What Thanksgiving Means to the Graduate Student

The arrival of Thanksgiving on the calendar, to a graduate student, is the time during the semester when panic begins to set in.  The realization that the multiple research project ideas/pre-writing/rough drafts that have been started need to evolve into pieces of scholarship.  Responsibility follows when writing scholarship, which means a incorporation and finesse of some seriously heavy theoretical texts.  "Faking it" doesn't really work anymore (aka: undergraduate).

I am in (and have been since last weekend) the space of juggling many thoughts at once and pouring over rough draft(s).  Trust me, I have many many thoughts to share about what has been going on this semester (including all of the fun existential crises), but I need to finish strong first.  Then I'll sit down to write some more focused thoughts about this crazy last semester of coursework.

To distract you momentarily from my absence of posts, here are some scenes from Thanksgiving.  I was able to enjoy myself, if even for that fleeting day!

I had started "preparing" for Thanksgiving (and all the eating) a few days before.

And though the morning T-giving run was cold, I had the memory of a previous turkey trot race to motivate me.

 My mom really outdoes herself when it comes to food aesthetics -- how cute are these carrot bundles?

And this is what vegan Thanksgiving looks like.  

The vegan plate [clockwise from the top]: string beans (with pine nuts), Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, TJ's turkey-less turkey roll, sweet onion baklava, and Nana's stuffing. 

Again with food/drink aesthetics -- my mom MADE this champagne chiller from a mold.

The crowded and happy family table.

The quiet table of desserts before everyone came out of their dinner food coma.

Hope y'all had a great holiday as well!  I have to say, Thanksgiving is my favorite because it's the fun and food of Christmas without the silly presents.