November

Ah, November.  You have arrived with your blustery winds, your falling leaves, your lovely crisp scent.  And, yes, I can experience all of these things even though I live in California, with its mild temperament and nearly non-existent seasons.  I love it.

Thanksgiving will soon be upon us, and I will gladly stuff my face with turkey, stuffing, mac and cheese, and a various assortment of pies and other desserts.

But, do you know what else is upon us?  The dreaded 'Post One Thing You're Thankful For Every Single Day on Facebook Challenge.'  Or, as I like to call it, the 'Annoy the Ever-Living Hell Out of Your Facebook Friends Extravaganza.'

It's not that I begrudge people their thankfulness, not at all.  On the contrary, I am glad people are thankful for things...you might even say that I'm thankful that they are thankful.

But, we are ever-increasingly doing our best (or worst) to blend the public and the private, until the two are virtually indistinguishable. I love Facebook--it allows me to keep in touch (phone-phobe that I am) with so many people that I probably would never have spoken to again if it weren't for this little invention.  (That, by the way, is no reflection on said individuals, merely a reflection upon myself and the ways in which I do not particularly enjoy communicating). That being said, I don't think that I should have to read about what each and every one of them is thankful for without actively choosing to do so.

Basically, I think that instead of reading the 30 things Hannah is thankful for (I don't actually have any friends named Hannah, so don't bother looking), which clogs up my news feed along with everything Prue, Phoebe, and Piper are thankful for, I should have to actively choose to do so (more than likely, I sometimes would choose this, by the way).

In other words, I think Hannah should get a blog.  And every day, she should write what she is thankful for in that blog, and every week, she should post a link to that blog.  That way, I get to choose whether or not I want to read the latest 7 things Hannah is thankful for, or whether I'd rather skip that and scroll through my news feed to see what everyone is having for lunch, or what their super cute kids are up to for the day/week/month.

I've never taken part in this "challenge," largely because I find it arbitrary, but also because for some reason, I find it annoying (perhaps because I find it arbitrary?).  I even hid one person who did it last year (don't worry, I un-hid you as soon as December hit!).

Well, I take part of that back--one year, I posted on November 30th, that I was thankful that I wouldn't have to read about everyone else's thankfulness anymore.

I don't mean to be a scrooge or a grinch, I just mean to say: I like staying in touch with you!  Truly, I do.  I like seeing what you're up to, looking at your pets, your kids, and debating with you.  I just don't like 8 million posts every day about how you're thankful for your juicer. :)