Thanksgiving week is always fun. Frankly, anywhere I can get a home-cooked meal that I don’t have to cook myself is something to be thankful for. (Thank you Cheydleur family).
The trick is to thoroughly prepare yourself the week before the ginormo feast of turkey and thanks, by doing as much exercise as you can possibly can. It’s all about balance, you see.
Now, I’m no athlete, and working out is always a chore, so truth be told I managed only one measly hour at the gym, and a couple of short bike rides. But one of those bike rides was particularly eventful.
If you’re a movie or TV fan, then living in Hollywood is in some respects like being a kid in a candy story, because the sign above is pretty common. I was whizzing along Glendale Boulevard when three burly security men appeared out of the doorway of the parrot shop (yes, it’s a shop that sells parrots), to bar my way.
Law & Order were filming in an empty unit, next to one of the coffee bars that I frequent, and so I dismounted while whoever the hell is in Law & Order did their thing. I tried to chat to a make-up girl, who was sitting in a director’s chair, weighed down with brushes and clips, but she just seemed bored.
Or maybe, like me, she was just so over-run with work that she couldn’t wait for the holiday to start. But while I love Thanksgiving, I don’t much care for ‘Black Friday’ – the much-hyped start of the Christmas sales. I have no time for people who camp outside superstores looking for a few bucks off a new TV. I realise that the economy’s lousy but that kind of lust for shopping seems a tad grabby to me.
So this Thanksgiving I urged everyone I knew who was preparing to shop til they dropped – and even the ones who weren’t – to check out www.daughterscambodia.org. This incredible organisation helps young girls escape the sex industry, and was founded by a close friend of mine. She tells me that just a few pennies can transform their lives.
She enables girls who are living in brothels, and often working there to support their families, learn new skills such as reading, baking, waitressing and sewing, so that they can make a living in another way. It’s a fantastic charity that has seen genuine results, as hundreds of girls have already been re-educated and found new jobs.
Sales are part of every public holiday these days – a modern day lore if you will – but I would really appreciate it, if you would check out the Daughters Cambodia website, to make a contribution.
And that’s an order.
