconds’ for that matter) all day long, but ask them to write their local senator, congressman or other representative – even the president, if they so desire – and ... well, you might as well save your breath. I’m thankful, however, that we have a system in place that allows one to voice his or her own opinion, not to mention my heartfelt gratitude for those who re-elected our current commander in chief.
Sorry, I simply didn’t trust the other guy ... not as far as I could throw him.
Add to that those people who have no problem whatsoever posting absolutely ridiculous, embarrassing pictures of themselves all over Facebook, yet refuse to have a nice, professional photograph taken for the paper. It makes no sense.
• It’s easier to fire missiles on the unsuspecting and undeserving than it is to have an intelligent discussion on the actual need for missiles in the first place. Granted, I’m not so naive to think I’ll ever see world peace – or that it will ever occur – in my lifetime, yet we spend an awful lot of money on guns, missiles, tanks, planes, helicopters, ships, submarines and the like, yet continually complain about the national deficit, taxes and the industrial military complex, such as it is. I’m thankful, however, that we have a fine military that’s dedicated to protecting our freedom, and I salute each and every member of our armed forces.
• Asking those idiots who refuse to listen to reason to please stop texting while they’re driving is a complete waste of time. All you can do is pay close attention and be prepared to put your car in a ditch, all the while hoping your airbag is functional. Thankfully, I wasn’t raised a complete moron and – simply put – when I’m driving, the cell phone stays in my pocket.
• Ignorance, hate, stupidity and selfishness are seemingly the norm nowadays, so I guess we might as well get used to it; whether you’re talking gun control, same-sex marriage, the legalization of marijuana, religion in our schools (and I mean any religion), climate change, politics ... did I mention religion?
Then again, many studies are showing that voters – particularly young ones – are mostly for common sense when it comes to the aforementioned issues. Same sex marriages or civil unions? Well, they should – if you’re truly an American who believes in our Constitution – be protected by said Constitution. Don’t like it? Go complain to our forefathers. Climate change? Seems more and more like that overwhelmingly large majority of scientists were right after all, doesn’t it?
I think you see were I’m going with that one, so let’s move on, shall we?
• I’ve obviously been watching too many reruns of Seinfeld lately. That or I should lay off the Coen Brothers films for a while.
“I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it’s an ethos.”
And in conclusion, some quasi-sappy “words for the wise” that I conjured up while perusing Facebook just the other day.
• The soundtrack to one’s life is always Grammy-worthy. If you’re not into music ... well, hopefully you’re into movies, because everyone deserves an award of some sort – be it an Oscar or an Emmy – at the end of the day.
• Stephen King – in his fantastic novel, 11/22/63, wrote that dancing is life, but you can’t have dancing without music, therefore music is life. Just my opinion.
And last, but certainly not least ...
• True love is typically underrated when you have it, when you’ve earned it or when you’ve found it; overated when you don’t, you haven’t or when you’ve lost it. As with anything that involves love, be it family or friends, keep this in mind.
Happy Thanksgiving, all.

Follow me on Twitter ... @evesunbrian