Happy Thanksgiving friends. I'm thankful for you.

After eight maddeningly-frustrating work hours, six hours in the car, a half-hour stop at Burger King in South Haven, at least four phone calls to and from Ben Harper, and a return to the great express lanes of Chicago, I'm back in the 'burbs. I got to watch the finish to UNC-Gonzaga with my dad (not particularly interesting), I got to see the least inspiring Stupid Pet Tricks ever on Late Night with David Letterman, I got to see Will Arnett (aka GOB from Arrested Development) participate in "In The Year 2000," and I got to hear The Boy's lame excuses on why his pre-Thanksgiving boozing didn't result in a trip to The House. When it comes right down to it, pre-Thanksgiving boozing should always end at The House. Ask Gurs. He's totally there dude.

Downside:
There will be no trivia in the suburbs on Thursday.

Upside:
There will be a new Rud-family tradition. The Boy, my parents, and I (though not the oldest and youngest, sadly) are going to see the fringe-offensive and totally awesome Borat. Anyway, I think the new tradition is "watching a fringe-offensive comedy on Thanksgiving night." I'm pretty excited, honestly. (Though I wouldn't've been excited enough to pay for my own ticket. I'll buy the booze and the flask for my mom - it'll be more fun when she starts yelling "Throw the Jew down the well!" over and over and over. Right? Funnier? Yes.)

We're also loading up the car at 8, heading west to Grandma's, cutting down a Christmas tree, saying hello to the relatives, gorging, sleeping, and driving back. Thanksgiving 'dinner' at 1:30 has its advantages, chief among them getting out of town by 4 so that you can see Borat at 7:20.

- - - - - - - -

So, on Tuesday, I broke the bank at Borders. Five CDs, which is a one-visit record, probably for anything for me. (Well, I've probably bought five cans of tuna or five apples or bananas or boxes of macaroni and cheese, but five is certainly my one-visit CDs record.)

So, I got to Borders, and I did some shopping in the Rock section. Two CDs were already at the register, but, as documented previously, I'm a sucker for my Borders Rewards Program, and I had a 10% off personal shopping day. Huge.

I had developed a list of what I wanted, and everything on the list was there. (Except for the Joanna Newsom record, but I had already known that was sold out. Sucks.) (Also, please continue reading. This one's got a "Slice of Life" point to it. I'm kind of serious. Please.) This surprised me pretty seriously, because I don't think The Thermals have gotten much press, and because Elliott Smith's Figure 8 is five years old. So I didn't expect to see those two, but they were totally there.


The fifth, and least desirable of the three, was Trail of Dead's So Divided, which I knew was in stock. It was slagged by Pitchfork, but allmusic.com gave it a nice review, and I decided, What the Hell? Plus, it was ten bucks, so I figured it couldn't suck that much. (In a way, it's worth it for their cover of Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory, which is awesome in a kind of twisted way.)


So, with Elliott Smith, Trail of Dead, and The Thermals in hand, I headed to the register.

"How are you today?" I was asked.

My response was friendly, dorky, and basically odd: "I've had a fantastic Borders day. At about noon, I called, and somebody set aside a CD for me. And then, like three hours later, I got a call that my special order was in. Awesome."

"Name?"
I gave my name.
And then she struggled and struggled and struggled to find the CDs (Oxford Collapse was the order, Swan Lake was released Tuesday), and she revealed that it was her third day, and then she found them.



So we closed the transaction. I signed my credit card receipt. I elected to use my ten percent Personal Shopping Day discount, but not my $13.49 Holiday discount - the Holiday discount is applied before the ten percent discount, so I'm basically giving away money in that case. And I thought long and hard before turning down the Holiday discount money.

I thanked her. She said, "Rock on."

Even though we had developed a nice rapport, "Rock on" was a bit odd, I though. Yes, I was wearing a t-shirt and a hoodie, and, yes, I've got the chops in full effect.

But "Rock On?"

But then, it hit me. Dig the album covers. They scream "Rock on."

1) The Thermals - Blacked-out eyes Jesus with smoke and piles of garbage in the background
2) Trail of Dead - Ornately-drawn/painted Asian chick staring through a hold in a map or diagram
3) Swan Lake - Gothic mountain scene, plus naked cherubin
4) Oxford Collapse - Party! Dude jumping in a pool and pummeling The Noid

So, I guess "Rock On" was appropriate. But still off-putting.

See. I told you there was a point. (There wasn't, really.)

- - - - - - - - - - - -

I was last in the 'burbs as an unemployed lame-o Labor Day weekend. I got home, returned to my traditional basement lair, and, later in the evening, headed towards the restroom.

Sitting on the countertop, untouched since the first week of September, and placed facedown so as to hold my place on page 3, was Dostoyevski's Notes From The Underground.

I don't remember starting it in the restroom, and I didn't finish it, but, damn, that's good potty reading. Better than Maxim, that's for sure.

- - - - - - - - - -

The Boy spoke with my parents on Tuesday perhaps. He was going to be returning from work sometime Wednesday night. "Is there dinner?" "We'll have some food in the fridge, but not much."

On Tuesday, I didn't ask, I told. "Have some food in the fridge for me, will ya?"

And when I arrived, a list on the table.

"A -

Sorry I missed you!

We've got

- Fajitas
- Beef Barley soup
- Ice Cream
- Pie
- Fruit

Get ready to leave at 8!

Love, Mom"

I guess I'm not just the favorite brother, I'm also the favorite son.

Rock on, indeed.

- - - - - - - -

Have you seen Gilbert Arenas' blog?.

I'll publish some of the best parts:

PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii
"Man, I couldn’t get it. I stood outside no hours and got nothing. That’s when you sit in your room and try to use your celebrityism. I didn’t get nothing. I knew I should have called and said I was D-Wade. “Um, hello, this is D-Wade … This is LeBron … Can I come over there and get one of them?” Then I would have had one."

Hilarious!

All Star Voting Time
I know ballots are out. I know Puffy had the Vote or Die, you know, with them shirts. You know, I want to have, 'If no one votes for me, I’m not going to do anymore blogs.'

Scandalous!

Go Ahead, Say I'm a Ballhog
"To me, I don’t even pay attention to that anymore. Because, if I was a two, a 2-guard, you know, I’d just be a great scorer. But, since I’m playing the point position, you know, I’m a guy who shoots a lot. It’s easy to pick on me for some reason, but, every team I’ve played with I might average 29-28, but I’ll also have two players that average 20 and 20. So, for some guy who is jacking it up, how come I’m always with two other players that score that much? I’ve never seen anybody else in this league that have two players on their team that are scorers like mine."

Honest, really. Kind of awesome!

Vote or Die! Priceless.

(And, yes, somebody's totally selling the shirts.

I like Gil more now than I did yesterday.

- - - - - - -

Soriano? The Yankee-izing of the Cubs makes me uncomfortable. And Mark DeRosa sucks. But at least we didn't drop nine million a year for Juan Pierre. Or ten million per year for Little Sarge. So I guess it was the least-stupid signing involving a center fielder.

But I'm not sure it's the final straw, or close to it. Better to try than to rely on Felix Pie, probably.