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This week Salon published a great essay by Wil Wheaton about Thanksgiving with his family. It serves as an excellent model for being mature when your parents' political views clash with your own; if you've ever been tempted to storm out and drink schnapps behind the garage until it's time for dinner, this might help. The politics in question was the execution of Tookie Williams, and over on Wil's blog there's an excerpt, if you aren't subscribed/don't want to get a day pass to Salon. The upshot? Sometimes, it's ok to put the politics aside. And DON'T YELL.
Often when family discussions heat up — or hit an unbearable lull — someone decides a family trip to the movies will be a nice break. Of course there's your Kong and your Geisha, but why not go from the frying pan into the fire and see a nice dysfunctional family movie? Currently playing is the Connecticut-style The Family Stone; the set-in-Pasadena Rumor Has It opens tomorrow. We can't vouch for the Oscar-worthiness of either of the films, but chances are those families will be more screwed up than yours.
Really, don't go sneaking schnapps; it's just too high school. A visit to the nearest bar with a sibling — well, that's a holiday tradition.
