Monday, November 15, 2010

Friendsgiving

Thanksgiving is 9 days away?! When did that happen? The calendar on my wall still says October... which reminds me, I have to ask the big man in the red suit for an appropriately pithy 2011 wall calendar.

One of the best holiday traditions came and went last weekend in a blur. Friendsgiving is probably my favorite non-Jewish holiday of the year, which makes it 4th overall. It's a time to celebrate the fact that distance nor time apart will wither the roots of friendships that have withstood the tests of harsh harsh passive aggression.

The Story of Friendsgiving
A long, long time ago, circa 2008, a few college students at a small, public, liberal arts institution decided that the November social calendar, which already included events such as SeacoThanksgiving, ThanksGAYving, and YWLP Thanksgiving, not to mention actual Thanksgiving, needed one more pilgrim-style meal. Friendsgiving was born. It's a time for mashed potatoes, photoshoots, mashed potatoes, wine, mashed potatoes, Love Actually, and the more recent tradition: skyping in those overseas friends.

Friendsgiving this year took place in Philadelphia, what better place than where Freedom was born. Fun Fact: Freedom was actually born in upstate New York, but it came to Philly and slept around with many of its buxom women in the days of yore. The increase in Freedom's love children lead the Chamber of Commerce in the 70's, right before the bicentennial, to change the cities image through the "Birthplace of Freedom" campaign. Nice try, Philly, nobody is fooled by Betsy "Double D" Ross.

There were all the fixins of a great Friendsgiving and the added novelty of a new city to explore, to which I plan on returning real soon.