Welcome to the first installment of My One Favorite Thing. This will be a regular (maybe weekly) post on the one thing I'm really digging at the moment. It could be a game or activity, an album or song, a movie or TV show, a person, a food, or just about anything at all.

Genghis wins: Full questions in comment section ...

1) I am thankful for pleasant memories?

2) I am thankful my mom knew she couldn't cook and we mostly went out to eat?

3) I am thankful for innocent childhood diversions?

4) I am thankful for innocent adult diversions?

5) I am thankful for working at home (and for the fairer, less hirsute sex)?

6) I am thankful for moral consistency?

7) I am thankful that I won't be seeing any more new banks in my neighborhood?

8) I am thankful for free but fair trade?

Sometimes, there can be no words. It's ... just ... too ... surreal ...

So Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader (or maybe its no. 1, if rumors of Osama's demise have any credence) released a taped message today, redeclaring war on America and calling its new President-elect a 'house negro.'

Because on this question column, we try out Genghis's proposed suggestion to write the full questions in the comments section to make it even easier for you to answer them ... Also, I was eating bitter herbs while I wrote this ... Man-eesh Ta-Na ...

1) NHL Hockey?

2) Bobbleheads?

3) New Music?

4) Tivo additions?

5) Laundromats?

6) Shopping?

7) Avant-garde parenting?

8) Corporal punishment?

9) Sterilization?

10) Liberal arts education?

Bonus Qs) Column? New Format?

It's bad enough the government will soon be doling out billions and billions of taxpayer dollars to bail out the bloated, mismanaged U.S. auto industry.

But please, please, do not give any of that money to the nation's car dealers.

The day after Obama won the election, a Republican friend of mine on Facebook joined a group that planned on getting together on Inauguration Day to mourn 'The End of Capitalism as We Know It'*.

Members of the group were waxing bitter in the message board, complaining about how Obama was a socialist who was going to destroy the U.S. economy.

I had to laugh ... and cry.

Ring the bell, school's back in, break it down ... Stop. Question time!

10) Ok, several days have passed. Are you still smiling and dancing, or do you find yourself suffering a bit from some sort of post-partum-like depression?

9) Not that I would know anything about this, but which is a more important element of looking good on the dance floor: Rhythm or self-confidence?

8) So I turned 35 this week. Is it lame that one of the things that most annoys me about this age is that I can no longer check off the 18-34 age group in surveys?

Looks like Prop 8 is going to pass in California. It's a shame that on a historic night in American politics, the voters of one of this country's bluest states may have decided to take a step backward for civil rights. Hate to throw out anything negative out there on a day like today, but the lack of leadership on gay marriage by leading Democratic politicians, including our President-elect and Vice President-elect, is probably one of the reason the progress has been halting at best on the issue.

Genghis and I both turned a year older at midnight tonight, about the exact same time Obama began his acceptance speech in Chicago. I think it's fair to say that we couldn't have received a better birthday gift. I will never forget this night.

You should have seen the love and camaraderie being displayed in New York, between and among complete strangers who like me just couldn't stop smiling. If a night like tonight doesn't make one proud to be an American, and hopeful for the future, I don't know what could.

Oh yeah ... It feels so good.

Today I read an article on the Web that I wanted to share because it jibes pretty much perfectly with my vision of the near future for this country, particularly in relation to its economic, social and political status. It's not a pretty picture. But it's what I see ahead.

Happy Halloween all! Last week, I threw out a bunch of questions I had been asking myself lately, and people seemed to enjoy the post, responding with some incredibly wise and insightful, or at least terribly smartass, answers. So, I figured I'd do it again, maybe even make it a weekly thing. Without further ado ...

1) Will there be more Jokers or Joe the Plumbers out there tonight? (If you're answering this and Halloween is already over, reply with the actual answer)

Take a step back from the day-to-day machinations and minutiae of the campaign for a moment. Put aside thoughts about the final stretch of polls and stump speeches and negative advertising and robo-calls and ground games and electoral map strategizing, and consider the enormity of what this country appears to be on the brink of doing one week from now: Electing an African-American to the highest office in the land.

Given the history of this nation, it is a remarkable prospect. It is exhilarating. It is almost unbelievable.

And that is why it is also very frightening.

Do conservatives read liberal blogs (I suppose this one qualifies) with as much disdain and condescension as I feel when I read right-wing blogs (hotair.com makes me wanna throw things every time I read it). For some reason, I feel like even the most liberal of blogs at least acknowledge the other side may have something of value to offer.

What is Genghis (not to mention SarahPalinGrrrrl) going to talk about after Nov. 4 (OK, I'll give them a week of post-game analysis posts, but what then)??

I've had it.

This country has been on engorging on a cheap credit binge for the last decade, stuffing itself on the sugar highs and empty calories provided by ultra-low interest rates and fancy derivatives and zero-down mortgages. Now the chickens are coming home to roost, and everyone is looking for a way to get their butt saved.

You hear a lot of conservatives nowadays wanting to place blame for the country's current economic crisis on the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, which encouraged commercial banks to lend money to borrowers in low-income areas.

The implication is that the CRA, enacted and significantly expanded under two different Democratic administrations, led to the creation and proliferation of the risky subprime mortgages that have brought the U.S. banking system to the brink of collapse.

OK, so I was a day or two early with my short-term bottom and violent rally call, but it's party time on Wall Street today with the markets almost up double digit percentages. (Uh, now more than double digits ...)

Damn, I thought I was going out on a limb when I called for a violent (though short-lived) rally to the upside. But if the press and the pundits who speak their mind in the press are any indication, that's a very crowded limb.

I've been watching CNBC A LOT for the past few days, and it seems like nearly everyone is looking at this crash as a great buying opportunity, telling people not to panic, saying a bottom is at hand and a violent rally is on its way.

I think we're about to get a much-needed reminder that stock markets don't always go down.

Could happen today, could happen tomorrow, and it may or may not happen after one last big selloff, but we're going to get a relief rally very soon. I don't expect it to last long, but I do expect it to be rather violent and dramatic. Maybe we get back close to 11,000 on the Dow.