Things I am Thankful for this Thanksgiving: Family, Poet Bloggers, Small Presses and Other Blessings

So, this may be cheesy, but I’d like to highlight some things I am thankful for this pre-Thanksgiving week. Some of them include the poetry bloggers that brighten my days with their contributions!

So, my little brother and his wife will be celebrating Thanksgiving with us this year. This is the first time we’ve had family around for Thanksgiving in…well, a long time. I’m so glad they’ll be here. Thanksgiving in our house growing up was pretty stressful – we had a large family, so it was crowded and noisy already, then Dad always invited graduate students without telling Mom, which caused tension, and Mom didn’t especially like to cook…well, you can see how it might be a bit tense. (Oh, and the girls – me and mom – were expected to do all the cleanup while the guys watched football. Stuff that had me stamping in my pre-(proto?)-feminist boots, I can tell you!) In our current family setup, Glenn does all the cooking, so that leaves me to do the other stuff – family visiting, decorating, and yes, writing thankfulness blog posts. Thanks honey! So it’s a different kind of Thanksgiving for us as grownups than we got to celebrate together as kids, and I am glad. I also anticipate one throwback tradition – the MST3K Turkey Day marathon (now streaming instead of on Comedy Central! Ah, the future is now!)

I’m thankful that I’m not in a wheelchair like I was a couple of years ago, or desperately ill and unable to tolerate most Thanksgiving food like I was even last year (welcome back into my life, chicken, peppermint and carrots! I’ve missed you!)

This year I’m giving thanks for the poet bloggers who are still around, writing long-form notes about their lives, their writing, and random reviews of books, movies, video games, etc. Their ranks are shrinking all the time! Here are some bloggers I’ve been reading for a while that I’m thankful for (and you should take a peek at their blogs, too!) Obviously I love and value everyone on my blog roll or they wouldn’t be there, but these are the blogs I turn to when I’m discouraged, I need a lift, or I need to commiserate:

• Kelli Russell Agodon – http://ofkells.blogspot.com/ – Her words about writing retreats, quotes from writers, and just general reflections on life are always inspiring and cheerful.
• Kristin Berkey-Abbott – http://kristinberkey-abbott.blogspot.com/ – a mix of writing, college administration, and spiritual living, Kristin in intelligent and thoughtful and often ponders things in a way that (I think) make me think about stuff that’s really important.
• Kristen McHenry – http://thegoodtypist.blogspot.com/ – Kristen is a fellow Seattle writer whose blog makes me laugh, she’s a darn good writer, and occasionally writes reviews of movies and video games so good they actually make me go out and get them. (Which is hard, right?) She also makes fun of hipsters, which is necessary to survive living in Seattle, a sometimes unbearably hip place. (I like a little snark sometimes too!)
• Lesley Wheeler – http://lesleywheeler.org/ – Lesley is an intelligent, sparkly human being who also happens to be a successful academic and sci-fi writer. It’s good to read her blog. Do it.
• Mary Biddinger – http://wordcage.blogspot.com/ – I’ve been reading Mary’s blog since before we each had books out from Steel Toe Books the same year (that is, since 2006!) It’s because of her I even know about Zooborns and her pictures of Ohio landscapes are melancholic little poems.
• Kelly Davio – http://kellydavio.com/ – Kelly’s posts of the world of being a poetry editor are worth the price of admission by themselves. A thoughtful fellow Seattle-area writer who is another “sparkly” person in real life.
• Rachel Dacus – http://dacusrocket.blogspot.com/ – a strong soul and good insights into the writer’s life.

Other special blog recommendations include January O’Neil (especially on Confession Tuesday!), Natasha K. Moni (charting the life of a poet who’s also in medical school,) Rebecca Loudon, Susan Rich, Diane Lockward, Martha Silano, Sandra Beasley, Sandy Longhorn and Robert Lee Brewer. Thanks to everyone who does the hard work of writing into the abyss, and keeping up a writing blog in the age of Twitter feeds and Instagram.

I’m also grateful to each press who has supported me by publishing my books: Steel Toe Books, Kitsune Books, New Binary Press, Two Sylvias Press, and Mayapple Press. Say, it’s the holiday season, maybe go buy a book and help support a small press, right?

Feel free to share your favorite blogs in the comments! Happy Thanksgiving week! And next up – a Black Friday shopping list?