Giving Thanks

I went back and read all of the thanksgiving posts I have written here at AVC this morning. That’s a good way to remind myself of everything I have to be thankful for and I have a lot.

I found this picture of the Gotham Gal cutting a turkey up ten years ago. I remember that thanksgiving well.

I’m glad that our country takes a day off to give thanks. It’s my favorite holiday of the year because it is not tinged with religion or national pride. Thanksgiving has no baggage. It’s a day for friends, family, warmth, food, wine, and relaxation.

I plan to spend the day mindful of all that I am thankful for. Including all of you here at AVC.

#Random Posts

Comments (Archived):

  1. Twain Twain

    Wishing AVC community much fun and happiness with their families and friends!One of these days I’ll actually master cooking a giant turkey as the Gotham Gal obviously has. Until then, I’ll enjoy the cooking talents in restaurants if I happen to be in the US on Thanksgiving!

  2. Richard

    They say timing is everything. If one loves technology, entrepreneurship and opportunity, these are the best of times.Thanks for health.

  3. takingpitches

    Happy thanksgiving Fred and AVC!

  4. Vitor Conceicao

    Fred, Here in Brazil we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but thank you for sharing your thoughts and wisdom with all of us. I don’t comment much but I’ve been a regular reader for a few years now.Happy Thankggiving for you, your family and everyone in AVC.

    1. matthughes

      My Brazilian friends here in the US love Thanksgiving – it’s become their favorite holiday.

  5. Joe Neiman

    And we are thankful that you give us insightful, meaningful, and thought provoking articles to read and start our entrepreneurial mornings off on the right foot. Enjoy your holiday!

  6. jarid

    You left off football, which as a fellow Jets fan, I guess I can’t blame you.

    1. fredwilson

      we might watch some football. the Jets are unwatchable

  7. William Mougayar

    Chef Joanne! Loving the chef’s jacket. Happy Thanksgiving.

  8. PhilipSugar

    That is a big bird! And I too love the French Chef’s Jacket.

    1. William Mougayar

      I’m guessing, 22-25 lbs?

      1. PhilipSugar

        I’m guessing 28 which was the biggest I ever cooked.

  9. Mac

    Happy Thanksgiving to the AVC community.

  10. Ken Greenwood

    Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

  11. Tom Labus

    Travel safe and have a great day. Some great smells coming out of the kitchen.

  12. William Mougayar

    Extra tipping on Thanksgiving šŸ˜‰

  13. jason wright

    is this the Mayflower celebration? I’m a foreigner.

  14. Louis Hatzis

    Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

  15. mikenolan99

    Happy thanksgiving to all!

  16. Andrew Kennedy

    That’s a great looking turkey! Happy thanksgiving avc.

    1. Richard

      Yep, even a vegan could agree.

      1. JimHirshfield

        Not this one.

        1. Richard

          I hear ya. I’ve been a vegan for 10 years. But, my childhood memories make that picture a happy one, at least to comment on in a blog)

          1. JimHirshfield

            Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because of the many happy childhood memories…happy family memories. And because it coincides with my birthday. :-)But I don’t miss eating turkeys.

          2. Donna Brewington White

            Happy Birthday Jim.

          3. JimHirshfield

            Thanks Donna!

        2. LE

          What? No brisket? No lox? No kobe beef burger? No cream cheese.I actually had to check on the lox. Are you, um, “glatt kosher” vegan or just vegan? (By glatt kosher I mean “off the bell curve vegan”).http://www.answers.com/Q/Ca…My sister has been a vegan since high school. My sister in law is a vegan. If I had best friends some of them would be vegans.

          1. JimHirshfield

            Glad Vegan

        3. ShanaC

          What do you do for a main on thanksgiving

          1. JimHirshfield

            The concept of a main course is contrived.And that’s not a poultry excuse. ;-)We eat food. A variety of the bountiful.

          2. ShanaC

            I’d laugh but my lungs hurt already….:)

          3. Richard

            Thanksgiving in the RAW, organic apple pie for dessert.

  17. pointsnfigures

    Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We are so lucky. Godspeed to you all.

  18. Mike Zamansky

    Love the line “Thanksgiving has no baggage.” Have a wonderful day everybody.

  19. Steve Amara

    Happy Thanksgiving you all. Enjoy the day with your families and friends!

  20. JamesHRH

    Did the GG buy some freak ball hybrid Ostrich-Turkey that year?That bird is huge!Happy Thanksgiving Y’all.Back to work @wmoug:disqus !!!!!

    1. Richard

      One of the technologies developing is Genetic Modification. Currently turkey’s are not genetically modified.If genetic engineering could improve the environment (by making turkey farm runoff less toxic) is this a net win or a net loss?

    2. Donna Brewington White

      Well it has to be large enough for Thanksgiving dinner including seconds, an encore the next day for whoever wants it, turkey sandwiches, and turkey hash. At least in our family. I’ve even been known to make soup from the carcass.

      1. JamesHRH

        ooooooooo – turkey noodle soup!Yummy!Xmas is turkey season in Canada. My Mom used to refry the roasted potatoes and then serve them with opened faced hot turkey sandwiches for lunch, on Boxing Day.Enjoy!

      2. ShanaC

        Can I come over for the soup

        1. Donna Brewington White

          That would be lovely.

          1. ShanaC

            Thank you.

  21. kirklove

    Happy Thanksgiving Buster. Few thingsA) Joanne needs to update her chef’s coat with a fancy GGB) Josh was a #punk even back thenC) Columbus Circle parade watching = winD) Central Park!!!E) Did your posts back then really have no comments or is this just a pre-Disqus “thang”Best to you and the fam and all the AVCers and everyone out there. Have a great day.

    1. fredwilson

      i added Disqus comments in Aug 2007 (actually i gave daniel ha my typepad login and he added them). all posts before that had typepad comments which were spam filled (lots of porn spam links). there was no good way to moderate comments in the typepad system. so when i moved from typepad to wordpress a few years ago, i left the typepad comments behind. kind of tough to leave lots of good ones. but they were surrounded by crap. so i let them go.

  22. leigh

    I’ve always loved big birds. Happy American Thanksgiving everyone!

  23. Paraic Hegarty

    I wish that Thanksgiving had no baggage but it does. Just ask any Native American.

    1. Dave Pinsen

      Indians held the balance of power in North America at the time of the first Thanksgiving. Over the centuries, they fought and lost. But so did the French, the Spanish, the Dutch, the English, etc. History moves on.

      1. LE

        I’m no history expert by any means but to me the Indians are an example of a group of people who had (and still have) failed to adapt and advance with modern society. Same as the amish. When you boil it down it’s actually a selfish act on the part of the elders to keep everyone in the fold and not assimilate (might not be the right word) the race.You find that same thing in many immigrant groups as well. I remember having employees who were raised in South Philly and wouldn’t ever think of moving out of South Philly away from their parents. The parents didn’t think of what was best for their kids they simply thought in terms of what was good for them and their own survival. Many jewish families are like this as well (wanting to keep their kids close to the fold and in the family business for example). This is brainwashed into them at an early age.Here’s the interesting thing though. Way back, before social support services, this was an important to insure one’s survival. You had to have kids around so you had someone to take care of you when you got older. While this is still important it’s certainly less important today than it was 150 or even 80 years ago. When their was no safety net at all other than friends or family. [1][1] Another reason you couldn’t piss off people in your small community you might have to rely on them one day when you were in a time of need.

        1. selfitheselfish

          Yes off course. So do many nations, and now wild life and animals near extinction. Social darwinism is a great theory, and done marvellous things in human history. If your nomadic culture respects nature, how could you be selfish and not adapt to houses and industrial world?

      2. selfitheselfish

        The only thing that matter is the power. The secret formula for a better world. Let those with power exercise it, and history will move on.

    2. Richard

      Rivers and Streams didn’t fair to well either.

      1. Dave Pinsen

        They’re actually doing pretty well now. A harbor seal swam up the Hackensack river recently: https://twitter.com/dpinsen

    3. selfitheselfish

      Or a turkey

  24. Alice Henry Whitmore

    Couldn’t agree more. Thank you for your thoughts! If you’d like to see my list of reasons to be thankful for T’giving, check out alicewhitmoresblog.com

  25. Guy Gamzu

    That’s a perfect opportunity to thank you Fred for being such a mensch and a source of inspiration!

  26. JimHirshfield

    Thanks Fred. My sentiments exactly.Save room for dessert.

  27. FlavioGomes

    Happy Thanksgiving

  28. andyswan

    Going for a 10k calorie day…thankful for all you guys

    1. Richard

      That’s a lot of beans šŸ™‚

    2. JimHirshfield

      I initially read that as a 10k run…which might be in order to handle the caloric intake.

  29. Harry DeMott

    Certainly the most American of Holidays!3 Football gamesMass quantities of foodAll to power up for the biggest shopping day of the year!It’s a capitalist holiday – all about MORE!Happy Thanksgiving.

  30. Matt Zagaja

    I am thankful for Fred for hosting, William and everyone else who put in the extra time to moderate and keep the discussions flowing, and the community that keeps things interesting here. Cheers!

    1. William Mougayar

      Thanks Matt. Happy Thanksgiving to you; we had our Canadian Thanksgiving in October šŸ˜‰

  31. Salt Shaker

    Childhood T-Giving: White, Jewish2014 T-giving: White, Black, Jewish, Catholic, Gay, Straight, American, Canadian, European….A mosaic, modern-day family!#toleranceHappy T-giving!

  32. Rohan

    Happy thanksgiving everyone! šŸ™‚

    1. Donna Brewington White

      Your first American Thanksgiving?

      1. Rohan

        Yes indeed! Was very very nice!

  33. JD Carluccio

    I want to take a minute and thank you, Fred. For taking your time everyday to write and share your experience & knowledge. No matter how big or small things are, we should be thankful for all of them. So, thank you.PS: tell the Gotham Gal that turkey looks magnificent.

  34. LE

    Iā€™m glad that our country takes a day off to give thanks.But I’m glad that the local Starbucks was open and actually was surprised to see the deli open so I could pick up my weekend belly lox and smoke salmon spread. And the lox was extra oily as well. That’s like fresh powder on the slopes. Mr. owner of deli was in a good mood so I’m guessing he’s doing great business today. Not everyone is a Joanne and there is this trend that never existed when I grew up (where Mom’s did what Joanne does and made the meal) where people pick up the food elsewhere and don’t cook. Same on the Jewish high holidays. The deli has two big refrigerated trailers in the parking lot for all the extra business they do on those days. That didn’t exist 30 years ago. Nobody bought food that way. Social proof in action. People do what they see others doing that they would never consider doing if others, with more batsim, didn’t blaze the trail first. <—- Important concept as far as why things like this change over time.

  35. tgodin

    Happy Thanksgiving to Fred and the whole AVC gang.

  36. Techman

    Hope you have a good day too, Fred!

  37. Jim Peterson

    Thank Fred for what you do. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

  38. ShanaC

    Thanks you. And I’m going back to bed, because I’m wheezing mildly…Though I want some of that turkey

    1. Donna Brewington White

      Ah, now understand desire for soup. Hope you are all better — or close.

      1. ShanaC

        Not yet. I’m going to the doctor tomorrow, Certain things are clearing up, but I’ve been essentially in bed since late wednesday and I can’t go to bed without coughing fits. So doctor time.

        1. Donna Brewington White

          Yes go! Feel better soon.

  39. matthughes

    Giving thanks is a good thing ā€¦ maybe the best of things.

    1. Donna Brewington White

      It seems that the happiest people… and more so the most joyful… are those who are the most thankful. Interesting how that works.

  40. Donna Brewington White

    Great photo! I want a chef’s jacket like Joanne’s but no way I can do it the same justice.Thankful for you too, Fred. And for this AVC community. So much! Happy Thanksgiving AVCers!

  41. Pete Griffiths

    That’s a bigass turkey.

  42. Michael Kasdan

    Happy Thanksgiving. So much going on in the world that we are not thankful for, and its true that Thanksgiving has its own baggage. But I like using it as a jumping off point for optimism. (and eating and parades and football). Enjoyed this post on it, from a Rabbi, but its non-denominational: http://goodmenproject.com/f

  43. jason wright

    Is Fred in the air on his way to Europe today?

  44. Justin Lin

    What a warm and thoughtful piece – thanks, Fred. I’ve been a regular reader of your blog and have found them to be very insightful and full of optimism. Thanks you, Fred! šŸ™‚

  45. kev polonski

    Just thinking out loud … if one is to be thankful for friends, family, health, etc., who are you thankful to? Chance? Luck? Providence? Your own effort and hard work? Especially for things such as health and safety? Who do you thank? ps138

  46. Pete Griffiths

    Where is that, Carl?

  47. Pete Griffiths

    Don’t know the exact area but have spent a lot of time in Yorkshire. šŸ™‚