Thanksgiving

When I lived in Boston, we would spend pretty much every holiday at Mrs. Henderson's house. Mrs. Henderson was my parents' old (meaning both previous and elderly) landlady, and my family along with 10-15 other guests would gather at her huge, antique-filled house for Thanksgiving. We would all sit at one long, silk-tablecloth-clad table and have Thanksgiving dinner. Before we moved to Lexington, Mrs. Henderson passed away, and so this tradition died with her. My past 5 or so Thanksgivings have all consisted of upwards of 20 people gathered at several different tables situated all around my house. We have a sort of buffet line that goes through our kitchen, and then the guests take their plates to whichever they'd like. Another tradition that came with this new way of celebrating the holiday is Black Friday shopping. You can tell me it's violating the holiday or promoting excessive consumerism all you like, but I love Black Friday shopping. My mom and I, along with some of her coworkers and sometimes one or two of my friends drive up to Cincinnati at about 7 PM on Thanksgiving evening and shop the entire night before coming home around 6:30 in the morning. It's quite the extreme sport. 

This year, my mom told me that we will be having over 30 guests at our house, and so much of our dinner will be catered in order to save time and effort. While this might irritate some and appear to be infringing upon tradition of Thanksgiving, it's important to remember that neither my mother nor most of the guests who will be attending were born in the United States. Therefore, this deep sense of family fostered by American holiday tradition  does not apply to them, and frankly I think it doesn't apply to many Americans. I spent the first 12 years of my life having a formal Thanksgiving, and besides, I see my family every day--is it really so wrong to spend November 28th watching all the Thanksgiving episodes of Gossip Girl?

Assignment 15: Covergirl

Actually this one is all about make-up (do you see what I did there)?
If you have completed all the blogs for the semester, then take this week off.  If you are missing a blog post then use this opportunity to make-up a grade.

Your Prompt:

Choose one of the other two prompts from Assignment 6: Create your own adventure and write about it.

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, December 1st at 11:59 pm

My Thanksgiving Ryan Collins

My thanksgiving consists of my aunts, uncles, cousins, great aunts, and my family crowded around a large table created from many smaller tables of different shapes and heights. We always gather at my aunts horse farm in Shelbyville around 12 and stay until 8 or 9. Everyone brings a separate dish, and contributes some physical labor like washing dishes or taking care of the young kids. I love this holiday not only because the food is delicious and we get days off school, but it is one of the happiest holidays for me since my whole family is there. I dont realy have a favorite moment, but the moment i look forward to every year is the pumpkin pie.

Assignment 14- Alex Warren

My thanksgiving consists of pretty much all of my family getting together and just hanging out and eating food. My family is no ordinary family though, we are very diverse, I am sorry but I’m getting ready to list some unique things about my family. Lets see we have a set of twins; my cousins live in Alaska, Australia, Mexico, Cincinnati, New York, and Los Angeles; there are ages 5 days old (my newborn niece, Giana Katherine Jones) all the way up to 87 (my new latino grandmother-in-law). All of those people will be coming to Lexington to enjoy Thanksgiving, and I believe that there will be 43 of us jam packed into my Aunt Linda’s house. So I start the holiday by showing up at my Aunt’s house early in the morning to help prepare most of the dishes, and I have to say my hash brown casserole is to die for. At about 3 we finish cooking, so I greet everyone showing up with an appetizer plate, and make them a drink, but I leave the alcoholic drinks to my sister who can make any drink under the sun. We eat at 6, and then sit and talk at the table for a couple of hours, but usually I go and play with the babies instead. Around 9 everyone has left the table and the women gather in the living room to watch christmas movies and the men gather in the den to watch football and play Texas Hold’em. Everyone leaves by midnight to go home or to go out for black fridaysales, I like going out for the sales. And uhhh I guess thats my Thanksgiving in a nutshell.

Pass the Yams, Sam?

My thanksgiving is unapologetically ideal. The scene in my house on the fourth Thursday in November every year is exactly what people would expect from a large Christian family in the American heartland. In fact, if Norman Rockwell had ever needed a model family for the Thanksgiving-issue cover of the Saturday Evening Post, we would be the perfect candidates. Ornate name cards bedeck the long wooden table, and we sip white wine—or milk for the kids—from silver chalices. We salivate over a roast turkey, spiced yams, oven-top stuffing and the kind of rolls you could rest your head on at night.

I literally have an Uncle Sam. I kid you not.

Together with my Aunt Patty, they are affectionately known as Salmon Patty, and they drive down from Indiana every year with my three Hoosier cousins. And then there’s the Sparks clan from northern Kentucky; my own grandparents; Adam and Elizabeth and John; and finally my three siblings. Am I forgetting anyone?

Because of my family, I enjoy Thanksgiving exceedingly. Nothing is more important to me than family, and you have to savor it when we’re all under the same blessed roof. And don’t forget about the Derby pie, either. This holiday also reminds me how lucky I am, that by random chance or divine Providence or whatever, I was born into a beautiful, robust family with the chance of a lifetime: the ability to go out into an unfair world with an unfair advantage, to pursue whichever path I choose, and to “raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair.”

Assignment 14 - Angela Tseng

My Thanksgiving has kind of evolved over the years. When I little, it was the fancy feast with too much food for just me, my mother, father and sister and playing Mahjong afterwards. But in more recent years my family has started to host so called 'Asian Parties' on Thanksgiving where we invite around probably five to six other family friends and their families to come to our house to have a pot luck. These are actually almost more fun than the original intimate Thanksgiving days because instead of spending it just with family, we get to spend it with friends too and the whole house is full of talking and laughter. But this year, my dad is will away on a business trip to China so instead of holding an Asian party, we're going to spend Thanksgiving at one my mother's friends house. But one thing never changes from year to year, leaving at around midnight to head and and prepare to go Black Friday shopping the next day.

Thanksgiving: Grace

I absolutely love Thanksgiving. Best holiday ever. I think I like it so much because it is so simple- no overt religious connection, no excessive commercialization, just friends and family gathering to eat food. The fact that it is distinctly an American holiday also makes it more appealing (I mean what American doesn’t like gorging himself with food, right?).

Our plans for the holiday usually involve going to Columbus, Ohio for a gathering on my mom’s side of the family or down to Chapel Hill, North Carolina with my dad’s side. A few years (including last year) we have hosted the 25 people from my mom’s side at our house. No matter where we go, we always have a legitimate football game that we play outside regardless of how cold it is. There are always a plethora of board games and card games involved (including Hearts, Apples to Apples, Poker, Quelf, Taboo, and Catch Phrase). And then of course we have the classic Thanksgiving dishes, and while we are enjoying our feast we turn on the first Christmas music of the season- before that time it is completely forbidden to listen to any Xmas tunes. Thanksgiving is a time to catch up with the whole family; this is one of the few times we are able to get together in the year, with family from Louisville, Ohio, New York City, Wisconsin, DC, and Seattle. Though I’m not as obsessed with the food as I know some people are, it’s still my favorite meal of the year. Thanksgiving is an opportunity to escape from the bustle of everyday life, to come together with family, and to just enjoy life and all of its many pleasures.  

Assignment 14

I do thoroughly enjoy thanksgiving. My thanksgiving looks like driving up to a rustic cabin-looking house in the middle of Elizabethtown, Kentucky. My thanksgiving looks like eating in a wood-covered kitchen surrounded by a chattering family, where the plates of historic food mesh so well with plastic two-liters of various soft drinks. My thanksgiving is standing in front of a tiny television in a cozy basement, surrounded by the trophies and miscellaneous things of a child that had left for college a long time ago. My thanksgiving is trying to amuse myself after the first two hours are spent catching up and what not. In this wooded island in a sea of trees, I look out at this wonderful wilderness and am angry that it is too cold or too dark to do anything outside. My thanksgiving is breaking down and sitting down next to my sister and redneck cousin, both watching her talk about how her latest boyfriend is the "one." It is extremely interesting. My strangest memory? My strangest memory was sitting in front of the tiny television and watching the strangest movie for a ten-year old, "Congo." It was about killer gorillas or something.

My Thanksgiving

Forty people stuffed into an old one story brick house as the smell of warm rolls fresh from the oven fills the air. Casseroles, sides, and the famous Ritchie family smashed potatoes cover every inch of countertop available. Once we get the rambunctious youngins to settle down long enough to say grace, we go in for the kill. Seconds and thirds, even fourths. Desserts are always stored in the garage where they are kept cold and out of sight until the main course is finished. We always have pies, some sort of cake, this weird pudding stuff, cookies, and my favorite German chocolate cake. This is our Thanksgiving. It’s not picture perfect, but it’s been my favorite tradition as long as I can remember. My family goes down to Cynthiana every year to my great aunt’s house except for this year. My aunt’s getting old and can’t handle the stress anymore so Thanksgiving dinner will be held elsewhere. Although  the tradition won’t continue anymore, I’m sure we will all remember the caotic yet enjoyable family Thanksgivings at Aunt Loretta’s.

Thanksgiving: The Most Underrated Holiday

I feel sorry for Thanksgiving, always getting out-shined by Christmas and what not. Especially this year. Literally the day after Halloween, everyone cast aside their cat ears and fish nets in exchange for icicle lights and garland. Don't get me wrong, I truly believe that Christmas is "the most wonderful time of the year" and listening to "Merry Mixmas" can put anyone in a good mood, but writing out a list for Santa and wishing for a white Christmas in early November forces people to overlook another important holiday, Thanksgiving. In a perfect world, no one would be required to work on holidays and although most people try especially hard to avoid working on Christmas and Easter, Thanksgiving is another huge opportunity for families to get together and catch up on life.

The Dixon's celebrate by eating a ton of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, corn pudding, broccoli casserole, fruit salad, and assorted desserts such as angel food cake, pecan pie, and peanut butter cookies. While eating our weight in these delicious Thanksgiving staples, we play board games. Usually the adults all crowd into the dining room to play Rook and my cousins and I gather in the living room to play the no less-competitive, Monopoly, and when no one feels like losing to me for the zillionth time, we break out Apples to Apples or Scattegories. My cousins and I used to be so close; we were practically brothers and sisters. We would spend so much time together playing board games so in a way, maintaining a tradition of playing these games every holiday (especially Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter) is our way of reliving our childhoods and staying unified in the present even though our lives are completely different now.

Others can be putting up their Christmas trees and dreaming of a white Christmas, but all throughout November, I will be thinking of ways to work off all that turkey, and dreaming of acquiring all the orange spaces on the Monopoly board. 

My Thanksgiving - Kelsey Halbert

My Thanksgiving is usually spent at my great aunt's home in Ashland with her clan, consisting of her husband, daughter, son in law, and her grandson; with the addition of my grandparents, parents, and myself. I usually have a great time, since I don't get to see them often. This year will be quite different for all of us though. My great aunt's husband passed away last year due to leukemia, my grandfather passed away last April from COPD and other complications, and my cousin is on his two year mission trip for the Mormon Church. Also, my grandmother passed away back in 2006, so we have been without her for awhile. Even though this is a holiday meant for giving thanks, it will be quite hard without hearing the sounds of the people that you love. I will still enjoy this holiday, because I know that they would want me to, but it it going to be very difficult to do so. I hope this is 150 words because I really can't talk about this anymore.

No. 14

Thanksgiving is, well, boring. All you do is sit there all day, watch/help others cook the fancy dinner, and the you sit there and eat it. That's all, everyone can go home now. Really. In my opinion, Thanksgiving is becoming the new Valentine's day. AKA commercialized. I mean, in the last year or two, lots of stores started opening at EIGHT O' CLOCK PM  on THANKSGIVING DAY! Black Friday: I guess that's alright, if you don't value sleep. But still. I think we get too much time off for Thanksgiving.

My Least Favorite Holiday - Haven

   Moving from feigned intolerance or slightly-real-but-not-overwhelming intolerance, yay!
   I never really "got" thanksgiving as a child, and it never got any better growing up. In fact, my *ahem* favorite times during thanksgiving was back in Florida, wherein our family of my parents and two half brothers would travel to a relative's home (usually a grandparents) and have dinner with cousins and uncles while the kids (me being the oldest out of my cousins) ran and played outside. I never really liked ham, turkey, or sweet potatoes, but I enjoyed the time with my younger cousins.
   As time took it's course we became more distant from each other. Although several members of our family moved to Kentucky as well we didn't share a thanksgiving with our cousins nearly as often. My first year in this state reduced the dinner table to five, four adults and me. Later on my eldest brother left one night and the count was reduced to four as well moved to an apartment (the same one we reside in today). 
   It's here where my other brother met his girlfriend, who had children from a previous relationship, and I had one thanksgiving interacting with kids again. Of course, these apartments aren't too great, so they ended up moving to a new complex, taking my brother with them.
   So now we arrive at today, a small group of three who rarely eat together anyway, with a teenage girl who doesn't like the taste of thanksgiving meats. And now on reflection she only thinks on how the holiday reminds her on how her family drifted apart with only memories and a blog post to show for it.
   It can't be all bad, I suppose. My father bribed my with presents to eat with him on thanksgiving.  Here's hoping he remembers. 

So Long, Faith - Haven

   Growing up in an atheist home I found myself ostracized by persons of faith, quietly denouncing my own personal beliefs and fascination with fictional demons and magic. It sounds like a petty complaint, but in actuality I find religious discrimination to be a form of bullying and a great contradiction in the "good to all brotherhood" school of thought. Certainly, I'm not the only one who's been bullied in this fashion - even if some people believe in a deity it will never be another's "superior" deity.
   I see this mentality as childish, like a little kid being kicked on the ground for not having the best mint condition playing card.
   Perhaps that analogy is inappropriate; trading cards never made children feel insignificant as human beings. Indeed, I know people who are in depression caused by the belief that they are damned for eternity over a small flaw they may or may not even have control over in the first place.
   I see all of this injustice caused by religion, and I wish to end it in it's entirety. 
   Broil, burn, drown, apply acid to, the method of eliminating the concept of divinity doesn't concern me. I'm hesitant to call upon murder, but with enough government persuasion it may be possible to legalize for unsuitable persons. As of now, I recommend showing each and every pastor the corner of the internet and asking them where their gods are. I'm sure this will convince them to renounce their faith and ask others to do the same. 
   Over time, religion will fade away, and the suffering for radicals will end. Joy will spread!

Okay, maybe I chose a bit of a touchy subject. I just want to say this was all in the name of a grade for satire. You can never be too safe on the internet after all.

Assignment 14 :Flying Turkeys

The stock image Thanksgiving involves a lot of people around a nicely decorated table with a large turkey and a ridiculous amount of extra food. This image doesn't always depict the reality of the holiday though.

What does your Thanksgiving look like? Do you enjoy the holiday? What is your strangest or most wonderful memory of the holiday?

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, November 24th at 11:59 pm

Assignment 13- Ethan Petraitis

Oh my gosh, I just dropped my brand new iPhone 5s on the ground and broke it, but it's not MY fault it broke, my dad got me like, seriously the worst looking case ever, and I was NOT about to walk around with that thing all day, so it's all his fault. Augh, now I have to use my old, ugly iPhone 4s until my parents buy me another 5s (but it's fine, I really wanted the gold one anyway). So now instead of typing my blog post on my phone like I always do, I have to use my fricking MacBook Pro that I got for my half-birthday last year instead of the car I wanted and like, oh my gosh, I think someone totally spiked my Starbucks White Mocha Frappuccino with something because I can't stop talking and this sentence is getting really long and now I'm just stating random facts that should totally be their own sentences and like, this coffee is way too cold so I'm just going to throw it away after taking two sips even though it was $17. #TheStruggle #IHateMyParents #PrivilegedWhiteGirlProbs #thisiswaytoolongfortwitter #Hashtag

"The End of Racial Prejudice"

By Ray Cist

It is no secret that racial tensions still exist in America. While the legal system has been righted, first through the 13^th, 14^th and 15^th Amendments and later the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s, de facto discrimination is a fact of life. And it always will be, as long as blacks and other minorities have to live with ignorant whites.

To this problem I have determined the one logical solution.

Forty-one million black people currently live in America. This is exactly equal to the combined populations of the states of Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. I see no reason why this region should not be ceded to the black people for their own nation, a place where they can live free from persecution and prejudice—the Black States of America.

In the interest of equality, other minorities should also receive their own nations.

The 53 million Hispanics will inhabit Washington, Oregon, California and Arizona.

To the Asian Americans, all of New England will be given.

In this fashion, each subset of American society will become its own sovereign nation. 

After the initial relocation phase, this plan will usher in a new epoch of racial equality*.

*Disclaimer: The views expressed above are strictly satirical. Ray Cist is a fictional persona. If I am running in the 2048 election, don’t make this a thing.

Assignment 13

 Fifteen months ago, I was just a girl with feelings, dreams and aspirations. But in the time of metamorphosis, I transformed from a unique, beautiful individual into a hot commodity. My aunt even told me I had transformed from the innocent girl who played with Barbie into Barbie herself. I was flattered. Who cares about employment and self-worth when you can just have excesses of fat on certain parts of the body? I mean, look at me—I'm such a lovely piece of objectification for adolescent boys' sexual frustration and voyeurism, just like Kim Kardashian. Oh, but I could only wish I was as coveted a piece of eye candy as she! She is a true role model for the ages, as timeless and non-decomposing as a piece of plastic itself. Why look to people like Margaret Thatcher and Eleanor Roosevelt? Ridiculous. Let's take some advice from one of America's greatest writers, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and his masterful book, The Great Gatsby. “I hope she'll be a fool -- that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” I mean, honestly... why be a self-sustaining and beautifully educated person? Take all the other words out and just be beautiful. That's what society tells us all to do, anyways. And if you're really worried about your livelihood? Just find a sugar daddy! Kim Kardashian did that, too.

assignment 13- Ryan Collins

I have had a re-occurring dream (well it is more of a nightmare than a dream) for the past 5 nights. They all start out the same way: I am sitting in the good food coop, which is weird because I should be shopping for that new cereal bar line they just released made of dried tree bark and imported African dung. Anyway, i am sitting in the middle of the store, adjusting my many rope bracelets, when I see it. A human being, walking alongside another fellow life traveler; except the human has the other being bound tight by the neck to a thick, worn rope, which he tugs violently and frequently to dictate where the innocent soul should walk. Sadly, this nightmare doesn't just linger in my dreams at night; it is a real issue in this messed up world we live in. I constantly have to hold back tears and rage induced insults as i cross paths with a family of four as they further strangle their "pet" pug. It makes me sick that we live in a world where you have a career of killing innocent animals, and putting them in camps as they wait for their inevitable end. something needs to be done. Until animals can get the same jobs as humans, not be discriminated against, and have the inalienable right to own property, then we citizens living in the "home of the free" are as free as a dog being locked up in his kennel for peeing on a persian rug, an action protected by the United States Constitution. All animals should be treated with the same respect we treat each other with, and only then will we all truly be equal.

Assignment 13 - Alex Warren

You know what I hate doing? Spending money. But do you know what I love? Buying stuff. Yes I love shopping, especially for clothes, and no I am not a girl nor gay, clothing is just one of my many interests. See most of the money I have I work for, but on the other hand most of the money I spend comes right out of mi padre’s pocket. It’s so easy to get money from parents. “Hey Dad I need lunch money!” and boom there $50 in my hand, and maybe it just so happens that $20 of it goes towards my weekly sock purchase. When it comes to buying other things it’s the same story. Whenever I buy Starbucks it is always for another person (and it is always a grande because I’m cheap), but when I get myself Starbucks it is a Venti, a cake pop, and usually a nice slice on banana chocolate chip bread, and I make my parents pay for it. So I guess what I am trying to say is while you’re a kid keep all of your money for yourself and mooch off your parents, but when push comes to shove and you’re an adult, man-up and pay for everything yourself and be a real adult and don’t mooch anymore. Man I hope that was satire, but if it wasn’t whatever

#13 Ben Gardner

What

Son... I am disappoint

Keep walking... This doesn't concern you

These things called memes. They are the scum of the internet. Case in point: top left. Who wants to take the time out of their productive (?) day, just to make an outline of a guy throwing up his hands as if to say "What are you doing"? I don't know about the top right one. It was given to me a while ago, and it just gets creepier every time I look at it. Honestly. I'd be less creep-ed out if a windowless van pulled up and offered me candy.
The third one, however, involves cats. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think 'rule 42' of the internet is that everything is cats. On a side note though, it is rather entertaining.

Assignment 13

Here in America, eating healthy is nearly impossible. Health and whole food stores are entirely too expensive. It’s insane. That’s why us Americans have decided that the processed, greasy, unnatural, and toxin filled foods at fast food restaurants are a much better option. The food tastes so much better and is super cheap, which outweighs the heart problems, diabetes, and obesity issues we have. In fact, fast food restaurants should start selling their grease to us not only in the form of crispy sticks and between buns but as a warm and filling drink! This way we could ingest the tasty goodness much faster. All those health freaks with their smoothies and juices which absorb the nutrients “faster” don’t realize they’d be missing out on the same thing! Only grease drinks would taste better and wouldn’t be that nasty green color. All of the leafy greens and juicy fruits they eat are disgusting and completely unappealing.  This idea could change America for the better.

Changes

What bothers me the most? I don't know. I really don't want to spend time writing about it. I guess what bothers me the most is that I have to wake up from my cold-inducing minor coma to type away on an annoyingly bright computer whilst trying to avoid software updates and not think about what else I must do before I slumber. I also hate writing satire and am too lazy to look up how to. So, I'm going to type-complain like a little b**** about everything I hate at Henry Clay, and hope that it will amount to satire. I hate eating mice meat everyday at school, even though the bristles on the rat tails don't scratch my throat while I eat them. I also hate trying to remember all the Academy and normal class s*** that I didn't put on my ghetto agenda. But what I hate most is that I can't remember the curse limit on these blog posts. Oh well.

Assignment 13: Changes!

Think of all of the things and ideas that exist in the world.

Which one bothers you the most?

Think on Jonathan Swift's "Proposal" and write your own satiric solution to your troublesome issue.

First I would spend some time watching and or reading a great deal of satire to get into in the mental mode satire requires.

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, November 17th at 11:59 pm

Assignment 12

My favorite inanimate object is about thirty three inches and made of northern white-ash. This work of art is commonly referred to as a baseball bat. A typical day in the life of a Louisville Slugger begins with being rubbed down by a sticky rag. Resulting in a fresh coat of brown goo. The bat then receives anywhere from one hundred to one thousand shots to the head from little, hard, white balls. After the daily beating the precious piece of wood is placed back in the bark bag from which it came. Several times a week the slab of wood is lucky enough to be seen by thousands of people as it is thrown back towards the dugout by a man wearing a red "C". Unless that man is Zach Cozart, then the bat is carried back to the dugout. However, each time this special piece wood is tossed back towards the first base side it is an adventure. This piece of white-ash helped Votto get his first of the day. I am sure this white-ash has a dim view of the world. They are beaten daily, tossed around, and covered in dirt. Not to mention that after about a month they're snapped in half and thrown away. Poor northern white-ash.

Assignment 12 -Ryan Collins

Every day was the same, someone would pick me up, flip through my pages, and set me back down on the shelf with the other books. It was exiting at first, but as the other books were purchased and began their new lives, i remained on the shelf. It was a lonely process, until one day, I was bought. excitement coursed through my pages as my buyer eagerly read me, and i was happy. however, things did not stay this way. halfway through my story, my buyer became bored, and decided to take a break. That break has lasted twelve long years. Now my day consists of sitting on a shelf yet again with all the other neglected books, longing for attention. Its not all bad though, i have made the acquaintances of many of the other books and magazines that shared my past experience of spontaneous excitement and crushing neglect. Many of them are gifts from thoughtful relatives, others are textbooks that were never returned, some are even books that haven't been opened. We all have one thing in common, and that is we are all forgotten.