Be Thankful, Every Day.

I have a lot to be thankful for in my life. Friends who are amazing and a great support system in times of need. A job or should I say jobs that have given me the opportunity to do what I love. A great place to live and food on the table. I also am incredibly thankful for my family who without them, I would not be the person I am today. They have done so much for me and I know will continue to do so for my whole life and the best way I can think to acknowledge that is to say I love you and I'm thankful for you every day.

I enjoy this time of year, the holidays, because it really does have a way of bringing people together. It is a great opportunity to spend time reminiscing and being with the ones you love, what else could be better. Thanksgiving, or as a lot of people like to call it Turkey Day is this week, a great day to spend with family and friends and remember how truly blessed we are. However, it breaks my heart to know there are millions who will go without shelter or food during the holidays. Thinking about everyone who is not as fortunate as myself really puts it all into perspective and I realize how selfish I can be. I probably complain about something at least once a day, sometimes it is very minimal and other times it happens more often, but what I do know is it is not necessary. What do I have to complain about? I'm not happy, far away from family, work is tiring, blah..blah..blah. I have family and friends, food, a good home, and the financial means to live comfortably, I should be grateful every day.

Aunt Patty and Aunt Chris, who treat
us like their children. We love you so
much!

Can't forget Ollie the Trolley!

My friend Katie :)

I think to a certain degree that is where our society has become a little lost on what being thankful or rather, when being thankful should take place. It should take place every day. It is interesting to me that somehow the month of November has turned into, "I'm going to express everything I am thankful for and then go back to not acknowledging it until next November." I know that sounds a little harsh but it happens every year where we see people posting things or saying it out loud more often. Now I don't want to sound judgmental because I believe everything I read or hear is totally sincere and I'm not trying to say the words don't mean anything, I honestly just wish it would happen on a more consistent basis. I would
like to see posts or words of thankfulness all year, each month, every day.

A great thing about writing this blog is being able to acknowledge my faults and weaknesses, accept them and work to change. If you noticed I started this post with saying what I was thankful for so really I am just like everyone else because I will admit I don't do it enough. Even when I was deciding what to write about for this post immediately I thought, well Thanksgiving is coming up, I should write about what I am thankful for. Really? How generic is that. Since Thanksgiving falls in November it is inevitable that it becomes the month of "expressing what we're thankful for," and I'm sure the same would be true if it happened during March. That's the problem right there, we have fallen into this routine that we need a driving force for us to express emotions that should be shown on a daily basis.

I'm thankful for being a part of
Central Softball and all of my
teammates I call friends.

My friend Alyssa. Thankful that you
love Hairball and 80's rock as much
as I do :)

There was an ongoing theme throughout this post, I used the phrase every day quite often and that is because it is important for us all to be thankful for everything we have going on in our lives on a daily basis. I am sure a lot of you already do that and others it is time to start, I surely need to. This will be the first Thanksgiving I will spend without any of my family, which, is hard but instead of sulking about it I am going to be thankful for the people I will be spending the day with. My family is great and there is nothing like spending time with them but it is nice that I have been able to make some connections here in Pennsylvania. Another important thought is that we should never take anything for granted in our lives. We never know what is going to happen next and so we need to take advantage of the life we have been given to live. Live life one day at a time and don't try to speed it up because you will miss out on all of the important moments. Live every day, love every day, and be thankful every day.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving holiday.

"Take the time to be thankful for everything that you have.

You can always have more, but you could also have less."

- Mohd Uved

Corsets, Fishnets, and Wigs!!

 "It's just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right!

 With your hands on your hips, you bring your knees in tight!

 But it's the pelvic thrust, that really drives you insane,

Let's do the time warp again!"

It's amazing how a movie can bring generations together, but then again I think in some ways, that is the purpose of film making. When film makers are able to create something that, in a way transcends time and reaches different people from year to year, it is something to be proud of. Fun fact, the movie discussed in this week's post actually tanked at the box office and yet it has the longest-running theatrical release in film history, all because its ability to develop new audiences and maintain its cult following. The particular film I am referring to is none other than the cult classic, musical comedy horror, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW!

I had the opportunity to work the annual showing of Rocky Horror at the Midtown Cinema for Halloween and I must say it was an experience. For those of you who have not seen what I can only describe as a catastrophic masterpiece (I mean that in a positive way) go watch it right now! Soon enough you will be singing the songs, doing the Time Warp, and hoping there is a showing near you next Halloween. Don't forget your prop bag!

So what is it about this movie that it has been able to cultivate a new audience from year to year while also maintaining it's loyal cult following? I think it is because of the great social experience it has become and how it brings different people together. This movie is for the audience and the people that come put on a show that in ways, is better than the movie itself. It has created this great big family that love coming together to enjoy the film and introduce it to newbies along the way. I think another important factor as to why it is so popular is the movie is pretty far fetched and weird which makes it fun! One can't help but sing along or quote each character's lines. To think that this movie was released in 1975 and after forty years it is still going strong, which, is no surprise that Rolling Stone ranked it #1 on their Best Cult Movies of All Time list.

Midtown Cinema Staff

It was so awesome to see the people that came out to enjoy the show last Saturday and the diverse group we had made the experience even better. We had some who remembered when the movie was first released and how they used to do weekly midnight showings at what is now Capital City Mall, people who have seen it hundreds of times, and finally some who were coming to see it for the first time (it's never too late!). Not to mention the great participation by everyone who dressed up. We had varying depictions and interpretations of all of the different characters and each person made it unique in their own way.

While it would have been fun to go to the movie and watch, being on the other side working and witnessing people having a good time was very gratifying. Not to mention the staff down at Midtown is bomb.com! So while I am sure we were all dead tired the next morning, because we were cleaning up until 1:30am, it really isn't something everyone is lucky enough to experience.

So get a group of friends together and come up the lab, to see what's on the slab, I see you shiver with antici.....pation!!


Thanks for reading!

Annie


Next Week's Blog Preview: Being thankful should be a daily occurrence.