Thanksgiving is a holiday representative of many things for many people. For some, it’s purely a culinary-based experience, with the promise of hearty fall-themed meals enough to win them over to the holiday. For others, Thanksgiving is a purely aesthetic experience, one to associate with falling leaves and knit sweaters. To me, Thanksgiving is no more than what its name suggests: it’s time to give thanks. At every Thanksgiving, you go around the table and everyone shares what they’re thankful for. If you find yourself in front of your family failing to find anything that you’re thankful for, allow me to step in. Let me illuminate for you some things to be thankful for.
1. Me (Ben Newman)
There are a plethora of reasons why someone should be thankful for Ben Newman. The most prescient one is that I’m ending the article here and not making you read more of my nonsense for another seven pages. You should be thankful for this article that you’re reading, which, in a best-case scenario, is something that causes mild amusement as you try to distract yourself in Mr. Burlin’s class. If you didn’t like the article, then I have a confession to make, me too! I thought it would be a really good idea, and now I’m thinking it isn’t funny enough to justify its existence. Either way, you should be thankful that you have someone to agree with about this article.
2. Jackets and Sweaters
Now that it is actually chilly out, we can start wearing our sweaters again, our jackets, and our pullovers; it finally is that time again. I feel perhaps many of you can relate to this dilemma I have where I seem to own an inordinate amount of jackets and hoodies for someone who lives in the hottest state in the country. I seem to gravitate towards them any time I’m trying to buy new clothes (which is something I tend to avoid; I loathe buying new clothes), and now I find myself with many items of clothing I can’t even wear for most of the year. But the time has finally come, and for that, I think we should all give thanks.
3. Richard Linklater
Born and raised in Houston, Richard Linklater is someone everyone should give tremendous thanks to. Linklater is a filmmaker responsible for several of the greatest and most entertaining films of the past 30 years. You may have grown up with School of Rock, the coming-of-age music classic, or you may be familiar with his romantic dramas, Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight. More recently, he had Boyhood, a film that shot large chunks in Houston that took 12 years to finish shooting. If you’re ever in the mood for a good time, I recommend Dazed and Confused, the most definitive movie ever made about high school, or Everybody Wants Some!!, essentially the same movie, except set in a Texas college.
4. H-E-B
I go there, you go there, it’s a staple, and it was ranked as the best grocery store in the country. Texas really should feel honored to have such a fine business providing us our groceries. It’s likely that many of your Thanksgiving dinners will be made from items bought from an H-E-B, all the more reasons to give it thanks, because truly, no store does more.
5. Zach Bryan
In the last issue of Lamar Life I wrote about Zach Bryan, but I wouldn’t consider this rehashing of old material. This is a reminder of someone you should be thankful for. I’m thankful for Zach Bryan’s music, I’m thankful for his lyrics, I’m thankful for the album American Heartbreak, and I’m thankful for the song Burn Burn Burn. I’m thankful his mugshot gave us something to talk about, I’m thankful that he never stops making music, and I’m thankful that he’s proof that country music is still alive.
6. It’s Getting Cold
After a summer of non-stop days over degrees, followed by a rather humid and swampy start to our fall, it feels endlessly refreshing for it to be finally under 85 degrees on a consistent basis. Though I’m a big advocate for spending time outdoors, this summer, when it was 105 and humid with a capital “H” day after day, I wasn’t too eager to be spending time outdoors as I usually am. Now, with days that are in the 70s, I can finally exist outside for long periods of time without feeling like I was the turkey on Thanksgiving (which is to say, in an oven.)
7. Mr. Argentina
He’s a wonderful teacher and an even more wonderful person. There is no one I would have rather had teach me 11th grade American history. If you have had the pleasure or currently have the pleasure of having him as your teacher, you already carry with you a tremendous amount of thanks for all he does, did, and will do; however, if you didn’t have Mr. Argentina as a teacher, I would also recommend being thankful for him, he deserves it believe me, and also these aren’t suggestions, these are mandates. These are things you have to be thankful for, not you should be thankful for. So, being thankful for Mr. Argentina is being required by me.
