Very Thankful for Thanksgiving

On this Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I find myself thinking about what I am thankful for in my life and so, I have come up with an extensive list. Here goes:

1. Family (most obvious)
2. My hub TK (almost as obvious)
   
3. Friends (another obvious one)
   
4. Pencil Sharpeners or Erasers (when there isn't one around, how annoying is it?)
   
5. Animals and wildlife photographers/videographers
   
6. The Internet
7. Soldiers (they fight for our right to be who we are)
   
8. Nail files
9. Bathtubs (nothing better than a long relaxing soak)
   
10. Post-its
11. Craft fairs
12. Fruit (always the healthy option)
    
13. Kindhearted people
14. Cemeteries (so you can still visit the ones you love)
    
15. Knowledge
16. Taste buds
17. The other four senses
    
18. Football
    
19. Piggy Banks
    
20. Hair ties
    
21. Bookmarks
22. Art
    
23. Talent (everyone is good at something)
    
24. Baked goods
25. Hot Cocoa and Chai Tea Lattes (or I wouldn't visit Starbucks)
26. Magazines
27. Sales and the clearance section
    
28. Gentlemen (not all men are gentlemen)
29. Sports bras
30. Ribcage (for protecting my organs during sports and my brother's hugs)
31. Chip clips
32. Witty comebacks (some people just need to be shut up)
33. Stacy London & Clinton Kelly (they help those that can't help themselves)
34. C Sections
35. Music
36. Alcohol (when necessary)
    
37. Good customer service (especially when traveling or during the holidays)
    
38. Cameras
    
39. High fives (a display of your teammate's approval)
    
40. Holidays (an excuse for families to get together)
41. Insurance
42. Slippers
43. Yoga
    
44. Disney (I can be a kid again and this list is not in number order)
    
45. Waiters/Waitresses/Bartenders/Bussers (who the heck wants to get their own food)
    
46. A job that pays money
    
47. Calendars
48. Libraries
49. Caller ID
50. Smelly candles

Those were the first 50 things I could think of, but I know there are more.

Thanksgiving is the time of year to remember to say "thank you" for all the things and to all the people that have made living your life a little easier. So to you, I say "Thank you." (Only in English this time.)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Rockin' Out with Rock Band 3

Now I know what the 3 stands for in Rock Band 3, and no I do not believe it reflects the succession of editions. I think it depicts the time you stay up until on a Saturday night to play the game. We bought the game for XBOX 360 on Thursday and stayed awake until 3 a.m. Saturday, well Sunday morning, playing with our new digitally-formed band "Disfunktion." (TK spelled it that way, I didn't.) We even dressed up like rock stars in honor of Halloween. Don't ask!

TK and I both have Rock Band, Rock Band 2 and The Beatles: Rock Band and I like them much more than Guitar Hero. Fortunately, I can play the bass and now the keyboard on the medium ability level, and unfortunately for some, I can sing on medium as well. There is the occasional song that my fingers don't move fast enough for, but I try to avoid them as much as possible because there are more than enough songs to choose from. I think the game booklet and the website both claim that there are over 2,000 songs to play. I don't even have that many on my iPod.

Players also have a lot of options for customizing their rocker. My rocker's name is Mellie, I know it's not very unique but TK thinks Mel is a guy's name even though that's how all my friends refer to me and I hate the name Missy because it makes me sound like a 4 year-old cheerleader, which I am obviously not. I apologize to all of the Missies out there but the name just doesn't fit me and I am entitled to my opinion, or so I am told. My rocker, Mellie, currently has a beehive hairdo, a nose ring, a red and black half shirt, black suspenders, black leather thigh high boots and black bootie shorts. Not an outfit I would choose for my own body, but my rock star avatar fits in it very well, especially while playing Spoonman on bass.

Rock Band is something that TK and I enjoy playing together. We laugh, we compete and we have fun, especially when I get a 100% on a song and he gets a 99%. That's my favorite part of the game. I haven't checked if it is one of his favorites...but then again, we are rock stars and our attitude should be all "who cares" and "it's all about the music." For me, it is all about fun and that's exactly what Rock Band 3 is.

This game also fools you into thinking you could actually play a real instrument with strings or keys. The farthest I got was clarinet in elementary school and I can only remember playing "Hot Cross Buns." Pretty basic fourth grade stuff. I wish I could play the piano or the bass. I think it would do wonders for my street cred. For now, I will settle for playing the digital bass, keyboard and singing with my fake and funky rocker. I like to think I am pretty bad ass, even if I am wearing penguin flannel pajamas while I play.