51 Things I'm Thankful For

1. Häagen-Dazs Ice-Cream, particularly the Green Tea flavour (only available in Korea and Japan) and their Belgium Chocolate flavour.
2. Internet, especially fast Internet.
3. Hot water in large quantities and all the luxuries that go with it – a hot shower, a hot bathtub. Bliss.
4. A good job.
5. Autumn. Just imagine how awful it would have been if we did not have that gradual transition into winter. I’m also thankful for the autumn colours which make the dreary greys of winter more bearable.
6. The Ozone layer. I have sensitive skin.
7. I’m really thankful for the fact that my first cat, Tai-Chi, was a cool cat. Just imagine if my first cat was one of those crazy cats, then I might have turned into a dog-person and I don’t think I could live with myself if I were to be a dog-person.
8. Glasses. I like seeing. My glasses make seeing so much better.
9. Great transportation systems – at least here in Korea.
10. Open Source Software.
11. Mozilla Firefox, with all its snazzy add-ons.
12. Digital cameras.
13. Innovative people.
14. Orgasms.
15. YouTube.
16. Independent news is a great blessing in a world where the mass media news have become gatekeepers of the news, rather than dispensers of the news.
17. C. S. Lewis. Yes for the Narnia books, but especially for all those other books that changed my life.
18. Friends. Not to be confused with acquaintances.
19. Coffee shops. Not American style take-away coffee shops, but real European style coffee shops where you can sit down and relax and take your time to enjoy your order, your company, and the atmosphere.

20. Martial Arts. It is neat that people can defend themselves, and it made the action movie genre so much more fun.
21. Synchronicity.
22. God. (At least the God as I understand God to be – not that “other” one.)
23. Common interests are such a nice thing. Some things are more fun when shared.
24. Berries.
25. Fantasy and Sci-Fi.
26. Things related to dental care: Toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, dentists…
27. PlagiarismChecker.Com makes my life as a teacher so much easier.

28. Vampire movies with sexy and scary vampires.
29. The idea of Truth.
30. Talents. I’ve got a couple and I’m very thankful for them even though I sometimes take them for granted.
31. Good Afrikaans music which cancel out, at least a little, all those other terrible Afrikaans music.
32. Kimbab.
33. Flowers; especially the aromatic ones, like lilies and magnolias and roses.
34. Photoshop with which I can make my average photos look great and even turn myself into a model.
35. The blow that Postmodernism gave that self-righteous arrogant conceited Modernism.
36. Negative ions during thunderstorms. The smell of rain.
37. The contribution of Blues music.
38. The Gospel. Anyone that truly understand the Gospel, in its purest form, must stand in admiration of it, even if you don’t believe in it.
39. That improvisation that Jazz brought to the music scene.
40. Podcasts and podcast downloaders other than iTunes.
41. The Teacher and lecturers that entertained my non-conformity and inspired me to make something of my life.
42. Alternative music.
43. The Sabbath. It is just the greatest thing. You can be how stressed, but come Sabbath all those issues are put aside and all work deadlines suspended for 24 hours.
44. Aesthetics. Not merely beautiful things, but the ability to appreciate things for their aesthetic quality in that moment, in that context.This can make even a ruin, or a dirty downtown alley, or a piece of rotten wood look "beautiful."
45. Thai Curry.
46. Alternatives.

47. Things that create ambiance: candles, incense, soulful music.
48. An imagination.
49. Cutlery.
50. People that have cared for me through the years.
51. That I was able to attain my goal (a New Year’s Resolution) of getting my 4th degree black belt before the end of this year.

Image Credits: 
Green Tea Ice Cream -- Yaokui
YouTube logo -- YouTube
Dracula -- Goth Girl of the Week
"Strummin' Blues" -- All Posters
"Creating Ambience" -- Chitra Karma Design