Everyone I know in Paris has a cold. Our household is drinking lots of tea. I'm really glad my mother made me buy cold medicine at Happy Harry's Discount Drugs. Happy Harry's was recently bought by Walgreen's, so the "Premier Value" line of generic products were selling at severely reduced prices when I was in Delaware this summer.

I have been working on fellowship applications for next year. The one that is due on Wednesday requires a chapter. I have eleven good pages and nine bad pages written. The maximum they want to see is 25 pages, so I feel good about the possibility of finishing.

I have also done a lot of procrastinating. Last night Laura and I watched The Name of the Rose. I had read the novel but I don't think I've ever watched the movie before, at least not in one sitting. It was long, and more violent than I thought it would be. I was a little disappointed that they didn't really explain how the library is organized, which was my favorite part of the book. But I guess that might have been boring for most viewers.

Youtube is fabulous for procrastinating. I found the Reading Rainbow "Teamwork" dance number. I sent it to my friend Sheila first, but now I am linking it here to share the joy. I first saw the Reading Rainbow "Teamwork" musical number when I lived in Northampton with Dottie. It must have been around Thanksgiving, because I went to Sheila's for Thanksgiving dinner and I just would not stop singing the Teamwork song. Because really, isn't Thanksgiving all about teamwork? Teamwork to baste the turkey, teamwork to set the table, teamwork to wash the dishes, teamwork to play 500, teamwork to unload the Alaskan crab from the dry ice. Oh, now I'm conflating my Thanksgivings.

I've been a free agent for Thanksgiving for twelve years now, because I've lived far enough from my family (and had little enough money) that they don't expect me to come home. It's nice to spend Thanksgiving with other people's families. I have gotten lots of different things to eat, things like Tofurkey, Jell-O Pretzel Salad, flourless chocolate cake, and the aforementioned Alaskan crab legs. And I've experienced lots of fun digestive activities. I have fond memories of reading David Sedaris stories aloud with Sheila's family, playing cards with Laura's family, and sneaking cigarettes in the garage at the lake house with Leanne's father. Last year I spent the entire weekend hanging out with Laurie and Dave and their family--we went bowling, we had tapas, we saw Rent at the movie theatre, we played Pictionary.

The French don't celebrate Thanksgiving (they have subtler ways of memorializing colonization) , so I will be a little sad when next Thursday rolls around. Maybe we will plan to have our own renegade version.