One of the little joys Andrea and I have been sharing lately is Jimmy Fallon’s weekly thank-you notes. They are such harmless sources of momentary diversion. His “slow-walking family walking in front of me on the sidewalk” is one my favorite bits of my favorite waste of time. With his ridiculously goofy observations and musical mimicry Mr. Fallon has reminded us it is possible to be funny without being mean, tasteless and vulgar.
So on this beautiful and totally tasteful Memorial Day, I’d like to send out my own thank-you notes just because it’s probably the only day I will have time to do so for the next six weeks.
* Thank you, John Sinkevics, for playing with me in the Honeytones all these years and also having a May birthday. Do you think Arcade Fire would sing “Month of May” just for us?
• Thank you, West Michigan, for providing us the most gorgeous Memorial Day weekend in memory. I spent every waking minute outdoors, and some of the sleeping minutes as well.
• Thank you, Jimmy Fallon, for making it impossible to say “thank you” without thinking of you. I even say it like you now, although without the melancholy piano backing.
• Thank you, The Both, for reviving my faith in power pop. If Aimee Mann’s voice plus Ted Leo’s guitar doesn’t make you believe, you might as well hold onto those Todd Rundgren CDs until the day you die.
• Thank you, driver approaching my side street at 30 mph, for not using your turn signal so I had to wait 10 minutes before pulling out.
• Thank you, maple trees, for covering my lawn with your tiny offspring. I wish I could let every one of them grow up straight and tall, but alas, I must mow.
• Thank you, girl in Pet Smart, for saying “Even those people who love winter are over it.” It’s true, I am.
• Thank you, Cheerios, for never changing. I love you just the way you are.
• Thank you, earth, for shooting up all these flowers, plants and weeds and leaving me to figure out the difference. Why didn’t you make poison ivy with warning labels on it?
• Thank you, Pope Francis, for making all us non-Catholics feel good about the Catholic Church again. Now can you do the same for the Protestant church?
• Thank you, Monica Lewinsky, for reminding us you exist. We hope someone hires you.
• Thank you, Marshall Crenshaw, for recording “Fantastic Planet of Love,” so I could drive around listening to it this morning and feel cool.
• Thank you, men and women who died in battle, so that we could enjoy a beautiful Memorial Day and I could write silly blogs like this. And thank you, friends, for reading them!