Thankful

If ever there was a year that gave so many so little to be thankful for, it’s 2020. Illness, deaths, job losses, isolated from family and friends, and the entire election cycle of poisoned rhetoric and flat-out lies has made this a year I think we’d all like to just flush like the giant turd that it is.

But despite that, I’m still very thankful. I’m walking out of the deep, dark woods of Covid-19 with my family for the most part unscathed. No hospitalizations, no fevered nightmares, and no loss of income. Monday was the two-week mark since my symptoms had started and today, on our national holiday of giving thanks, I’m feeling nearly back to my old self. My wife, son, and daughter are also nearly back to full capacity and I’m so very grateful for their health returning. As much as I’ve read of horrific experiences with this virus, I feel we all were incredibly lucky. So I’m very thankful for coming out of the other side of this Covid tunnel intact.

There are other things I’m thankful for, and one of the biggest is the music of 2020. Music has been that pocket of sanity I’ve been able to crawl into and get lost in. It’s been my go-to escape, and despite this shite year there has been some truly amazing records that have come out this year. A few that I’ve loved? Causa Sui’s Szabodelico, Dawn Chorus and the Infinite Zero’s Liberamente, Turquoise Moon’s The Sunset City, Proto Droids’ Cybernetic World, Blake Mills’ Mutable Set, Fiona Apple’s Fetch The Bolt Cutters, The Nels Cline Singers’ Share The Wealth, Johnny Woods’ Pavilions, Behind The Sky’s Portals Compilation, Hunter Complex’ Dead Calm and Zero Degrees, METZ’ Atlas Vending, and that’s just for starters. If you don’t think it’s been a good year for music you haven’t been listening.

I’m thankful for painting. Buying some canvases and paints has given me a new outlet to create. I never dabbled in fine arts before, and I don’t consider myself good or even qualified to pick up a paint brush, but I’m doing it for myself and no one else. What I do is all very abstract, just like me.

I’m also very thankful for my family. We stick together, even when it comes to getting Covid. If one is sick, we’re all sick. Seriously though, spending months together this year hunkered down in our house has proven to me that I’m a pretty damn lucky person. I can’t think of a better group to isolate with.

I’m very thankful for The Criterion Channel, Shudder, HBO Max, Showtime, and Amazon Prime. And Netflix. They have all made a year of not going anywhere not so depressing. Maybe even enjoyable.

Books. Very thankful for the written word. I’m still an analog reader. Nothing like getting lost in a good book. I’m still not reading as many books as I’d like, but this year I’ve almost finished six novels. That sound pathetic, I know, but getting those reading habits back into my daily grind has been a challenge. I’m working on it.

My dog, Otto. He’s the best four-legged pal a two-legged schmuck could ever hope for.

Last but not least, I’m thankful for you. If you’re reading this and you stop by on occasion to read what I’ve got to say then thank you. You, the reader, makes this a pretty amazing place to hang out. I’d be posting whether anyone was reading or not, as this is where I come to let my thoughts wander. I started doing this almost 9 years ago and since then I feel I found the outlet I’d been missing for years. I’ve always loved writing, but making it a habit was never in the cards. That is until December of 2011, when on a whim I started jhubner73.com as a place to post record reviews. Record reviews turned into talking about movies and books, and then eventually my own life. And jhubner73.com eventually became Complex Distractions.

I never realized how much I needed this space in the ether until after that first post. I felt home. And having you fine folks coming by and reading what I have to say is a welcome connection to the world I also never realized I needed. So thanks for coming by and reading what I’ve got to say. You’re all tops in my book.

So if you celebrate it, Happy Thanksgiving. If you don’t, I hope you have a fantastic Thursday. Either way, it’s great to see you.