thank you notes 1/13

January 13, 2016

i'm thankful for how crazy things have been this week with the students back on campus and the semester started and research projects restarted and tenure...

thank you notes 1/12

January 12, 2016

i'm thankful for the story "i'm pretty comfortable, but i could be a little more comfortable" by lydia davis, which you can hear me read to you by clicking...

thank you notes (esmé)

January 11, 2016

there's a certain type of someone who can undo the knots in your chest when thinking becomes cyclical obsessive maddening. all it takes is a phone call in...

thank you notes 1/11

January 11, 2016

i'm thankful that we went for a walk in the snow yesterday morning, even though it was very cold. i'm thankful that the cemetery wasn't yet plowed and so,...

thank you notes 1/10

January 10, 2016

i'm thankful that when i woke up early this morning to go to the bathroom, i noticed, through the blurred scrim of my sleep eyes, that it seemed unusually...

thank you notes 1/9

January 9, 2016

i'm thankful that on my walk home from work yesterday, i stopped at the gas station on the southern edge of downtown to buy something for us to have for...

thank you notes 1/8

January 8, 2016

i'm thankful for the faculty member who asked me what i was drinking at lunch today, for how, when i told her it was kombucha, her face lit up and she said...

thank you notes 12/6

January 7, 2016

i'm thankful for how beautiful the sky in the east was this morning when i left for work. i'm thankful for the way that, when i first saw it, riding down our...

thank you notes 1/7

January 7, 2016

i'm thankful to open the weather app on my phone and see, for the first time this year, the snow icon beside several days next week. i'm thankful to hope...

thank you notes 1/5

January 5, 2016

i'm thankful for this post by charlie stross, which explores how a society might advance technologically without writing. i'm thankful for world building is...

thank you notes 1/4

January 4, 2016

i'm thankful that even though i had built up going back to work as this horrible huge ominous thing, it's actually been just fine and, as is almost always...

1/3/16

January 3, 2016

i'm thankful that d likes the air plants that i got her for christmas. i'm thankful that air plants can remove nutrients and moisture from dust, which feels...

thank you notes 1/3

January 3, 2016

i'm thankful that d likes the air plants that i got her for christmas. i'm thankful that air plants can remove nutrients and moisture from dust, which feels...

1/1/16

January 1, 2016

i'm thankful for the gaudy gold-colored foil around the screw-top of the cheap spumante we bought to celebrate the year. i'm thankful for the leftover...

12/31/15

December 31, 2015

i'm thankful for the episode of the song exploder podcast i listened to about wilco's song "magnetized." i'm thankful to learn about jeff tweedy's...

12/30/15

December 30, 2015

i'm thankful that i got lost on my bike ride yesterday. i'm thankful that my phone died unexpectedly as i tried a new route in order to avoid the muddy...

12/29/15

December 29, 2015

i'm thankful that yesterday evening while i was getting ready to make a simple dinner of pasta and salad, d reminded me that today was trash and recycling...

12/28/15

December 28, 2015

i'm thankful for the nightmare in which my mother revealed to me, in a darkened upstairs bedroom, that i had had cancer for nine months and that she couldn't...

12/27/15

December 27, 2015

i'm thankful for my first massage. i'm thankful that when i gave d a gift certificate for a local spa for christmas, she insisted that instead of getting a...

12/26/15

December 26, 2015

i'm thankful for video calls. i'm thankful that even though this is the first christmas that neither d or i went home, we were able to feel like we were...

12/25/15

December 25, 2015

i'm thankful that we were late to the new star wars. i'm thankful that when we entered the theater, sure that the pre-show trailers would still be playing,...

12/24/15

December 24, 2015

i'm thankful for the beginner's guide, a video game i played yesterday afternoon which was one of the most moving artistic experiences i've had in a long...

12/23/15

December 23, 2015

i'm thankful that it's the first day of vacation. i'm thankful that though we had planned to walk across town to see the new star wars this morning, it's...

12/22/15

December 22, 2015

i'm thankful for how a few months of commuting on my bike has given me access to a whole world of driving feelings that i never experienced in thirty years...

12/21/15

December 21, 2015

i'm thankful that there was a problem with cell signals traveling through the air when i went running through the thick gray morning yesterday and so neither...

12/20/15

December 20, 2015

i'm thankful for that we went to the art museum on the last weekend before the fall exhibition closes. i'm thankful for the exhibition, which introduced me...

12/19/15

December 19, 2015

i'm thankful to get let out of work a little early on a friday afternoon. i'm thankful to the faculty member who let me out of work a little early, and i'm...

12/18/15

December 18, 2015

i'm thankful that i had a horrible night last night. i'm thankful that i woke up at 2am and couldn't go back to sleep within a few minutes, for the first...

12/17/15

December 17, 2015

i'm thankful for a thought i had while writing yesterday's thank you notes, but forgot to include, which has to do with the increments of time we use to...

12/16/15

December 16, 2015

i'm thankful for my morning yoga in an empty gym. i'm thankful that, unlike so many people, i have a labor union that collectively bargains for my benefits...

12/15/15

December 15, 2015

i'm thankful for ds, who delivers our bulk print orders. i'm thankful how he often sneaks in silently to drop off his overstuffed envelopes of quizzes and...

12/14/15

December 14, 2015

i'm thankful that though it was raining during my ride to work this morning, it was just intermittent sprinkles. i'm thankful that it's still warm outside,...

12/13/15

December 13, 2015

i'm thankful that i took yesterday off from writing these notes, and i'm thankful that i've decided i'll allow myself one day off a week if i want it. i'm...

12/11/15

December 11, 2015

i'm thankful for the squirrel who i came upon while he dug into the dirt at the base of a dogwood tree outside the art museum. i'm thankful for his...

12/10/15

December 10, 2015

i'm thankful for the sky in all its elegant variations. i'm thankful that last night, riding my bike home slightly too drunk from the office christmas party,...

12/9/15

December 9, 2015

i'm thankful for galangal, which i bought a knob of on a whim at the grocery store last week. i'm thankful that we have enough international students here...

12/8/15

December 8, 2015

i'm thankful for morning stretches, which prepare the body to bear the weight of the day. i'm thankful for the pack of little boys who rumble down the alley...

12/7/15

December 7, 2015

i'm thankful for an unseasonably warm and sunny afternoon yesterday. i'm thankful that when i couldn't figure out what podcast i wanted to listen to while i...

12/6/15

December 6, 2015

i'm thankful that i woke up this morning after a good night's sleep to a pink sunrise streaming through the gaps in the blinds. i'm thankful that i watched...

12/5/15

December 5, 2015

i'm thankful for unexpectedly canceled plans. i'm thankful for [redacted] juicy gossip about people i know. i'm thankful for gossip in general, even though i...

12/4/15

December 4, 2015

i'm thankful for the way that fog haunts buildings and smudges the tops of trees into the sky. i'm thankful for today's blanket of thick frost, which has...

12/3/15

December 3, 2015

i'm thankful that my work phone rang this afternoon and the caller asked to speak with a doctoral student who i know. i'm thankful that though the doctoral...

12/2/15

December 2, 2015

i'm thankful for the excellent run that i had at lunch today. i'm thankful that the tall, thin, incredibly fast jamaican guy who always smokes everybody was...

12/1/15

December 1, 2015

i'm thankful that even though it was a gray day yesterday and most of the trees in town have lost their leaves, when i was riding home, i turned a corner on...

11/30/15

November 30, 2015

i'm thankful that there's only one hour left till 5:00. i'm thankful that even though the track was unexpectedly closed for construction during my lunch, i...

11/29/15

November 29, 2015

i'm thankful that i'm not a smoker in the midwest in the winter. i'm thankful that i'm not a smoker in general, but after watching my neighbor step out onto...

11/28/15

November 28, 2015

i'm thankful for the line "my mama don't like you and she likes everyone" from the justin bieber song "love yourself," which made me laugh out loud as i...

11/27/15

November 27, 2015

i'm thankful for drinking slightly too much in the early afternoon. i'm thankful that when you drink slightly too much in the early afternoon, there is mid-...

11/26/15

November 26, 2015

i'm thankful that i am finding time this week to unsubscribe from all of the junk email i receive. i'm thankful that i have the time now to save time in the...

11/25/15

November 25, 2015

i'm thankful for the new frost on the grass. i'm thankful for the temperature causing my breath to condense into a cloud of vapor as i exhale. i'm thankful...