Thanksgiving 2018

Gobble gobble, motherfuckers. Used under CC-BY-2.0 from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Source.

It’s Thanksgiving in the US! Which is heeeeeella loaded, given that it’s founded on a myth that covers up historical atrocities. But I do like the parts of the holiday that encourage reflection and being thankful for what we have. So that’s what I’m going to do here! Behold, a small sampling of things I’ve been thankful for this year:

• Mastodon, both the denizens of wandering.shop and the greater fediverse. I’ve felt very welcome, made friends, and it’s all so much more manageable than keeping up with Twitter. Special shoutout to how wonderful people on there are about selfies, be they standard or lewd.
• Chromium, for letting my little laptop browse the web without choking on every halfway-complicated page.
• Emacs, for just feeling good to use.
• Jabberwocky and Jerry, for both being excellent reptilian company. Also the Bird and Exotic Clinic of Seattle, for enabling me to take way better care of them than any general vet ever would.
• Video games, especially Stardew Valley, for helping me stay relaxed.
• A couple of online communities that must go nameless for privacy reasons, for making me feel at home and supported.
• My current place of employment, for allowing me to work in exchange for money that helps to keep a roof over my head and food available, as well as teaching me new skills.
• The Washington Talking Book and Braille Library for a wonderful volunteering experience.
• The continued resistance movement against our current administration, for giving me hope.
• My romantic partners, for helping fill the need for affection and intimacy in my life.
• My friends, who are each great in their own way, and who form the backbone of my life and keep me sane.
• My family, for always being there.
• Books, for providing an escape and inspiration. Special shout out to Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice series, and Ursula K Le Guin’s works, for being especially lovely.
• Being able to write. I haven’t done as much as I’ve wanted, but that I’ve been able to keep doing it even a little is good, and feels very validating. Also very thankful for my beta reader, who’s letting me feel like my novel is getting somewhere simply due to having another pair of (kind, qualified) eyes to read it.

So that’s the quick and dirty list of what I’m thankful for this year. How about you?