Growing up, my mom made us go around the table every Thanksgiving and say what we are thankful for.

I usually brushed it off, muttering something under my breath so I could just eat already (I am a BIG bird eater).

Looking back, I feel like such a schmuck over my table-side behavior, so…ummm, mom? This post’s for you. Because I owe you at least 18 of these:

What I’m Thankful For

1. Security. I can put food on my table and a roof over my head by myself when so many people can’t.
2. Kindness of strangers. I’m always pleasantly surprised by you.
3. Freedom. Being young enough to do whatever I want to in my life. To go wherever I want. It’s truly a luxury.
4. Megan. You’re the best! The funniest, smartest, most lovely gal I know. And I thank you for introducing me to…
5. …the Enneagram. You help me be introspective and to accept others for who they are.
6. Ryan. I can’t imagine life before you or without you in it somehow or another.
7. My mom. You’ve lived through it all in the past year. I admire your infinite strength.
8. My dad. You push me to be better – and not just in WHAT I am, but WHO I am.
9. The Internet. For teaching me, opening my eyes, connecting me with others.
10. Tough love. You’re the hardest kind. But ultimately, tough lessons are the best lessons in the long run.
11. My brother. I love you more than you will ever know. Even if you are phone averse.
12. Peanut butter. Because you go so well with chocolate.
13. Barack Obama. For giving me hope. AND for making my right eye twitch a little less these days (true story).
14. My health. You make me feel so good.
15. The Northwest. It’s a pleasure waking up to you. Have I ever told you you’re prettiest in the morning?

And…the ONE thing I’m NOT thankful for

1. Those gray hairs I found the other day. You are not welcome in my house, much less on my head. So, please. Shoo. BE GONE.

That’s my list. What’s on yours this year?

A good friend of mine brought it to my attention today that Shaquille O’Neal is now on Twitter.

Shaq joined after someone started fake tweeting in his name. Now, you can follow “THE_REAL_SHAQ” and his “very quotatious” self -  in his words – through multiple daily tweets.

Recent Shaq Tweets

“I’m watchn my 8 yr old son play, i’m jealous hes a better free throw shoota”

“Just saw the the great phil jackson, gave him a kiss on da cheek”

“Cant sleep, the lakers embarrassed us, im pissed”

“THOSE R NOT TYPOS, JUST SAVN MONEY, MORE U TYPE MORE U PAY, LOL”

“About to go to yoga, gotta get my strecth on”

And WHY, you’re asking, does this matter to PR folks? This is a great case study on how PR people sometimes need to let go of control in favor of authenticity.

Shaq is a brand in and of himself. He gets millions in endorsements each year in addition to his hefty b-ball paycheck. Over the years, America has come to know him and love him (depending on what team you root for), and he has garnered a reputation for being a big but very lovable character with a killer sense of humor. He’s the definition of the saying that men who look tough on the inside are just big ol’ teddy bears on the inside.

THAT’s Shaq. He’s not just a basketball player. He IS a personality.

Shaq’s PR people could have set up an account for him and Twittered as him (note: never do this). They could have had an account where they tweeted when his celebrity appearances would be and what his stats from last night’s game were. They could have told Shaq that all tweets had to go through them first to make sure he was representing himself properly.

But they were smart enough not to.

THIS is Shaq – typos, transitions from all caps to lower case, talking smack, lols and all. And now, everybody is talking about Shaq. Because it is the real Shaq – not some overly controlled version of him.

Social media is changing our role as PR professionals. We are no longer the “gatekeepers” to the garden as much as we are its tour guide. Our job is to know how to do social media properly – it’s about lifting those gates, opening up our lives and being real.

So, thank you Shaq. You made me care about something related to sports for the first time in years. And to his PR people, thanks for letting him be himself.

Follow the big guy at http://twitter.com/THE_REAL_SHAQ

Tonight, I decided to count the total number of Web apps and social networks I currently use regularly in my life. “Regularly” meaning, say, once a week at minimum and actually having an account to the site (browsing YouTube, eBay, etc. would not count):

Social Networks:
Twitter
Facebook
Tumblr
LinkedIn
Flickr
PROpenMic

Web Apps — Productivity/Work
Backpack
Basecamp
FreshBooks
Google Docs
Google Reader
Gmail

Web Apps — Music
Pandora
LastFM

Web Apps — Other
Mint
Del.icio.us
TweetDeck
WordPress
Tweetburner
Skitch

TOTAL: 20

After writing this list, all I can say is – wowwww. And these are just off the top of my head.  If you asked me three years ago, I probably would only have two on my list (Facebook and Gmail). My how things are have changed.

Amazing origami and photo via PhillipWest