Friday, November 28, 2008

t'anks

I don't care for major holidays, for the most part. This year's Thanksgiving was okay, in large part because we went to a friend's house & I didn't have to do kitchen-y things (aside from fixing a ham, making some gravy, carving the turkey, helping with the cleanup, etc.). All pleasantly lubricated with a range of potables.

When one of the young lasses at the kids' table – not one of mine, mind you – suggested we all go around & say what we were most thankful for – things were getting really quite moving, lemme tell ya; "oohs" & "ahs" & "hear, hears," eyes being wiped, & so forth – I found myself muttering some words about family & friends & then, Leopold Bloomishly, staring at my bottle & saying, "I'm thankful Arthur Guinness began brewing at the St. James's Gate Brewery in 1759." And I am. And for lots of other things.
***
Like, for instance, my lovely podcast on the Poetry Foundation website, if you haven't checked it out yet.

1 comment:

Jonathan K. Cohen said...

I greatly enjoyed your talk. If I hadn't already purchased and read your book, the talk would have impelled me to do so.

It was interesting to hear you speak out loud; your tone really brought out the irony and humor inherent in the material.

A note to people who, like me, want to download the talk to listen to on their iPods instead of using the Flash player on the Poetry Foundation's page: the URL is http://poetryfoundation.org/audio/MarkScroggins_PoetryLectures.mp3.