Thanks, Neil Young

Since this is Thanksgiving week I thought it might be important that I mention some things I’m thankful for. The first thing that comes to mind is how thankful I am that I appreciate quality music. I’m listening to Neil Young’s latest creation, Prairie Wind. It’s exceptional stuff. Last year Neil Young turned sixty years old, suffered a brain aneurism, and lost his father. That’s a lot to deal with. Quality music aside for a second, thankfully I don’t know what it’s like to experience any one of those three things: turning forty was tortuous enough for me, my dad is very much alive and well and I’m most thankful for only the diagnosis of a brain cyst- that’s all, and even that’s gone now. Yah, I’m thankful.I wasn't very thankful earlier today when we decided to get rid of our cable; Christmas is here, apparently money doesn't grow on trees, and no one else is going to bail us out so away it goes. Since baseball season is over I don’t need ESPN until March, MTV and VH1 suck and the only reason we have Showtime is for "The L Word" and that’s not even on again for another three months, we thought we should "scale back". I know it’s silly to pay for something you never use, but I had a difficult time accepting our decision. I love having cable- it’s always there when you want it and it’s nice to look at and play around with. In other words it’s basically a distraction that I’m paying for. A distraction I don’t need and extra money I do, so it only makes sense to let it go, but I'm feeling a little sorry for myself, I want it all. Back to the music, this Neil Young disc has a creepy way of seeping into your subconscious. I’m not even a huge fan, but something told me to buy this album and I’m so thankful I did. I loved it when I first heard it, didn’t really understand the reasoning behind it but felt compelled to listen again and again. Like the dam sheet blowing in the wind on the cover, the music and his voice feel freeing and as natural as... well, as natural as obviously it is for Neil to record music. Who needs cable with this stuff on in the background? Here I am feeling shorted that I won’t be able to turn on the food network or the weather channel any time I want when there are some people who don’t even have the luxury of a dam television set. It’s all relative I guess. It's funny, but for some reason my friend at work has been obsessed with his youth lately and with his belief of how deprived he thought he was. He keeps talking about how his mother wouldn’t buy him the measly 25 cent stickers for his Transformer sticker book but would never hold back from the cigarettes and wine for herself. Poor kid, he has trauma around never completing his sticker book. I had tons of completed Barbie books so I can't really relate to that but what gets me is the fact that his mom continually ignored him in his plea for stickers. Whatever.Anyway, in four days its Thanksgiving and I have a lot to be thankful for. Today the big one was an appreciation of all things authentic, whether that may be heartfelt music by a sixty year old guy or knowledge of needing to let go of meaningless things. Tomorrow I may not be feeling so wise, but for now I’m just thankful I get to go to sleep and I know I won’t be dreaming about Barbie, maybe just sheets blowing in the wind.