A Green Day Fan Site

Thanksgiving was celebrated to give thanks to God and the Native Americans for helping the Plymouth Plantation pilgrims survive the brutal winter. Although half of the pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower had already died, many more would have, had it not been for the native Americans teaching the pilgrims to harvest food (source: wikipedia).

I guess you could say the pilgrims were the first American Idiots…arriving here in America without a fuking clue how to survive. On this Thanksgiving I give thanks here at our NWWM Thanksgiving table to all that is GREEN DAY. As much as I whine about being nothing more than a speck in that heaving ocean of GREEN DAY fans (ocean analogy source: Delfina), I am so thankful that there is an ocean of us to bob around together in…i’ve come to realize that it’s the ocean of togetherness that is an unseparatable part of my love of GREEN DAY. I imagine myself standing alone in a stadium with my “fuking hands in the air” shouting my “HEYYYYYYYYYY-OHHHHHHHHHHHHHs” and ya-know it just wouldnt be the same without all of us experiencing it together. It is in the sharing of GREEN DAY with all you other nutters out there that make GREEN DAY…well…a community. It is a community open to all ages, all religious beliefs, differing political views, and people from all walks of life that come together to share our love of this music and of the GREEN DAY trio: Billie Joe, Mike and Tre.

As odd as this might sound, I am thankful that Billie Joe, Mike and Tre grew up in Northern California…a place so foreign to me in so many ways. I could not have grown up farther away in either geography, ideals or experiences to where the boys are from. They have taken me to mythical places like Gilman, to punk squats, into the pages of Cometbus, and thru an incestuously east bay punk world. They have exposed me to a sliver of their world that weaves the joy of all things GREEN DAY together in one east bay sloppy punk hot mess.

On this 2009 Thanksgiving I am thankful for the gift of 21st Century Breakdown. It’s hard to believe that 21CB has been a part of my life since only May - it cracked open a part of my brain that I didnt even know existed. That brain-crack is starting to fill in with honesty and meaning - the beauty of what 21CB and all GREEN DAY music does for us - it asks us to live in the moment and in truth, as painful and joyful as that is at the same time. I hope you have a wonderful first Thanksgiving 21CB, and my wish to you is that you find your way into the hearts and brain-cracks of millions more.

I give thanks to Billie Joe, Mike, Tre, Jason W, Jason F, Jeff, and all the folks in their traveling circus. I especially thank their families for letting us share in their talents and allowing us into their lives. I have no idea what it is like to be a family on the road, away from your physical home, but I thank you all for hauling your asses and your families around the globe to share GREEN DAY with us. I especially wish the GREEN DAY families a soulful and restful Thanksgiving with tables full of wonderful food, laughing children, perfectly dysFUNctional families, and much much love.

Fellow GREEN DAY friends, I am thankful for all that we are blessed with, especially our famillies and all us friends here today, let us raise our glasses to honor the feast of the original American Idiots. Amen.

Billie Joe pass the turkey!