thank you notes 7/15

i'm thankful for the epic weird dream i had last night, which took place in the same day and yet in multiple seasons (in the front of the house, a beautiful blue sky summer day, in the back of the house, a silent night of thick snow which somehow didn't feel cold) and with groups including my extended family, faculty members from my old job, and jay-z. i'm thankful for the primary conflict of the dream, which had to do with one of the adjuncts from my old job being told in the middle of the party that his contract wouldn't be renewed and having a breakdown, which split the party into multiple factions with different opinions about the etiquette and ethics of this, and concluded with my uncle (who irl does not know the faculty member or anything about my old job) trying to make a symbolic chinese food order in order to protest the decision. i'm thankful for the moment in the dream where we were standing in the yard and a psychedelic sunset made it possible to see a distant city with great clarity as we listened to a duo produce an impossible hip hop soundscape with just their voices.

i'm thankful that yesterday before work started, i opened my laptop so i could write a response to a complicated ticket that i knew i wouldn't have time or mind to write as well if i left it until work started. i'm thankful that i took a moment to internally notice the strangeness of this, since at my last job i was militant about taking all of my breaks and not bringing work home with me and tried to enforce this with all of my coworkers. i'm thankful that i believe in the importance of work/life balance (and thankful my employer generally seems respectful of that) but i'm also thankful i chose to do the ticket before work yesterday, thankful that the space allowed me to clearly explain what was causing the error the user was experiencing. i'm thankful that later in the morning, the user responded with a very thankful message and that my supervisor, checking out the ticket, called my response "beautiful." i'm thankful that at the end of the day yesterday, i told a coworker i had been chatting with that i only felt "very very tired" rather than how i had felt the previous two days, which was "completely crushingly exhausted." i'm thankful for that and thankful to hope that i'll end today the same way. i'm thankful that it's friday.

i'm thankful for the two-part season premiere of mr. robot, which was excellent. i'm thankful for the shift in how they handle the show's central device (being vague to avoid spoilers), which feels so much more interesting and active and unique than similar devices tend to be handled. i'm thankful that we finally convinced my dad that my parents should watch game of thrones and that he loves it as we told him he would and thankful that he texted my brother and i many emphatic emoji after watching "the rains of castamere" last night. i'm thankful for the complete ella fitzgerald songbooks, for the slow acoustic guitar accompanied version of "in a sentimental mood" i was just listening to and now for her gloriously joyful scatting on "squatty roo." i'm thankful for the line from the opening to "iit's delovely" that includes the phrase "crucify the verse," which is always sung sweetly but seems like a very hip hop thing.

i'm thankful that when i was running yesterday, at the end of the trail, i crossed paths with one of the doctoral students from my old job and thankful that he was on his mountain bike "walking his dog." i'm thankful that i was able to keep up all the way back on the trail with them and have a conversation at the same time, which made me feel good about my endurance, which i've felt slightly down about lately. i'm thankful that though i started my run late because of doing work before work, i still managed to get in a run and stop by the grocery store on the way back to pick up some essentials. 

i'm thankful that i surprised d with an early birthday gift that she really loved. i'm thankful that my parents love the spiralizer i recommended they get. i'm thankful for grocery store seltzer. i'm thankful for toffee crusted klondike bars. i'm thankful for lime popsicles. i'm thankful for niacin. i'm thankful that i got an email from my friend jk. i'm thankful for the giant box of lindor milk chocolate truffles that d's coworkers sent her. i'm thankful for the great sandwiches i have been making us for dinner this week. i'm thankful for michael scott on donald trump. i'm thankful it's lydia davis's birthday.