Thanks in the U.S.A.

Thursday, November 27, 2003 by Dave Winer.

Thankful 

I thought I might be too busy to write today, but it turns out I do have a bit of time to write some thanks this morning, as has been the tradition here in Thanksgiving-pasts.

First a tiny bit of philosophy, nothing new, just a restatement of something obvious.

Why Thanksgiving is our greatest holiday, by Dave Winer. It's a holiday for everyone. While it's steeped in the legend of the colonization of America, the idea is even bigger. It's about being thankful. And how could a human being be anything but thankful. A tiny spec of dust that exists for the briefest of moments, yet is conscious, sensual and intelligent. We are miracles, even in our lowest moments, and when you are miraculous, what else can you be but thankful? The universe is so huge and ancient and mysterious, but our little nook is so comfortable, even cozy. So first and foremost, thanks to the universe for being, and thanks for letting us be part of it, and thanks for making it so darned pleasant here.

Now, on a more terrestrial level, I'd like to thank everyone who's been so kind to me in Cambridge. John Palfrey and Charlie Nesson for inviting me to be part of Berkman Center. Betsy Devine and Bob Doyle for helping me through my first weeks in Cambridge. Wendy Koslow for making BloggerCon work so smoothly. Everyone at Berkman, esp Jim Moore and Chris Lydon, for making the experience so far so rewarding, and thanks to Larry Lessig for helping make this happen. Thanks to Silicon Valley for letting me go, and thanks for still being here when it's time to come back for a visit.

Thanks to Tori Ryan, Dave Jacobs and Robert Scoble, my three main West Coast friends, for being there in my time of need, last summer. On a hike with Tori this week she asked what I learned most from the experience. I paused for a moment, and said I learned who my friends were, and I learned how important friends are. You don't really find out until your moment of need. I always felt I should be self-sufficient, but you can't always be, no matter how strong you are.

Thanks to everyone who came to BloggerCon and brought their good spirits, ideas, experience. Yes, we sang a song, and Joey played the accordian. Thanks for the music. We gotta do it again.

Thanks to the Presidential candidates with weblogs. It's a step. In 2000, McCain ran ads on the Internet, we hoped for more, and this time around we're getting it. In 2008 we'll do even more with the Internet, and in the elections between 2004 and then, we'll elect entire state legistatures with blogging technology, perhaps even the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Thanks to all the developers who collaborate, who accept someone else's imperfect idea, and run with it, for the sake of progress. A special thanks to developers who stick their necks out and lead. It's a rare thing that I hope will be come less so.

A random thank you to Aaron Sorkin for the West Wing, my favorite TV show ever. And that's a big endorsement from someone who rarely watches TV. You can tell how great Sorkin is by how normal and mediocre the show is, in his absence. Thanks for making the first season available on DVD. I plan to savor each episode, and am grateful that I didn't tune in until much later. I can't wait.

Thanks to Sylvia Paull for organizing the dinner in Berkeley on Tuesday. Thanks to the new management team at UserLand. Thanks to Jake Savin and Lawrence Lee for sticking with it. Thanks to all the Radio and Frontier developers who stuck it out through the confusion of 2003. Let's hope 2004 is a much straighter line, with great software and successful businesses for all who innovate and work hard. Thanks to Andrew Grumet and Tracy Adams for working with me in Cambridge. It's a bright future in software development, round the world, coast-to-coast, 24-by-seven.

Thanks to the Berkman Thursdays team. We've planned a conference, been to New Hampshire, we're getting ready to bootstrap the next generation of blogging tech. This group, the Berkman Brigade (perhaps) is ready to kick butt in 2004, and I'm ready to do it with yuz. Let's go!

Thanks to my dad, for pulling through after nearly dying earlier this year. He's retired now, spending his days organizing the pictures he took in his life. He walks, he tells jokes, he loves his grandchildren, and flies all over the world with my mom. Taking care of him earlier this year is something I feel very very good about, it may be the best thing I've done in my life. It was great to be able to help this man, who helped me get on my feet.

Thanks to my uncle, Ken Kiesler, for all his wisdom, his example of rational thinking, his windmills and water towers, his daring to be different, his love of me. I'll miss him for the rest of my life, that's for sure.

And thanks for the future. I'm so glad to have one. Every day feels like a gift, every hour a luxury. Sometimes I count the hours in a day and am amazed at how much time I have. This is a new experience. What will I be doing next year at this time? I don't know. I have no idea. And to me that's the greatest thrill of all. I might live in Europe, or the southwestern US, maybe Florida, or Cambridge, perhaps Palo Alto, who knows. Not me. ;->

And finally, thanks to the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox, who are still the lovable losers, there's still, as always, next year.

Dave Winer