2009 in Review/2010 in Prediction

Again, I’m going with dubious grammar choices for the title, but I believe it fits.  Instead of just reviewing the low and highlights of 2009, I figure I’ll go through a list of my greatest hits ’cause for nearly all of them I have goals of faster and more intense for 2010.  So, when you start seeing Facebook statuses (stati?) about how bored I am, you can just send me a link to this page to light a fire under me towards something.  Maybe.  I don’t often admit to being bored in Facebook because it actually doesn’t happen too much.  What’s more likely is that you’ll see statuses (stat–oh, forget it) about me wasting time on something completely inconsequential.  Which is essentially what this blog post is.  Anyways, moving on, in an order where I presume the most interesting to the most number of people is at the top, I present the list:

There’s That and There’s That.

The last post, and it doesn’t even really count, was on April Fool’s Day.  April 1st for those not in the know.  Somehow, I’ve managed to go 1 month and 9 days without writing.  1 month and 13 days if you go to the point where I actually wrote something for real.  And while this post already seems like the apology/torrent of excuses that begin nearly 2/3 of all blogs, that is not the case here.  I have a reason.  I have the trump card of all excuses.  The double-dog-dare of reasons why I haven’t posted: I am now a homeowner.

Cholesterol Tourettes

In my life thus far (at the tender age of 27.5), no three words have aged me faster than these: “diet and exercise.”  That was what was written at the bottom of a blood workup report that found my cholesterol a tad too high.  Now a normal range for cholesterol is 99-199 or so, I was at 260.  There died my innocence, there wilted the flower of my youth, and there ended any notion of eating 5 Guys again.  But this was also a chance to start over, to pursue a healthy and more nutritious diet, and an opportunity to annoy everyone I talk to because I can’t shut up about my stupid high cholesterol.

Podcasts I Listen To

As one of those fools clinging to a daily hour commute (total, not each way), I found myself quickly tiring of music every day and decided I needed something else to pass the time.  That was just under 3 years ago and that was perfect timing to be part of the podcast boom.  For those not in the know, a podcast is a piece of audio that’s sent out over the Internet and downloaded to a computer or MP3 player (such as an iPod).  It’s basically the audio version of user-created content on the internet.  Categories range far and wide, as does quality and scope and duration and frequency.  I love the idea of podcasts.  I tend to go through a lot of information on the internet (and by information I mean stupid videos) and podcasts save me a lot of time of tracking down research as I can just let it come to me as I drive or walk the dog or do the dishes or take a shower or whatever it is I’m doing.  So, it’s a beautiful thing and I want to plug the podcasts I listen to and give some feedback.  These are all created by folks who want to share what they know and mostly non-profit.  So, they’re labors of love and I think that’s something great that the Internet can give us.

“It’s not such a bad little year. It’s not bad at all really, maybe it just needs a little love.”

I’m going to take a one day break from my Year in Review to defend that year that others have been very harshly reviewing.  2008.  Those four numbers seem to ring ominously in these nascent days of 2009.  Suddenly 2008 stands for all evil, all that is wrong with the world today.  2008: the harbringer of death, doom, and economic downturn.  But I say thee nay!  2008 is not the problem, just the messenger.  And really, it was maybe just the last fourth or third of 2008 that was’t the best and it’s simply not fair to judge an entire work by a poor denouement.  So, here’s me saying, “2008, I’m not mad at you.”

Table for Four?

This is basically the post that got me thinking about doing a blog again.  Every married Christmas (this is the second), Lisa and I make our way north back to Canton, Ohio where our parents both live (thank God).  We switch between parents’ houses each trip so this last one we were at her parents’ house.  Unfortunately, her mom had been sick the week before and was just getting over it and then her dad started to get sick just before we got there.  So, it was Lisa’s turn with the sick a day or two after we arrived.  I’m guessing my immunity might be due to my bout with Ebola-lite two weeks ago.  The result of the Wright family epidemic was the scrapping of dinner plans with them and dinner with my family instead.