It Ain't All Bad

It's good to remember that there has been good news in 2008.

2008 Wrap-Up

All in all, 2008 was a good year for us. Sure, our 401(k)s lost about 35% of their value. We’re young, though, and still have good jobs with good companies - which is very much something to be thankful for. And, well, a few things didn’t happen that we would have liked. As every good sports fan knows, though, there’s always next year.

We did enjoy a lot of great entertainment and travel in 2008, so in the spirit of the good things that happened in 2008, the list below lays it out (in no particular order) as best can be remembered. A couple of accomplishments are listed, but, yes, mostly it’s entertainment and travel. We have a good life. (Oh, and please note I realize all of this is superficial. This is not meant to be a list of the truly wonderful things in our lives like family and friends.)

Got It Done:
Paid off credit card debt
“New” car for Dave

Travel:
San Antonio, TX
Charleston, SC (x2)
Hollywood, FL
Tarpon Springs, FL
Durham, NC
Birmingham/Huntsville, AL
Hilton Head, SC
Whitney Alone: Minneapolis, MN
Dave Alone: NYC (x4), Tampa, FL; Chicago; Miami, FL

Books Read:
Atonement* – Ian McEwan
Born Standing Up* – Steve Martin
Twilight*, New Moon*, Eclipse*, and Breaking Dawn* – Stephenie Meyer
The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway
Our Town – Thornton Wilder
Eat Pray Love – Elizabeth Gilbert
Tender is the Night – F. Scott Fitzgerald
Mere Christianity – C.S. Lewis
Empire Falls* – Richard Russo
The Great Gatsby* – F. Scott Fitzgerald (3rd reading)
Sarum – Edward Rutherford
I, Lucifer – Glen Duncan
Wicked – Gregory Maguire
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – Tennessee Williams
Until I Find You – John Irving
The Second Coming – Walker Percy.

Concerts/Shows:
Reckless Kelly* at the Variety Playhouse (x2)
Reverend Horton Heat* with Nashville Pussy (Variety Playhouse)
Atlanta Symphony* with Joshua Bell (Copland, Barber, and Bartok)
Atlanta Symphony* free show at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Atlanta Symphony* Christmas Concert
Harry Connick, Jr.* (Cobb Energy Center)
Les Miserables* (Fox Theater)
Eddie Izzard* (Cobb Energy Center)

Movies (Theater):
Wanted*
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Atonement*
Dark Knight*
Twilight* (x3)
Quantum of Solace* (x2)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Tropic Thunder* (x2)
Iron Man*
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*
Burn After Reading*
Sex & The City
Run, Fat Boy, Run
Max Payne
Wall-E*

Movies (Rented):
Simpsons Movie
Forgetting Sarah Marshall*
The Happening
Death at a Funeral*
August Rush
Last King of Scotland*
Penelope
Maybe Baby
Green Street Hooligans*
Vantage Point
The Bank Job
Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Show*
Fool’s Gold
The Lookout
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Pride and Prejudice (miniseries)
Mr. Brooks
Balls of Fury
Enchanted*
Gone Baby Gone*
Tristan and Isolde
Night at the Museum
Once*
Shoot ‘Em Up
Day Watch
Tender Mercies
Lars and the Real Girl
Eagle Eye
Trainspotting
Miller’s Crossing*
Sweeney Todd

CDs Purchased (mostly bought used):
What is Beat – The English Beat
Rumours – Fleetwood Mac
Perfect Symmetry – Keane
Catalogue of Generous Men – Modern Skirts
Greatest Hits – Rick Astley
Reckless Kelly was Here*, Bulletproof*, and Wicked Twisted Road* – Reckless Kelly
Use Your Illusion I – Guns and Roses
The Delicate Sound of Thunder* – Pink Floyd
We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things* and Mr. A to Z – Jason Mraz
On a Clear Night* – Missy Higgins
Golden Road – Keith Urban
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace –Foo Fighters
Viva la Vida* and X&Y* – Coldplay
Crowded House*, Woodface* and Together Alone – Crowded House
Audioslave – Audioslave
Born on a Pirate Ship – Barenaked Ladies
All the Love You Need – Big Head Todd and the Monsters
Charlie Brown Christmas
Safe Trip Home – Dido
Twilight Soundtrack
Sweeney Todd Soundtrack
True Romance Soundtrack
The Apostle Soundtrack
New Miserable Experience – Gin Blossoms

* highly recommended (If it doesn’t have an asterisk, that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it.)

Merry Christmas

The Weekend

The weekend was busy but very very fun. The place was amazing - Twelve Atlantic Station. It's the third hotel we've stayed in because of an Imedex function that didn't feel at all like a hotel. Friday night started with the party mentioned below, and as you can tell, it went on for a while. The dj at the main party was fantastic, so I was on the dance floor most of the time. When we weren't dancing, we were either eating, drinking, or Dave was busy winning enough in gift cards for us to buy a 40" Toshiba LCD TV on Saturday morning.

The afterparty - where I continued drinking, having moved on to champagne - lasted until about 3:30am.

We woke up about 9am, and I was surprisingly not very hungover. I didn't feel great, but the only real issue was a splitting headache that went away after about four Advil. However I was completely exhausted, so the rollerskating plans that Stacy and I had didn't actually happen. I took a nap, and then Dave and I went to dinner and a movie with his sister and brother-in-law.

Longhorn, as usual, was great. The Day the Earth Stood Still, on the other hand, even in IMAX, was just ok.

I know I promised some pictures of the new do, so they are below - along with some other pictures from our trip to Florida a couple of weeks ago.


Packing to leave for the party. The hair's a mess, but well, that's what I like about it. It doesn't really matter when it's a mess. As a matter of fact, that's kind of the point.


The view from our hotel room at the holiday party - looking East.


Looking West


Bedroom at Twelve




Kitchen and Living Room


I don't know what I was thinking with all that make-up. All I can say is that I was in a hurry to get to the party ...


Surprisingly early in the evening.


Not surprisingly, this is later on in the evening.


This is me slightly hungover, so the hair isn't exactly as it should look, but you probably get the idea. And this is definitely the picture that shows the new color the best.



The Westin Diplomat - Hollywood, FL



This one's for you, Stacy


The pools from a balcony at the event center


newest tattoo

12:19am

1 glass of wine
$750 AMEX gift cards won in drawing = new hd lcd tv, most likely
5 jack and cokes - strong because the bartender liked my new haircut
1 glass dropped on the floor and shattered - yeah, that was the last j&c I had
afterparty in room 420 - seriously ... on our way.

piictures tomorrow - or sometime later

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year or ...

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2009, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only “AMERICA” in the western hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms:
-This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal.
-It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting.
-It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher.

This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

(full disclosure: I did not come up with this; it was stolen from a coworker)

New Hair

Well, it's been a while since I got anything tattooed or pierced, and I needed a change. So, it ended up being the hair.

Until I can get a decent picture posted, you'll have to just imagine me with Sharon Osborne's hair (yes, color and cut).

No, I hadn't planned it that way, but it turns out this is really the best possible comparison.

The things we learn

It amazes me that after 33 years on this planet, I learn new stuff about myself all the time. It puts things in perspective and has made me realize how much other stuff there is to learn and that I never really will get it all. I don't have a problem with that; it's just interesting to realize and understand.

So anyway, what have I learned about myself recently?

I don't like Santa songs. I do love Christmas music, and started to realize this year that I prefer the more religious Christmas songs. So I initially thought that maybe I've become less of a fan of the secular songs, but that's not it at all. I really love many of the non-religious songs. What I generally don't like, though, are the Santa songs. For the most part, they bug the daylights out of me.

So much for more quiet

Last night was another birthday gathering. Tonight is more Christmas shopping. Tomorrow night - friends coming over, Saturday night - symphony, Sunday night - Christmas tree, Monday night - haircut, Tuesday night - soccer (scratch that; Tuesday is a concert), Wednesday night - 7pm work meeting, 18th - free!!!!!! (so far), 19th - party, 20th dinner with family, 21st - family day. I mean, seriously, this is just ridiculous. But I wouldn't not do any of it.

I still want to blog some stuff during all this; I've been reading such great books lately. But I can't make any promises.

I really do

want to blog, but it's just been crazy around here. I should have something new up this week, though. Tomorrow and Thursday should be a little quieter (more quiet?).