It is November 25, 2004 and I'm in New Braunfels with my family. In about an hour we drive down to San Antonio for the formal family dinner. I'll be heading back to Austin later this evening, but I won't be blogging until Monday. I spent the morning with my twin sisters Katie and Kelley and my father at the gun range. Man oh man, I really want me a Glock 21 with a ported slide and barrel. That baby shoots nice. I still love my Browning Hi-Power, but you can never have too many guns.

This is the time of year where we're supposed to step back and give thanks for the things we have. I'll honor that tradition now.

I am thankful for being alive. Despite all the unhappy commentary that has flowed from this blog, I would rather be here, now, than buried there, in the past. I am thankful for my mind and my physical abilities, for without either, I'd be no better than an instinctual animal, lacking purpose, wandering from one place of rest to another.

I am thankful for the comfort my efforts have produced. Though I am not entirely severed from my parents' support (my father must have spent over $6,000 on me this year alone), I am for the most part fully in charge of where I go and what I do. My life would be nasty and brutish if I didn't have the shelter, clothing, food, and entertainment I possess.

I am thankful for my family and friends and coworkers. They endure my often confusing and annoying personality every day and always come back for more. I do my best to treat them with the respect they deserve and I'm occasionally unsuccessful. Without them, I'd suffer greatly.

I am most thankful for my freedom, without which none of the above would be even possible. I am very thankful for the fellow partisans of liberty who join my side. We may not agree on everything and we may vehemently disagree on much more, but we acknowledge the Important Thing: the direction and velocity of the societies we are a part of remain incorrect and dangerous. That will always be my motivation to continue.

Though I rail against them, call them ugly names, and often wish they'd simply disappear, I am honestly thankful for my philosophical and political opponents. They are the shadows that make everything good stand so brilliantly in contrast.

And I am thankful for the people who read Magnifisyncopathological regularly. This is not as easy as it can appear to be. I was once a blog lurker and I genuinely had little idea of the effort it can take to publish this material and communicate with the public. Even the people who Google something, find my site, and post angry responses to my words I am thankful for. You make this an experience unique and unknown every day I log on. Keep it up, guys. You keep me sharp.

I hope everyone has a safe, healthy, and happy Thanksgiving. I will do my best to have the same.

Adios.