A discussion of holidays of which I'm largely ignorant, followed by one which I love. And other stuff.

Every country has a few special holidays. In the UK you get "Boxing Day," which may or may not involve Mike Tyson; in Scotland you get "Robbie Burns Day" which may and must involve whiskey and haggis, the latter of which is way more delicious than you've been lead to believe. I'll put it this way: sheep innards: chalky, yet strangely devourable. In Russia, you get Unity Day (during which all civilians are poisoned with barely traceable iotas of radioactive isotopes); in the Netherlands, Koninginnedag, which has something to do with orange and the monarchy, but has been included because it's really fun to say. Hey: even countries you didn't know existed (Montserrat) have their own holidays (Jump-Up Day) which are actually important, but that I feel it necessary to make light of for no real reason. America? We've got Thanksgiving.

That's the reason for my prolonged absence, and by prolonged I mean a week, which really isn't that long in the first place. Turkey was eaten, ham was (sadly) not, wine was drank, merriment was had. I got to see my folks, my sister, my uncle, my aunt, and their two daughters and do what you do on Thanksgiving, namely, gorge yourself until your toes fall asleep. In other words, it was everything that Thanksgiving's supposed to be, namely food and family, which is what most of the holidays in the first paragraph boil down to in the end. Except Boxing Day. I have no idea what that boils down to. It's on all my calendars though. Maybe it is about food and family but, honestly, I suspect something far more sinister. Like having your kids battle it out for their parent's love in a steel cage filled with panthers. With boxing gloves, of course.

So what's gone on besides yams and cranberries, you might ask? We had a wonderful show in L.A. on the twenty-first which doesn't lend itself to humorous anecdotes but I thought worthy of mention since we had a grand old time. A hearty thank you to all who came out two nights before Thanksgiving.

Otherwise? A week off is always a nice thing. We're working on new songs for New Year's and next year and the years beyond. I'm back at work for a jaw-dropping two months before we leave again. A sense of normalcy is slowly dawning, one which figures to carry with it work-a-day boredom, financial solvency, and actually getting used to living where we live instead of living in whatever motel seems the least likely to get us killed, arrested, or poisoned. I'm looking forward to that.