{"id":80712,"date":"2019-12-03T23:44:13","date_gmt":"2019-12-04T06:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=80712"},"modified":"2019-12-06T00:01:22","modified_gmt":"2019-12-06T07:01:22","slug":"a-b-c-and-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/12\/a-b-c-and-me.html","title":{"rendered":"A, B, C, and M(e)"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_38254\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38254\" style=\"width: 597px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/11\/800px-Thanksgiving-Brownscombe.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-38254\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/11\/800px-Thanksgiving-Brownscombe.jpg\" alt=\"An early twentieth century painting of Thanksgiving\" width=\"597\" height=\"373\"><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-38254\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u201cThe First Thanksgiving at Plymouth,\u201d by Jennie A. Brownscombe (1914)<br>Wikimedia Commons public domain image<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>My anonymous but indefatigable Malevolent Stalker has just posted a condemnatory analysis of the way I spent my time on Thanksgiving Day 2019. \u00a0Based on his careful study of my blog posts for that day, last Thursday, he concludes that I neglected and ignored my family on Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This is important to him. \u00a0He cares. \u00a0He cares about <em>me<\/em>. \u00a0He cares about my <em>family<\/em>. \u00a0He\u2019s been closely monitoring me for fifteen years now, and commenting continually about me during that time \u2014 always negatively \u2014 online. \u00a0So I want to set his mind at rest, and, at the same time, to set him another task.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>My family and I didn\u2019t celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday at <em>all<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Let me explain why.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Like several other members of the extended family, I was sick. \u00a0Some family members also had scheduling problems (with other kinfolk, elsewhere) on Thursday. \u00a0Furthermore, a monster snow storm was said to be coming for the day. \u00a0(It turned out to be rather underwhelming, but we didn\u2019t yet know that it wouldn\u2019t really be, as some forecasts put it, \u201chistoric.\u201d) \u00a0So, on Wednesday afternoon, we decided to postpone our Thanksgiving observance until Sunday. \u00a0We\u2019ve never done that before, but we figured that doing so might allow some of us to feel better and to be less contagious, that it would get us past the threatened storm, and that it would permit some family members to be there who otherwise couldn\u2019t be.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I hope that the Stalker will be relieved to know that we did, in fact, gather together as a family in Bountiful, Utah, after church on <em>Sunday<\/em>. \u00a0My wife and I were there. \u00a0Her father was there. \u00a0So were two of her brothers and her sister. \u00a0So were various spouses and children. \u00a0We had a good time together. \u00a0We spent quality time with each other. \u00a0We ate turkey and dressing and cranberries and pumpkin pie and pecan pie and hot rolls and all of the other traditional foods of the standard American Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The new task that I set for the Stalker is simply this: \u00a0He needs to analyze the blog entries that I posted on Sunday, 1 December 2019, and to find fault with the way I spent that day. \u00a0I know that he\u2019s up to the task.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #6e2602;\"><strong>***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This is as good a context as any in which to mention something posted by my Mini-Stalker \u2014 a less talented Malevolent Stalker wannabe \u2014 that I noticed several weeks ago and quite enjoyed. \u00a0He used just four words to sum me up, and I find the summation brilliant. \u00a0I\u2019ve reordered them a bit, as a way of remembering them, but I think that anybody who knows me well will instantly recognize how perfectly and how perfectly concisely he\u2019s captured me:<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #6e2602;\"><strong>Angry, bitter, cruel, and miserable.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I would say that these guys see right into my soul. \u00a0If only I <em>had<\/em> one.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0 \u00a0 My anonymous but indefatigable Malevolent Stalker has just posted a condemnatory analysis of the way I spent my time on Thanksgiving Day 2019. \u00a0Based on his careful study of my blog posts for that day, last Thursday, he concludes that I neglected and ignored my family on Thanksgiving. \u00a0 This is important to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6927,6936,2556,3460,6933,6921,6924,2562,6939,6930],"class_list":["post-80712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ad-hominem","tag-anonymous","tag-anti-mormon","tag-critics","tag-libel","tag-malevolent-stalker","tag-mini-stalker","tag-obsession","tag-pseudonymous","tag-slander"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A, B, C, and M(e)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&nbsp; 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