A company for carrying out an undertaking of great advantage,
but nobody to know what it is…
— (possibly fictional) brochure for the South Sea Trading Company
***
I wonder sometimes what went through Markos’ head when he first started his blog, Daily Kos. Did he have any inkling it would blow up into a massive internet community? Did he wonder whether anyone would read it at all? One thing I do know is that he put himself and his thoughts out there, at a time when there were very few progressive voices on the ‘net, and that took courage.
Thank you, Kos!
For two people who both describe themselves as progressive Democrats, Markos and I disagree on a lot — and that is true right up and down and across this site. People differ. People disagree. But that is the wonderment and magic of Daily Kos — the realm of “progressive” covers a lot of terrain and, to the best of its ability and with a few missteps here and there, Daily Kos endeavors to include them all.
At the end of the day, we are family.
Welcome to this special holiday edition of PWB Theme Thursdays! If you’ve never visited or commented in a PWB (Pootie/Woozle/Birdie) diary before, come on in — the water is fine, and the folks are always friendly! A few quick guidelines:
- No trolling the diary.
- If you hate pootie diaries, leave now. No harm, no foul.
- Please do share pics of your fur kids! If you have health/behavior issues with your pets, feel free to bring it to the community.
- When it comes to problems, we may just have someone with experience who can help. So ask!
- Whatever happens in the outer blog STAYS in the outer blog. This is a place to relax and play; please treat it accordingly.
- There is no such thing as stealing a photo around here, but if you would like a pic from the comment threads, please ask the poster. He/she may have a copyright to those pics. Many thanks!
- There are some pics we never post: snakes, creepy crawlies, any and all photos that depict or encourage human cruelty toward animals. These are considered “out of bounds” and will not be tolerated. If you keep posting banned pics...well then...the Tigress will have to take matters in hand. Or, paw.
Now, Thanksgiving is a problematical holiday and I don’t mean to ignore that, nor to ignore the trauma and destruction behind our uniquely American holiday (world DK Peeps, celebrate with us anyway!!!) But for me Thanksgiving, like Christmas (I am not a Christian) has become a convenient day on which to gather with family and loved ones, and express gratitude for them, and my fur family, and all the good things in my life.
For many of us, as we’ve gotten older, Thanksgiving has become a quieter affair as kids have grown and families have moved apart. It’s one, too, during which memory of those who have left us is often particularly acute. It can be an easy day to feel lonely, sometimes.
But if you are here, I promise you, you are not alone!! Because you are a member of the largest, most far-flung family I have ever found. And it truly is a family — with fights, factions, jealousies, deep-running loyalties...
...And all the best things that make up a family, too!
So I want to do something a little special in the comments today. I want to express my gratitude for just a few (because it’s my diary) of the literally hundreds of people on this site who have changed my life. And I’d like to invite you to do the same!!
Who is someone on this site who you appreciate? Someone whose writing you particularly like, perhaps, or who has gotten you to see something in a new way? Someone whose diaries you cherish, or whose cheerfulness in their comments always stands out?
Share a Kossack who’s special to you, and tell us why you’re grateful for their presence here on DK!
***
Finally, I would like to dedicate this special Thanksgiving edition of PWB Peeps Theme Thursdays, with love and gratitude, to the people here and all the world over who, whatever their background, origin, religion, gender identity, literary preferences, or yes, even political outlooks, feed, care for, and house their fellow Earth-dwellers. May the blessings of Ceiling Cat rain upon you forever!
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!