I have been thinking about, mulling it over like some fine spiced cider, what is it to be thankful? Leading up to Thanksgiving, maybe it’s best to prep for that rather than chopping onions.
This thing that everyone is thankful about, this thankfulness, no one is really sure what it is.
Maybe it’s a stillness. Maybe it’s a fullness. Maybe it’s a hashtag, a heavy bag.
Maybe it’s loud nag. Maybe it’s a tired sag. A relief, a debrief, a loud queef.
The coral reef?
While we mull over what thankfulness is, ( maybe you can give me a clue what you think it is in the comments) right now I want to talk about those special things that all humans really like. Those things that we purport to be thankful for.
It’s the simple things…right?
A dog likes his bowl because it carries the food he eats. He forms a bond with that bowl. Some dogs more than others, bond with a bowl.
Humans also have special bowls they like to eat out of, a bowl that they don’t want to share.
I call them human dog bowls.
People have stuff and animals have stuff too.
Today, while we figure out what thankfulness is, I really wanted to say how much I like cups and other people must feel the same way.
I’m thankful for cups.
This is very primal.
Maybe in that primal love towards a cup or a bowl we connect with our gratefulness. Maybe gratefulness is a connection and that’s why it’s so hard to grasp. It’s the thing between cups and people—between dogs and bowls, cats and beds, people and beds, people and cats, cats and mice?
Or maybe gratefulness is just saying, “I’m glad it’s like this. I am glad I have this cup and someone else doesn’t. This cup is good for me and I’m happy about that. This is great.
I’m grateful, full of great. Full of great about THIS cup that I just happen to own and use.
And not to be—ungrateful but, I can’t help but feel like “grateful” seems like such a trumped up word for being pleased about something. It sounds so much more righteous than liking something.
You could say you like it but instead you have to devour it, it’s almost an ownership. It’s not just GOOD and fine it’s good about YOU. It’s good FOR you.
Even if something isn’t THAT good I can be grateful it’s not worse. I can imagine a WORSE outcome and so I am grateful for this one. That’s a little off isn’t it?
But it’s normal.
It’s pretty abstract but it’s a way to console yourself or put things into perspective.
It is weird though that Grateful is not spelled Greatful. I feel like the key to all this is somewhere in there, in the grate .
Another sticky wicket we may get into is that being grateful can obligate some kind of appreciative action.
I’m Grateful for you so I will give you a shoe.
Something like that. It tends to be something nice.
But it’s directly related to revenge!! Isn’t it retribution (to pay back)?
You did something bad so you get something BAD! How do you like that!? THANKS a LOT!
People like to turn things around, reverse gratitude, I actually hate that.
There’s a comedian I like, maybe you know him. His name is Bruce McCulloch from the Kids in the Hall. I thought of him as the James Dean of the KITH, I wonder if he was going for that? I think he was.
Bruce put out a couple of albums that are not very well known. The first was Shame Based Man, in 1995, this carried his biggest hit, “Daves I Know”. You probably know that one from the show.
In 2002 Bruce Put out an album that was even less widely known called The Drunk Baby Project, and this album isn’t even on Spotify (gasp).
Bruce, If you are reading this, please put it on Spotify.
On that album, The Drunk Baby Project, Bruce has a song called “One Good Cup”, it was really more of a poem, and I think about this piece ALL THE TIME. It’s made an effect on me.
I really like cups and so does he.
So does everyone.
I cannot find this song anywhere online so I am going to copy and paste the lyrics and leave you all to enjoy your favorite cup.
interlude: prayer of the cup (by ava not bruce)
Raise that cup in the air, and wave it like you really care.
And are extremely Grateful for the cup and not just the cup, but everything it holds-
Your hopes for a caffeinated day,
Your future vital liquids,
Your past imbibes.
its fragility, steel cups are just not the same as those made of glass or porcelain.
and thy be done, drinking for now
Clean the cup? Doesn’t matter.
It’s mine.
(enter bruce)
ONE GOOD CUP
by Bruce McCulloch
Like running shoes, the body wears out from the inside.
The body worn thin by the heart that pumps too much blood, too often, or just plain wrong.
You shouldn't think about things you shouldn't think about.
And you definitely shouldn't count on what little you know.
Like shoes, head and heart, it too will wear out.
All I know is just enough to fill a thimble. And if you pause here, you can throw it back like a jolt of espresso and move on.
All I want is one.
All I want is one good cup, one good cup of the bitter brown stuff. All I want is one gal, one pal, one shirt that lets the air through.
How many ceramic Kennedy heads can one man use in his life?
How many good cups can one man expect his life to muster?
One. One. All I want is one.
One sweet thing, loading them into the minivan or whatnot.
One head on my chest.
One heart. One breath.
One horoscope to read aloud.
One set of hands to memorize.
All I want is one good cup.
And just enough to know that one is enough.
- Bruce McCulloch