How Your Crummy Childhood Can Work Out Okay

Reflecting on the pieces I’ve written here thus far, one might get the impression that NotSoDeepSouth is a trembling pile of human wreckage. Nothing could be further from the truth. I hardly tremble at all. But seriously, here’s a sample of stories I’ve contributed:

My analyst likes to tell me that any one of these events would be enough to keep us talking for a good while but all of them together makes it seem like a minor miracle that I’m still alive. I recall staring at her blankly when she said this. What does one say to that? Continue reading →

Ground Zero: A Report from Blackish Thursday

Generally speaking, I avoid crap like Black Friday or Blackish Thursday. The things I’m interested in are rarely on sale, and the ones that are are frequently just as cheap online. However, the last two years I’ve indulged on single items that were significantly cheaper. This year, I found a single item I was interested in.

Now, in previous years, my travels have taken me to Meijer (which, for those of you unfamiliar with it, is basically Not-Wal Mart) and Best Buy (late in the day, so it wasn’t insane). This year, because Batman: Arkham City decided to crap out on me, I decided to give Toys R Us a shot. I figured, “Hey, it’s 10:30pm on Thanksgiving. Only crazy people would be at Toys R Us at 10:30pm on Thanksgiving. I should be able to get in and out without much trouble.” Continue reading →

Why I Love Thanksgiving

ThanksgivingThanksgiving has always been a special holiday for me. I’m not religious, so Christmas is great for presents and all but it’s not a holy day for me. Birthdays are great when you are a kid but when you get older, meh.

When I was a kid we always had huge gatherings for Turkey day. My grandmother had remarried before I was born and I had more aunts and uncles than I knew what to do with. It was a real Brady Bunch type situation. How my grandmother managed to cook such a giant meal in such a tiny kitchen is something that still amazes me to this day.

Continue reading →