Ten Things I’m Thankful For

Thanksgiving is this Thursday, so I thought that now would be a good time to talk about ten things I’m thankful for in my life. 2020 has been a rough year, but showing gratitude for the positive things can improve one’s mood in many ways. Some of these things are a bit weird, but please bear with me.

1. I’m thankful for the music I’ve been listening to throughout the pandemic.

If it weren’t for music, I would be in a much bitter mood than I have been for the past nine months (we’ve been in lockdown since March, yeah?). Say this pandemic never happened, and AC/DC released Power Up (2020) and followed up with a tour; there’s a high possibility that I would’ve missed that tour because I wasn’t a super fan yet. As weird as it sounds, COVID-19 allowed me more time to get into these new bands (well, new old bands) such as Metallica, AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Iron Maiden, and more Def Leppard! I discovered these bands in 2018, but this past summer was when I dove into these bands’ catalogs for real!

2. I’m thankful that my dad and I have a better relationship than we did in high school.

During high school and first two years of college, I did not want to be around my dad. He volunteered at all of my marching band events and went with me to church; there were also insults I shouldn’t have said. But that changed when my family and I saw Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) two years ago, where my dad and I bonded over our love for rock ‘n’ roll. Once I started making rock playlists on Spotify, which included some Def Leppard, AC/DC, and Queen, my dad went, “oh, I remember this song” and “I have good memories of this song,” etc. This past Thursday, we tested out his new speaker and listened to “Thunderstruck” and “Let There Be Rock;” good times!

3. I’m thankful for my flexible school schedule this semester.

Before COVID-19, I had to wake up at 5:00 a.m. to eat breakfast, get ready for school, and catch the 6:20 a.m. bus to get to school. Now, I get up at 9:30 a.m. and do the assigned work on my own time. I miss the interaction with my classmates and professors that I don’t get to experience much with asynchronous classes, but I can get away with doing one assignment per day. So I can spread out my coursework, watch YouTube whenever I want, and finish everything before the due dates arrive. I also have time to exercise on weekdays, which makes up for not walking around my college campus anymore.

4. I’m thankful that I’ve met some great people through the WordPress community.

In Fall 2019, I started my blog on WordPress, and it’s come a long way since then. My blog never got much attention until this past summer, when I started putting tags on my WordPress blog posts; they’re like hashtags, and they’re kind of like search terms. That was also when I started going nuts on my AC/DC album reviews. I met one blogger from Canada, then a few more, and I’m still meeting new people. I love that because it’s been a long while since I’ve seen my Disney Ohana Club in-person, so I like that I have some “human” interaction in my life at the moment.

5. I’m thankful that Rick Allen knows I exist.

I was supposed to see Def Leppard, well, I was supposed to meet them on the Stadium Tour this past summer because I had VIP passes, but COVID-19 and yeah! So I’ve been checking the band’s updates on social media and Rick Allen’s Instagram account, checking if he’s doing alright. I wasn’t even trying to get his attention, but Allen liked a few of my comments on his Instagram account. One story that stands above the rest is on October 1, Allen posted a short video saying he hopes everyone is doing alright with the caption, “Thank God for our Firefighters #firefighters.” I commented back that as long as he’s doing well, then that’s all that matters. He liked that comment, and since then, I stopped complaining about the pandemic and started focusing on the positive things that came with this situation.

6. I’m thankful I saw Justin Bieber in concert when he came to Hawaii back in 2010.

It seems that I always get into bands too late. Richie Sambora left Bon Jovi in 2013, and I didn’t get into them until 2020. Malcolm Young’s last show with AC/DC was in 2010, but the band’s most recent tour was from 2015 to 2016. Def Leppard came to Hawaii in October 2018, and I didn’t become a super fan until a year later. The same thing with the Backstreet Boys, who came here in 2019; I didn’t get into them until summer 2020. Despite my bad luck with these bands, there’s one concert that I’m thankful I got to experience, which was Justin Bieber on his My World tour in October 2010. Ten years later, it’s still the best concert of my life!

7. I’m thankful I get to see my dog more.

I have a chihuahua fox terrier name Roxy, and she’s so cute! I haven’t made enough attempts to see her because she lives outside, and I do my own thing (YouTube, homework, and blogging, etc.). But ever since my sister started letting her in the house this past summer, I see her more often. She does this thing where she wants me to pet her when I have to do my work or have something else on my mind, but when I make time for her, she doesn’t care that I’m there, haha! I also have the job of helping her finish her food, so I go outside and convince her to eat the rest of it. Good and bad because I get to see her, but bad because it interrupts my time to watch concerts late at night.

8. I’m thankful for my internship with Ka Leo.

This past July, I landed an internship with Ka Leo, the student newspaper at UH Manoa. Instead of writing for myself and followers of my blog, I now get to write articles for the people. I’ve learned so much about collaboration, meeting deadlines, covering elections, interviewing people, how to write a lede, and knowing what a good story idea is. I don’t land a lot of jobs/internships, so when I got the position at Ka Leo, I was jumping up and down. Not all of my story ideas work with them, but that’s ok because I live and learn. I’m happy to be a part of the ride and for the experience.

9. I’m thankful for my Def Leppard London to Vegas boxset.

I ordered my boxset in late February to early March, and it was supposed to arrive in April, but due to the pandemic, the release got pushed back to late May. I had to order my boxset through a store in the UK, so that was a complicated process that would be too personal to discuss on this blog. Long story short, after many delays, my London to Vegas boxset (comes with two DVDs, a picture book, and four CDs) came, and I watched the Vegas concert first because I wanted to see King Rick. Rick Allen puts on a cape and crown; and walks out on stage like a boss! Now I have three Def Leppard concert DVDs for my entertainment (Def Leppard Hits Vegas, Hysteria at the O2, and Live: In the Round, in Your Face).

10. I’m thankful for my family.

As lame as it sounds, I’m grateful I have my family to get me through this tough time. At first, it was rough because my sister was starting her first semester of virtual med school, and she hates it when I blast my music. Of course, it doesn’t help that she does her work in the kitchen and sits on the only seat on the dining table that doesn’t have cluttered papers (our house is messy), and she’s there all day. Since last month, we’ve come to a compromise where I can blast my music with her Beats wireless headphones that she gave me. So whenever I walk by her to make breakfast, I can play Def Leppard’s “Armageddon It,” and she wouldn’t notice.

Now you know what I’m thankful for, so let me know in the comments below what you’re grateful for during this time!

Take care and see ya real soon!
Lana