As we all sit down today for the typical Thanksgiving meal, this article in the New York Times reminds us of how much our food sources have changed over the centuries.

The one good thing about battling the flu at home is that it opens up huge swaths of time for reading. When you can do next to nothing, when you feel like the outside world is distant and it’s just you and your germs, that’s the perfect time to tackle a book.

I’d started reading Helen Thomas’ book, Watchdogs of Democracy?, a few weeks ago. Thomas, “the dean of the White House press corps,” as her author blurb says on the back of the book, has been covering presidents since JFK. And the book bears witness to this fact with the endless succession of presidents and staffs and press secretaries that she’s known and asked tough, direct questions of for more than 40 years.

But as interesting as her life experience has been and as insightful as her remarks are, the book needed the strong hand of an editor to clean up choppy sentences and cliche-ridden half thoughts that lead nowhere. About three-quarters of the way through, I was really looking forward to it being over and was still awaiting the knock-out insight, the payoff pitch. And then, there it was. An exchange with former White House press secretary Scott McClellan on May 25th, 2005:

Helen: The other day… you said that we, the United States, [are] in Afghanistan and Iraq by invitation. Would you like to correct that incredible distortion of American history-

Scott: No. We are- that’s where we are currently-

Helen: In view of your credibility [which] is already mired? How can you say that?

Scott: Helen, I think everyone in this room knows that you’re taking that comment out of context. There are two democratically elected governments in Iraq and -

Helen: Were we invited into Iraq?

Scott: There are democratically elected governments now in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we are there at their invitation. They are sovereign governments, and we are there today -

Helen: You mean, if they asked us out, that we would have left?

Scott: No, Helen, I’m talking about today. We are there at their invitation. They are sovereign governments -

Helen: I’m taking about today, too.

Scott: -and we are doing all we can to train and equip their security forces so that they can provide for their own security as they move forward on a free and democratic future.

Helen: Did we invade those countries?

Scott: Go ahead, Steve [with your question, referring to Steve Holland, Reuters White House correspondent].

Orwell would have loved this.

As a Browns fan, one word sums up yesterday’s performance; pathetic. But one man’s pathetic is another’s opportunity. The Houston Chronicle breaks down the game for Texans fans. But this really made me laugh:

The Texans beat Cincinnati and Cleveland by a combined 51-12 without allowing either to score a touchdown — six points each. The Texans gave up an average of 31.2 points in their other nine games… If the Texans could schedule more games against teams from Ohio, they would be Super Bowl contenders. (Does Marion Technical College have a squad?)

Today is my family’s patron saint day (or “slava” in Serbian), hence the icon of St. Archangel Michael above. The story is that during the period of the Serbs’ conversion to Christianity from about the 900s to 1200 or so, as each tribe or clan was converted they accepted a particular saint to be their clan’s protector, replacing an existing pagan deity who performed a similar role.  Legend has it that one can trace their heritage through their family’s “slava.” (At least I’m inclined to believe this because it would mean that my family could trace its lineage back to the House of Nemanjic that ruled over the medieval Serbian kingdom for more than 200 years!)

In the 21st century, the “slava” celebration usually means a few days of prepping the house, cooking food, taking out the “good” silverware, and having the family over throughout the day for a meal, drinks, conversation, and a few good laughs.

You can read more about the tradition of “slava” here.

In the meantime, I’m off to perform my “slava” duties.

Last I checked, I have about a dozen or so subscriptions to various print and online publications. The problem is finding the time to devote to a careful (and carefree, as in unhurried) reading of each one of these great magazines and newspapers.

The other day I had a very leisurely lunch at one of my favorite regular lunchtime haunts, the Aladdin’s in Independence on Rockside Road. With the November issue of “The Atlantic” as my sole companion, I read through four articles and learned about, among other things, former NBA star Kevin Johnson’s run for mayor of Sacramento, the finer points of visiting a Japanese “onsen”, or hot springs, and a bitter Italian liqueur called Fernet Branca. (Read the entire article here.)

Aside from the fact that I learned something new from each one of these articles, I got a distinct pleasure from reading such finely crafted sentences as this one, where author Wayne Curtis describes a walk through the storage room filled with the herbs, roots, and spices that go into making Fernet Branca:

To walk through the room is to reconnoiter a peculiar olfactory geography, crossing from the republic of one aroma into another, with the borderlands between the two sometimes under detente, but often not.

As a writer, I know how much work goes into making a good sentence. So any time I encounter such writing, I’m especially thankful for the intellectual thrill it delivers.

I had the day off from teaching today so I spent a good part of the day cleaning out leaf-choked gutters, raking leaves, and tending to the compost pile behind the garage. That’s where I snapped these pics of my resident squirrel-friend sitting atop the compost pile and snacking on some unsalted roasted peanuts.

I have to admit that for a few days after the election last week, I was somewhat stunned, and so resorted to just taking in the historic moment. Which explains why I haven’t posted anything in almost a week.

But now that President-Elect Obama has named Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff and the speculation about cabinet appointments has begun, not to mention the meeting today with Bush in the Oval Office, the transition is in full swing. And it occurred to me today that what we’re seeing is a shift from the Texas-centered, oil and gas-based Bush family influence to the Illinois Democratic, Chicago political machine type governance. Of course, that might be oversimplifying, but I’ll be curious to follow the developments in the new Obama White House either way.

Read about the Chicago factor (or lack thereof) here in a post from Frank James on The Swamp.

In the meantime, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get reacquainted with Chicago’s astute political observer, the late, great Mike Royko.

Just like that, America has elected its first (literally) African-American president. Even the rest of the world is celebrating this momentous history-making event.

I’ve got a little something to say about it in this month’s Northern Ohio Live magazine. Check it out.

I know I am. And then, I’ll be watching the returns at the charming and boisterous Literary Cafe in Tremont this evening. Bring something for the potluck and celebrate the end of perhaps the longest presidential race in American history.