Dec. 6, 2009.

Another day in Paradiso. 

December 5, 2009.

Another day in PARADISE. 

December 4, 2009.

Another day in Paradise. 

November 29, 2009.

Thank you for an egg burrito. 

November 28, 2009.

Thank you for Froot Loops.

November 26, 2009.

Thank you for a nice hot feast yesterday. 

November 25, 2009.

Thank you for Christine's visit and our stay at the Bellagio.

November 20, 2009.

Another day in paradise. 

Another Day in Paradise.

Another day in Paradise. 

November 17, 2009.

Another day in paradise.

November 16, 2009.

Another day in paradise. 

November 15, 2009.

Thank you for the way Coco Puffs turn milk into chocolate milk. 

November 14, 2009.

Thank you for no more gambling.

November 13, 2009.

Thank you for the gentle sprinkle last night, that brief little whiff of ozone released in the dusk.

November 11, 2009.

Thank you for the way I waste time in the morning.

November 10, 2009.

Thank you for cold sugary drinks with ice cubes.

November 9, 2009.

Thank you for clean burst J&J floss. 

November 8, 2009.

Thank you for Christine coming to visit. 

November 7, 2009.

Thank you for gratitude. 

November 6, 2009.

Thank you for such a thing as sprinkling sugar on cereal. 

November 5, 2009.

Thank you for the way my shirt smells like laundry detergent. 

November 4, 2009.

Thank you for the way tuna fish smells.

Nov. 3, 2009.

Thank you for the way pancakes bubble as they cook, and the way a sliver spatula can slip under its skin and peel the tenderness from the Teflon.

November 2, 2009.

Thank you for the smell in my room.  And all other foul smells.

November 1, 2009.

Thank you for the courage to dig myself out of the red, and the wisdom to know not to go back. 

October 31, 2009.

Thank you for the nice talk with C. this morning.

October 30, 2009.

Thank you for that vicious cycle I have been wrung through so that I may better understand what is important.

October 28, 2009.

Thank you for the time of year when it gets too cold and I need to bring out the heater, the stale, amber smell it makes when first fired up for the season.

October 27, 2009.

Thank you for the lady in the McDonald's parking lot who lives in a homemade cart. 

October 26, 2009.

Thank you for the times when I think I'm dying. 

October 25, 2009.

Thank you for grilled cheese dipped in tomato soup.

October 24, 2009.

Thank you for such a thing as addiction.

October 19, 2009.

Thank you for the brown dust that blows in from the mountains. 

October 16, 2009.

Thank you for the way I have no spirits. 

October 15, 2009.

Thank you for the way I'd do anything to be able to sleep longer in the morning. 

October 12, 2009.

Thank you for my health today.

October 10, 2009.

Thank you for the nice evening at the Bellagio last night, the fall display. 

October 9, 2009.

Thank you for cowboys singing sad, sad songs. 

October 8, 2009.

Thank you for the way my mouth feels after using mouthwash. 

October 7, 2009.

Thank you for the way ice settles as you pour the drink into the glass. 

October 6, 2009.

Thank you for the smell of cold in the jack & cokes, the little ice cubes, the two straws instead of one.

October 5, 2009.

Thank you for sweet and cold fruit punch.

October 4, 2009.

Thank you for wind that is too cold.

October 3, 2009.

Thank you for what is and what should never be.

October 2, 2009.

Thank you for free slot play.

October 1, 2009.

Thank you for the way it is cold when I get out of the shower.

September 30, 2009.

Thank you for the cool windy air today.

Septemeber 29, 2009.

Thank you for the Golden Nugget.

September 28, 2009.

Thank you for recovery from last night.

September 27, 2009.

Thank you for hot tea.

September 26, 2009.

Thank you for the ability to get out of bed this morning.

September 25, 2009.

Thank you for the sound flip flops make against my heel.

September 24, 2009.

Thank you for hotels.

September 23, 2009.

Thank you for safe landings.

9/18/09.

Thank you for the way I have a decent job.

Sept. 17, 2009.

Thank you for the way it is cold when I get out of the shower.

September 16, 2009.

Thank you for the way I can get through it.

September 15, 2009.

Thank you for the way the back of my neck needs to be trimmed every week.

September 14, 2009.

Thank you for the way none of this will really matter in the end.

September 13, 2009.

Thank you for the way I don't have to stay here forever, that I can leave in just a few months.

September 12, 2009.

Thank you for this constant feeling that I am not doing enough, not disciplined enough, and so therefore I am worth less than I would be if I had been doing more.

September 11, 2009.

Thank you for the way sandals can give you blisters when they're new.

September 10, 2009.

Thank you for the way I can make myself get up on days I have to work, and the way I can't on days I don't.

September 6, 2009.

Thank you for the way you can buy tuna in water or oil.

August 26, 2009.

Thank you for the way the temperature changes when I walk outside of my house, or into it.

8/25/09.

Today I am thankful for the Old Spice scent that Dad used to wear, and thankful that I can wear it every day for the rest of my life if I want to.

August 24, 2009.

This blog needs to be about Zen--those things I would miss if I were another species, a denizen of another planet. Most entries will probably include the phrase "the way that" and may go on to detail sensations, textures, fleeting everyday sentiments that I'd otherwise never notice.

Thank you for the way the Sun makes the skin on my forearm feels as though it's on fire when I am sitting in my car at a traffic light.

August 23, 2009.

Thank you for Mom, Kelly, and Mia visiting.

August 22, 2009.

Thank you for a visitor.

August 21, 2009.

Thank you for the heat.

August 14, 2009.

Thank you for a job that will start in two weeks.

August 9, 2009.

Thank you for no job to go to.

August 6, 2009.

Thank you for a safe place to stay tonight.

August 5, 2009.

Thank you for my new place, the AC, the clean hardwood floors, the clean sheets.

August 4, 2009.

Today, thank you for the free gourmet breakfast, the bed, the air conditioning.

August 1, 2009.

It seems that I've made it to August of 2009. Thank you for this desert heat, the motel room, the air conditioning.

July 30, 2009.

Thank you for safe passage to LV, for beauty, and for air conditioning.

July 22, 2009.

Thank you for medicine.

July 17, 2009.

I'm really grateful for soft, dry pillows to sleep on.

July 16, 2009.

Thank you for the numbers, that I made it past the 15th, the halfway point of this month.

July 15, 2009.

When I think about it, I am really grateful that I have real friends, ones that do not cheat, double speak, fly away. Really, very grateful.

July 10-12, 2009.

It was raining today, just a sprinkle, passing, but for a brief moment while getting out of my car I smelled that misty, refreshing stench, and the next breath it was gone.

July 9, 2009.

Thank you for Golden Grahams for breakfast, and the cold milk that went over them, and the coffee I might possibly receive in a few minutes.

July 4-8, 2009.

Thank you for the chance to try.

June 29 - July 3, 2009.

Thank you for brown trout, the pretty dots they have all over.

June 25-28, 2009.

Thank you tremendously for the warmth and shelter of last night.

June 21-24, 2009.

Thank you for another day in paradise.

June 18-20.

Perhaps the best few days of my life. Thank you tremendously. I feel that this is the pinnacle of my life. From here on out it can only get worse.

June16-17, 2009.

Thank you for "I go to bed, feeling the same way."

June 14-15, 2009.

Thank you for the way the mouthwash burns my mouth.

June 13, 2009.

Thank you for the trip to Safeway.

June 10-12, 2009.

Thank you for the way the summer has gone so far.

June 8-9, 2009.

Thank you for the Honeymoon I went on last night, and then how it went all over me. Thank you for hangovers, the reminder that I am not yet gone.

June 7, 2009.

Thank you for the colorful clothes she wears.

June 3-6, 2009.

Thank you for the wind last night, Blue Moon, and a night-time drive through the wilderness.

June 2, 2009.

Thank you for hot tubs.

June 1, 2009.

Thank you for Hot Pockets.

May 31, 2009.

Thank you for warm oatmeal in the morning.

May 29-30, 2009.

Thank you for Safeway.

May 28, 2009.

Thank you for a space heater.

May 27, 2009.

Thank you for the bed, again. The bed is the best part.

May 26, 2009.

Thank you for the bed, again.

May 25, 2009.

Thank you for the bed with clean sheets.

May 7, 2009.

There is something about lying on a couch at 1am, watching a 20-year-old movie with the lights out. It has some actor in it like Bill Murray or Bruce Willis who is older now, but here he looks so young. And eating chips, with a drink that has ice that clinks. Tomorrow I will be gone.

May 6, 2009.

Thank you for the way water appears to be rushing from the faucet, even if it is just the aerator that gives it this effect.

Cinco de Mayo, 2009.

Me, I like sleeping, 'specially in my Molly's chamber.

May 4, 2009.

Thank you for the way a pen writes when it starts to run out of ink.

May 3, 2009.

Thank you for the way you have to start rinsing from the top, and work your way down.

May 1, 2009.

Saw Chrissy and her baby today, Alexis. I am thankful that they are OK.

April 30, 2009.

Thank you for the way the ice clinks against the glass as you stir the coffee with the straw.

April 29, 2009.

Thank you for the various memories of a wet bathing suit on my thighs, dripping, my hands on the joystick of an arcade joystick, bare feet on painted cement, wishing I had a quarter.

April 28, 2009.

Thank you for the way that scissors won't cut if you use a right-handed pair with your left hand.

April 27, 2009.

Thank you for Jeremy the wicked, and pools of maroon below.

April 26, 2009.

Thank you for the smell of chlorine, for walking on blue and green tile, air conditioning on my face when it is 90 outside.

April 25, 2009.

Thank you for arms with gold and silver bangles that jangle against each other.

April 24, 2009.

Yes, I am doing an arm meditation. Thank you for muscular v. skinny arms.

April 23, 2009.

Thank you for for tattooed arms.

April 22, 2009.

Thank you for arms akimbo.

April 21, 2009.

Thank you for arms raised in a V.

April 20, 2009.

Thank you for tread wear indicators.

April 19, 2009.

Thank you for the Mob of Angels.

April 17, 2009.

Thank you for desert sand, even if none exists, just the thought of it.

April 16, 2009.

Thanks for the harvest at Pilgrim's Point.

April 15, 2008.

Thank you for Whitman's Sampler, especially the cherry cordials.

April 14, 2008.

Thank you for my muscles. Me big muscle man. If I were there when the ship went down, I could have saved those people. I could have saved Lincoln, too.

April 13, 2009.

Thank you for Harry Kalas.

April 12, 2009.

Thank you for plastic Easter eggs.

April 11, 2009.

Thank you for the Bonneville Salt Flats.

April 10, 2009.

Thank you for mozzarella.

April 9, 2009.

Thank you for frozen pizza.

April 7, 2009.

Thank you for cereal with cold milk.

April 5th to the 6th.

Thank you for the bed.

April 4, 2009.

Thank you for red tape. No, I mean, the actual red tape. Otherwise Steve would've had to have gotten a whole new tail light.

April 3, 2009.

Thank you for Flaming Pie.

April 1 & 2.

Thank you for orange juice in the morning, hitting the back of my throat.

March 31, 2009.

Thank you for the note that Steve left on my windshield today. "You're AMAZIN' professor flanagan. Wanna go on a date?"

March 30, 2009.

Thank you for good friends and family.

March 29, 2009.

Thanks for Murphy's Law.

March 28, 2009.

Thank you for a safe, warm house with hot meals, hot showers.

March 27, 2009.

TU4 hot shower.

March 26, 2009.

Thanks very much for swift recovery from EOTTD.

March 25, 2009.

Thank you dearly for dreams of Clearwater.

March 12, 2009.

Thank you for the peanut butter and honey sandwich today. I used my own honey and PB, but I borrowed two slices of bread from the RT'09 collective food basket. I owe you a slice, Steve.

March 11, 2009.

Thank you for Shop Rite, grocery carts, and checkout aisles.

March 10, 2009.

Thank you for chocolate milk from Wegman's.

March 9, 2009.

Man, today I fell into a hole bad. Took me a while to get out. Thank you.

March 8, 2009

Thank you for daylight savings time.

March 7, 2009.

Thank you for the nice pizza lunch with Stephano today.

March 6, 2009.

Thank you for cold strawberry banana juice.

March 5, 2009.

I took this down by the river during the snowstorm. Thank you.

March 4, 2009.

Thank you for the hot shower, the aftershave, the razor burn, the pimple on my forehead.

March 3, 2009.

Thank you for the nice time this morning at GH (we've moved on from GG) with A.

March Two, 2009.

Thank you for the 6 inches (of snow!! God, what'dya think?).

March 1, 2009.

Thanks very much for the snowstorm tonight. How many more times will I see snow? I don't know.

February 28, 2009.

Thank you for hot green tea.

February 27, 2009.

Thank you for another radioactive pill to swallow.

February 26, 2009.

Thank you for the bluefish for dinner, the Dixie Fry in which to fry it up.

February 25, 2009.

Thank you for the quiet intimacy with myself tonight, listening to WN. There is no intimacy like the one you have with yourself.

February 24, 2009.

Thank you for the free sample of coffee and cookies at Starbucks.

February 23, 2009.

Thank you for money to buy stamps, and how nice they look there in the corner of a white rectangle.

February 22, 2009.

Thank you for the spaghetti dinner with provolone melted on it, and Parmesan sprinkled.

February 21, 2009.

Thank you for hot water in the shower.

Feb. 19, 2009.

Thank you for the tea tree oil, though it smells terribly and makes me gag.

February 18, 2009.

Thank you for vitamins, which may or may not do anything.

February 17, 2009.

Thank you for health care, and exorbitant medical bills.

February 16, 2009.

Thank you for everything going smoothly today with the iodine. No mishaps, thank you.

February 15, 2009.

Thank you for the homemade sangria last night, the money to buy the ingredients, the time to make it, a friend to drink it with.

Valentine's Day.

Thank you for the Valentine's Day muffins on the kitchen table.

Friday the 13th.

Thank you for a Freddy-Cougar childhood. Thank you for seeing another Valentine's Day. Thank you for the chocolate in the kitchen.

Thank you for that self-intimate, dark and cozy-soulful feeling that comes to me as I get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, as I squint in the glow of the stained-glass night-lite above the sink.

February 12, 2009.

This is the 212th post on this blog, and it is Feb. 12th, or 2/12. Thank you for this. Thank you also for my clarity of mind, no major illnesses, my general well-being tonight.

February 11, 2009.

Feeling really lousy tonight. Thank you for this sadness. Thank you for the lacking.

February 10, 2009.

How many more February Tenths will I have? Forty? Seventy? Zero? I don't know, but...

Thanks be to the hives, the bumps still lingering, traveling, the bugs under my skin, thanks for them, but also for not too many of them.

February 9, 2009.

Thank you for my kids. Yes, mine. The kidnapping makes it official.

February 8, 2009.

Thank you for blankets, a planet that has blankets, a house with blankets, a bed with a blanket, the feeling of security when my legs are tucked under a blanket, the warmth, the splendor, the eternal bliss.

Thank you also for the razor burn, how it stings under my neck, all over the most sensitive regions, an hour after I have shaved.

February 7, 2009.

Thank you for a working printer, the money to buy ink, the electric to run it, the paper on which to print.

Fat Friday.

Thank you for mozzarella sticks at Arby's with Steve. Our service was GREAT, in case you can't tell by the picture.

Trash-Can Turkey.

I found turkey in the trash today, but it was still in the wrapper, so I put it on a sandwich with cheese and rye, even though I am supposed to be a vegetarian, I'd rather eat it than see it trashed. Thank you. So good.

February 4, 2009.

Thank you for the snow today, the feeling of the giving-way under my feet, as I slide.

Groundhog Day, 2009.

Thank you for a washer and dryer, so I don't have to do laundry myself.

February 1, 2009.

Well, it is February and I am still alive to see the snow and ice. Thank you for this, and thank you for the words that appeared on screen as I typed today.

January 31, 2009.

Thank you for a bedroom, a place to sleep, to write, to feel privacy.

January 29, 2009.

Thank you for the delicious fish I had at Wegman's today. Yellow lemon pepper fish.

January 28, 2009.

Thank you for the movie, Groundhog's Day.

January 26, 2009.

Thanks for the bedding, the goose down.

January 25, 2009.

Thank you for a great birthday party at Granny's house. Chocolate cake, whoa Nelly.

January 23, 2009.

Thank you for freedom and all that is entailed in it.

January 22, 2009.

Thank you for the delicious chicken with mayonnaise. It was very delectable.

January 21, 2009.

Thank you for a nice first day of the semester.

January 20, 2009.

Thank you dearly for the chicken and cheese sandwich with melted provolone. Holy moley. You have no idea. Thank you. Thank you also for the CD from Ari. That was very sweet of her.

January 19, 2009.

Thank you for cold water. Thank you for today, for a chance to relax.

January 18, 2009.

Thank you dearly for my recovery from the fever. Thank you very much, I mean it.

January 17, 2009.

Thank you for the fever.

January 14-15, 2009.

Thank you for Steve and Ari, who I went with to see The Wrestler last night on my birthday. Thank you for hot Panera Bread soup, cheddar and broccoli.

January 13, 2009.

Thank you lord, I am very grateful for the medicine. Thanks to methimazole and propanolol, I will live. Thank you.

January 12, 2009.

Oh lord. Thank the lord. I feel so lucky tonight, so blessed. Tonight I am happy because I found out that I only have a thyroid problem, which is not a big deal. Thank you lord for a merciful diagnosis.

January 10-11, 2009

Thank you for the gift from Ari today. It was much appreciated.

January 9, 2009.

Thank you for the nice time at Panera Bread by myself, eating hot soup and bread. I enjoyed it.

January 7-8, 2009.

Thank you for non non compos. Thank you for a furnace.

January 6, 2009.

Thank you for fried shrimp and soda with crushed ice.

January 5, 2009.

Thank you for Bachelor Party.

January 4, 2009.

Hello, thank you for the steam bath last night, and thank you for Panera Bread's broccoli cheddar soup.

January 3, 2009.

Thank you for clean clothes.

January 2, 2009.

Thank you for the couch to lay on today while I was sick. And the cold apple juice with real ice cubes in it.

January 1, 2009.

Thank you for the nice dinner at Buca di Beppo last night with Steve and Ari. We had pizza, and our waiter, Harnold, was very agreeable.