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Last night was diaper delivery night. The guy comes rather late, like after eleven. I expect he's used to just stopping at a house and doing the pickup and dropoff on the porch like an old-fashioned milkman. Not an option for us. The condo is porchless and even diapers get stolen. Oak Park must be on some weird portion of his route, like the very tail end of it (his van, from what I can see as he chucks the yellow bags, looks really full). After that, I totter into bed and crash. Sometimes fully clothed.

Well, last night I found out there was assorted baby stuff under me, binkies and bottles and whatnot. The best way to get the Sprog to take a good long nap these days is to lay down with him (either Chats breastfeeding or me giving a bottle) in our bed and let him doze and nurse. We call them "nursie-naps." But the Sprog is like a great civilization, he leaves distinct evidence of himself wherever he inhabits for others to find later. I kept rolling onto baby items, or moving my pillow and finding my ear resting against a teether.

As you'd expect from my life, it wasn't fresh or original. The whole night could have been on an old Jackie Gleason Show kinescope, if not a Stooges short. Totally cliche. Just me pulling objects from under my back, looking at them, and then setting them on the nightstand. At least my performance was low-key. I didn't overplay it or make ridiculous expressions or engage in light banter with da wife.

I would hope that had I been writing it I could have livened it up a little by getting up and going to the toilet and having Chats notice that there's a tiny soft plastic spoon stuck in my hair like an antennae thanks to the unexpectedly strong bonding powers of applesauce, or waking up sucking on a binkie, anything but "dad rolls over, gets annoyed at baby paraphernalia trapped under his butt."

• 07:43 20 hour work week countdown begins....now! #
• 16:32 RT @jslconsulting @ScottBrownMA Maybe the social media "Brown Brigade" can make #41stVote a trending topic? #masen #tcot #nrsc #
• 16:33 Hey, sweet, Sherlock Holmes on the agenda tonight. #
• 23:07 Sherlock Holmes = worth your time. Fun, Bond-esque filmgoing experience. #

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Considering how dead LiveJournal is these days, I'm surprised I'm bothering, but hey.

What age did you turn this year and how did you spend your birthday?

I turned 28. Completely unmemorable as far as my brain tells me, and I don't see any evidence that I did anything other than work.

Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

In that my New Year's intent was to do more in terms of self-improvement, yes. In that everything else kind of took a backseat to recentering myself and getting back into being a person I wanted to be, not so much. That I've largely succeeded in the former means I can focus on the latter.

What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?

Went to a therapist. Moved to Massachusetts by choice. Played a non-D&D RPG. Went to a partisan political meeting. Shaved my head. Purchased digital music. Joined a local Humanist/Atheist chapter. Became a landlord.

Did anyone you know give birth? Did anyone you know die?

My cousin had a baby boy, which was noteworthy. I can't recall any significant deaths - my old high school French teacher probably would count for this.

Tell us about some noteworthy things done by people you know.

Two of our Manchester friends moved to Iowa, but not before spending 6 months backpacking in Europe/France. Chelsea won a local documentary competition. Gabe fronted a band for an evening and it was pretty rockin'.

Do any traveling?

I hit New Jersey in the summer, but that's it in terms of general travel.

What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?

Fewer bills, and a place of our own to live.

What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

2009 flew by too quickly to say one day. It was a lot of little steps.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Bettering myself. Standing up, doing what's right, and then accepting it as such. Realizing that I didn't really like myself at all, and then taking steps to rectifying that. This isn't my biggest achievement of 2009 - it's my biggest achievement in 10 years. It's that much of a game changer for me, because it's given me confidence I previously lacked.

What was your biggest disappointment or failure?

Not me: The President. The Congress. The Democratic Party. The Republican Party. A handful of old friends who significantly disappointed me.

Me: My lack of action on anything outside of ending my general malaise. I know I had to shelve everything to get back on track, but it doesn't mean I can't see that as a setback, either.

Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nothing of note.

What was the best thing you bought? Best gift you were given?

We did buy ourselves a new laptop to take to gaming and on vacations, which is nifty. I also received a 1.5TB hard drive, which is a great supplement to my 160gb hard drive on my computer.

Whose behavior merited celebration?

Again, Ann. Anyone willing to put up with me, with my family, with my life the way she does with minimal protest and complaint deserves more than I can possibly give her.

My friends, especially Tiff and Julia and Bill and Mandy and Michelle and Josh for being great friends to me and to us and accepting me for who I am rather than who they might want me to be.

The conservative grassroots, for finally waking up.

Whose behavior did not?

The government. Pigeon and Samantha, our two war cats. Certain people who, to be purposefully vague, should know better.

Where did most of your money go?

Bills, again.

What did you get overly excited about?

My brain. Health care reform. Iran. Kennedy's Senate seat. Dragon Age: Origins. Star Trek. The Avett Brothers.

Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Happier, if only because I know how to be happier.
ii. thinner or fatter? Slightly larger, I think. We'll see how the holiday post-mortem goes.
iii. richer or poorer? Richer, although I wouldn't know it.

What do you wish you’d done more of?

Gotten more involved, although the end of the year ramped that up for me. Speaking up and speaking out. Achieving.

What do you wish you’d done less of?

Denying I needed help. Sitting idly as the world becomes less of what I want it to be.

How will you be spending the end of the year?

Dinner and drinks with old, close friends. A perfect evening, I'm sure.

With whom did you spend the most time on the phone with?

My customers.

Did you fall in love in 2009?

The laptop is pretty sweet...

Best TV shows and/or website? (passive entertainment)

Lost, Fringe and Dollhouse were the new ones, but HIMYM and Chuck and Mad Men a

I finally got on the Twitter bandwagon this year, but is that really passive?

Best video game?

Hands down, Dragon Age: Origins, although I did spend a great chunk of time with Prototype and Wet.

Best book/comic?

Book was The Lost City of Z or Catching Fire. Comic was probably Warren Ellis's Ignition City, or maybe The Unknown or The Unwritten.

What song will always remind you of 2008?

"I and Love and You" by the Avett Brothers, I think.

What was your greatest musical discovery?

The Avett Brothers.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

We didn't sell our condo, meaning we're kind of stuck in a good-but-not-optimal living situation right now. We're not out on the street and we don't need to work multiple jobs to pay the bills, but yeah.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

Pajama pants and a t-shirt.

What political issue stirred you the most?

Iran, health care reform, Ted Kennedy's Senate seat.

Whom did you miss?

Team Hooley, my old dodgeball team.

Who was the best new person you met?

Two groups:

1) Our new friends from the Worcester Humanists/atheists. A pleasant surprise to meet Chris and Andy and get to know them.

2) As we've been in Massachusetts, it means we hang in Boston more often, and becoming more friendly with Bill and Mandy and Steph's extended friend-base has been very positive as well.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Hate is a strong word, but there is a shortlist of people who really, really failed me this year and that's very disappointing. I've dealt and moved forward, but it's not something anyone likes to realize or admit.

What did you want and get?

Peace of mind.

What did you want and not get?

A pony.

A valuable life lesson you learned in 2008?

Asking for help when you need it is often more empowering than trying to soldier through it alone.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

A condo sale, money.

Quote to sum up your year.

I don't know any good therapy quotes, or good self-esteem, so I'll go political:

Let me put it this way; there are really only two ways to interpret the Constitution — try to discern as best we can what the framers intended or make it up. No matter how ingenious, imaginative or artfully put, unless interpretive methodologies are tied to the original intent of the framers, they have no more basis in the Constitution than the latest football scores. To be sure, even the most conscientious effort to adhere to the original intent of the framers of our Constitution is flawed, as all methodologies and human institutions are; but at least originalism has the advantage of being legitimate and, I might add, impartial. - Clarence Thomas

While the weather created some difficulties, it was a pretty great Christmas. Chats got me a beautiful Saddleback messenger bag. The perfect rugged look, although most days I'm about as rugged as a bowl of oatmeal. Looks like something a Pony Express rider might have carried. I've been wanting an easier-to-navigate-the-urban-jungle "vertical" bag for a while for holding the laptop, books, etc. and as usual da Wife really came through. Chats really does great gifts.

The Sprog bought me some comfy new lounging pants. They have log cabins, pines and moose on them.

My friend Howard bought me the HeroScape starter set, which looks frightfully addictive.


( Sprog pics, plus my cake )

Re: re: Laps in security

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In Willful Blindness, I recount the debacle of repeated entries into the United States by, among others, the Blind Sheikh (Omar Abdel Rahman) and al Qaeda operative Ali Mohammed — the former permitted free entrance, egress and, finally, a green card (as a special religious worker) even though he was one of the world's most famous jihadists and was on the terror watch lists for having authorized the murder of Anwar Sadat; the latter permitted to immigrate from Egypt and join the U.S. army despite having been caught trying to infiltrate the CIA. Now, nearly 20 years later — after 9/11, the 9/11 Commission, etc. — we have Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab: He was in the terrorist "database" because we were warned by his own influential father of his radical ties and proclivities, and he was evidently notorious among associates in Africa and Europe for his jihadist leanings; yet, he was issued a multiple-entry visa. And he claims to have been trained in Yemen — the al Qaeda hub to which the administration has just sent a half-dozen trained jihadists previously detained in Gitmo, and where it hopes to send many more.

I wonder what the media would be saying if George Bush were still president.

Hadn't Abdulmutallab heard that we are closing Gitmo? Hadn't he heard that we're phasing out military-commissions so we can show the world that we give even the worst mass-murderers civilian trials with all the rights of American citizens? Hadn't he heard that President Obama has banned torture (yes, yes, I know, actually Congress banned it 15 years ago — details, details ...)? Hadn't he heard that the president has called for "a new beginning" in America's relationship with the Muslim world? Hadn't he heard that this is our new, smarter strategy to safeguard the nation from man-caused disasters?

I suspect he's heard all those things.

Yep. He sure has.

God Bless the hero citizens that took action on Christmas. May we all come to our senses so readily.

Ahh, home. I don't have to work for, like, 5 or six days. Amazing!

I'm going to spend it resting and reading. I've got a Koontz book to wrap up, and a new (well, "new") CS Lewis, and it's about time I read some Kempis, and I grabbed one of them's Brad Thor novels that all we fascist conservatives who believe that terrorists are real and stuff supposedly really dig.

No workout this week, I don't think. And then, in 2010, war begind with the last 30 pounds of so I wish to shed, whilst still making ever heavier weights move in the direction I desire them to go (usually, away from my skull while it's perched overhead).

Other plans for 2010, too, but I find I best work in the short term. SO sometime in the next few days I'll be making the obligatory "resolutions" post, but only for first quarter.

:D

We have a gorgeous White Christmas going on out there.

Right now, the highly weather-dependent holiday plans are to have our first Christmas as a family mostly at home. We'll keep Christmas on Christmas Eve, then visit relatives in Wisconsin Christmas day. If the sky holds back. I enjoy going out in winter weather, but not while it's coming down on me. Could be we'll be camped here until Sunday. Fortunately we have enough butter-baked calories to supply a Vasco de Gama cruise.

So, a little more cooking and baking today, and lots of Patrick Swayze movies. Nothing like a viewing of Roadhouse to keep you company as you wrap presents. I had some "New Christmas Classics" going this week, like A Very Brady Christmas and A Carol Christmas with Tori Spelling and William Shatner. Not to mention Patrick Stewart chewing the bed-curtains that have been miraculously returned from the rag-and-bone man in A Christmas Carol (for the record, my favorite version is Alistar Sim's). I'm more than ready to see a few JD bottles broken over people's heads to some blues rock.

Sprog update: he's crawling around army-style and briefly getting up on hands-and knees. I predict he'll be hands-and-knees crawling by the New Year.



Merry Christmas, all.