thank you notes 10/11

i'm thankful that i had a bit of vodka with dinner last night. i'm thankful to have had the occasional drink on vacation, which didn't seem to make that much difference re: my stomach. i'm thankful that though the burners on our new stove aren't as powerful as the burners on our old stove, they do eventually heat pots and pans enough to do the cooking i need them to do. i'm thankful that talenti gelato was on sale at the supermarket, even though it was one of those sales where only certain flavors are marked down and those certain flavors aren't the best flavors. i'm thankful still for gelato (in this case, butter pecan flavored). i'm thankful for the conversation d and i had about how dry the beef jerky we bought at the supermarket is. 

i'm thankful for the twitter meme going around where you ask people to imitate your twitter voice. i'm thankful to have always been a pretty good at doing voices. i'm thankful to have remembered being cheered in ninth grade after reading my "valley girl" version of the night before christmas (i'm thankful that when d first met me, she thought i was from california because of the way i talked, when the truth is that i just watched way too much tv throughout my childhood and adolescence). i'm thankful for this story i wrote about lorrie moore. i'm thankful to remember in grad school how once for an assignment one of my cohort wrote imitations of the prose style of all of us, starting with someone who wasn't labeled as me but was clearly to everyone me, and am thankful that there was an awkward silence afterward that i let exist for a few seconds before breaking it by saying "well, that's a bit on the nose for [a third classmate]'s style" and everyone laughed and relaxed. i'm thankful that once as a writing exercise near the end of the semester in an undergraduate class i was teaching, i asked my students to choose the voice of a classmate and write a poem in that voice and then (seeing a mischievous glint in the eyes of some and fear in the eyes of other) clarified that they should write a poem demonstrating what they love or admire or find special about the voice of a classmate, not a parody or critique.

i'm thankful, perhaps a bit emotional from the vodka yesterday evening, to have donated £10 to the gofundme of someone with cancer. i'm thankful that i found the way she wrote about herself moved me and, despite my general dislike of crowdfunding and the superstructure that's made them necessary, that i followed the instinct i felt to donate. i'm thankful that i have tried doing some mantra meditating for the first time the past few days. i'm thankful that i don't know that i like it better or find it more effective than mindfulness meditation, but it is an interesting experience. i'm thankful how doing it i'm exposed to the intricacies of my vocal chords and how my mouth shape and lip positioning affects the tone produced. i'm thankful for the weird bitcrush effect that my throat can produce if i exhale in the right way and for the feeling in my body that results from the resonant frequencies i produce. i'm thankful, after having fallen off the wagon for a while, to try to stick to a daily meditation practice, which i know positively contributes to my life. i'm thankful for the way my body feels lighter and looser after i'm done.