A VC« Gervais Thanksgiving Podcast | Main | Pandora vs Last.fm (continued) »
Things I Am Thankful For
I've been grumpy lately. For no reason really since I am an incredibly fortunate person with so much to be thankful for. Fortunately Thanksgiving has come around at a good time and reminded me of that fact. So here are some of the many things I am thankful for this year.
- My family - The Gotham Gal, Jessica, Emily, and Josh (and Lucky)
- My parents who are alive and well, traveling around and living life to its fullest.
- My brothers and their families (yes D you are family)
- The Gotham Gal's family even though they are enjoying a warm and sunny thanksgiving in southern california while we watch it pour here in long island
- Our friends and their families, some of whom we'll eat thanksgiving dinner with today
- My two businesses, Flatiron and Union Square, and my partners in each of them, and all of the people who have worked in these businesses over the years.
- All of the entrepreneurs that I get to work with on a daily basis, particularly the ones whose businesses we've invested in. Having a front row seat to your roller coaster ride is the best job I could ever imagine.
- Claire McCaskill and Sherrod Brown, who came up winners this year and made us proud. And Jim Webb for wearing his son's combat boots and showing that being against the war in Iraq doesn't make you any less a patriot and a hero. And everyone who came out and voted this year and showed that democracy is alive and well in the United States.
- New York City for being the greatest place in the world to live, where kids who live in penthouses and projects can be best friends, where race,religion and sexual preferences are no big deal and people smashed together on subway trains figure out how to get along every day.
- The Internet for being "the new new thing" and continuing to play that role and getting better and better at it every day.
- For the musicians from Bob Dylan to Mike Skinner and everyone in between who provide the soundtrack to my life and the Internet music services like Rhapsody, Hypemachine, Last.fm, Streampad, Wolfgang's Vault, eMusic, iPod/iTunes, and many more that have made being a music fan easier and better than ever.
- For blogging and social networking which has made my life richer, made me so many new friends, and caused me to think and write like never before.
- For online video, from YouTube to Wallstrip, and everything in between for getting me to enjoy video entertainment again.
- For Guitar Hero II which we got this week and starting playing last night.
- For you, the people who read this blog, comment on it, link to it, and engage with me and my life every day. You have enriched my life and I truly appreciate it.
UPDATE: Charlie has posted his thanksgiving list (pretty similar to mine) and encouraged others to post others they come across (or post) to delicious with the thanksgivinglist tag. Cool idea Charlie.
November 23, 2006 Random Posts | Comments (11)
Comments
Happy Thanksgiving to the Wilsons
Posted by: howard lindzon | Nov 23, 2006 10:40:25 AM
Hey Fred,
Very emotional words. Wish you happy thanks giving.
My family is back in India while I am in New York.
ps: I updated my blog with your reply. Thanks for taking time answering my queries.
Posted by: Vijay | Nov 23, 2006 11:00:27 AM
happy thanksgiving to you and yours
at the risk of sounding corny, i humbly submit we all should be thankful we live in modern times (quality of life and health!) and in particular in the capitalist/democratic west/USA -- as flawed as our system is, human beings have never had it so good in the known history of earth.
---
btw i've been feeling grumpy too. any theories on why and why now?
i suspect that 1) i am transitioning to the next phase of my life (for whatever reasons i have always looked at my life as being a series of rough phases or chapters) and 2) the pleasures and challenges and freedoms of my (oh so lucky) material existance are starting to feel thin and not sufficiently spiritually fulfilling. so, on to #1, next phase...
Posted by: Steve | Nov 23, 2006 12:12:35 PM
Question: is Thanksgiving celebrated by everyone in the USA, or it´s mainly a Christian holiday?
Sorry for the ignorance, but we dont have it in Europe and I was curious...
Posted by: Giordano | Nov 23, 2006 12:26:36 PM
Happy Thanksgiving! I recently met you at a NextNY event and after being a quiet watcher of Flatiron during ....ahem.... 1.0 ... and now Union during....ahem.... 2.0.... And now getting to hear about your thinking and sharing your daily life...I feel it a privilege to have finally met you in person. Hope you enjoy the pies :-)
Posted by: Ken Rossi | Nov 23, 2006 12:29:13 PM
This is funny... I hadn't even read your blog when I made my list. Very similar!
Posted by: Charlie | Nov 23, 2006 1:08:04 PM
Hey Fred, Happy Thanksgiving. I added my thankful list to delicious. Also Dugg the concept, to see if we can get one big "Thank You List" going around the web. Might be pretty cool... Have a great holiday!
http://www.digg.com/tech_news/Bloggers_Post_What_You_re_Most_Thankful_For_To_This_Delicious_Tag
-Jason L. Baptiste
Posted by: Jason L. Baptiste | Nov 23, 2006 2:28:54 PM
And my thanks to you, partner.
Posted by: Jerry | Nov 23, 2006 2:34:03 PM
Hey,
Your blogs great, i read it every day. I couldn't find your email address on your page (but maybe i haven't really woken up yet).
Anyhoo, your job sounds great and I was wondering how you got to be where you are today. Like what kind of previous jobs did you have, what kind of schooling, etc.
Any kind of info would be great.
Cheers
- Darren
Posted by: Darren | Nov 23, 2006 10:04:57 PM
Giordano:
The great thing about Thanksgiving is that is not a religious holiday. Sure it has some elements of a Christian prayer before a feast, it is truly an American holiday where the melting pot becomes one for the day. Although some would disagree with me, I would say it is our biggest holiday. Even on Christmas, the stores are still open; however the whole country shuts down on Thanksgiving except for parades and other festivities.
Canada has a Thanksgiving in October and I also am aware that the Philippines has one too. It is a great time to reflect on what we have and I appreciate Fred's thoughts on the subject. It is a time to really remember what we have and to really think about those less fortunate. I had a long discussion this with my six year old and next year we will volunteer at a soup kitchen.
Have a great week Fred & Family.
Posted by: Ted | Nov 24, 2006 10:13:52 AM
Fred,
Well put! If only the whole world could be more like NYC (with more reasonable real estate prices...)
Posted by: Greg Harris | Nov 24, 2006 11:25:24 AM
Main RSS Feed of All Posts
VC and Technology Posts Only
