First Post 2009

2009 is finally here. What to do? I'm reading an excellent book, listening to jazz, and drinking a cappuccino.

We finished the nursery today...almost. Maybe a few touch up spots, but it's mostly done.

Took down the Christmas tree and outside lights.

Morgan made tortellini soup. Pretty good for the first time.

It snowed like crazy. I'm loving it.

A nice way to end the first day of '09. And as usual, the obligatory promise to post more in the future, which is a real goal these days.

The End of 2008

Bah humbug! It's been a damn good year as far as I'm concerned. When people are pessimistic, I'm an optimist.

Yes, there's been some letdowns and some disappointments, but we got Bush out of office. We've elected what is easily the best choice (in my opinion) of any President since I've been alive. Here's to hoping he can fix at least a few things. He can't fix everything in 4 years, but hopefully he can right the ship.

Some highlights of 2008:

My son is on the way. Everything is going great and he should be here soon!

I turned 30 and with that gained some weird kind of adult, humble, calm confidence. I think the majority of adulthood revolves around figuring out what you don't like. Once you figure that out, the rest is easy.

I found some amazing music this year. Good god, did I find a treasure trove of music that only makes me want more and more of it. I'm a music fiend now. Some of it I haven't even been able to digest properly because I found something instantly gratifying that caught my ear and forgot to go back to it.

We bought a house. We love our house, even though we had kind of a disconcerting shock after learning that the cul-de-sac our house faces is not, in fact, a public street. It's a privately owned street that because of some beef the owner had with the builders of our house, he doesn't want people parking on it. Not anyone! Embrace disappointment and learn to love it! Owning is really just renting because we're all gonna die! House prices keep dropping, so I'm sure by this point we're actually losing money on our house. Awesome!

I've been doing the Christmas thing now for a few years or so...every year it's the same shit. A mad scramble at the last second to purchase something, anything for whoever I can find something for. Everyone else gets nothing. I always tell myself that I'll buy something after Christmas, but I never do. Next year I'm doing my shopping early online. I'm going to sit at my computer desk in my underwear, drink bourbon on the rocks and listen to the music I want while I shop for Christmas gifts with free shipping online. Fuck driving all over the countryside looking for gifts. Fuck the crowds. Fuck the all-encompassing systematic consumerism. Festivus for the rest of us!

In the interest of time, I must be going to bed. Even though I wanted to write more, If I don't post this, I never will. Especially not before 2008 ends.

An Update on Things

Lately we've been getting ready for the little one to get here. Boxes have been arriving full of baby items. So far we've got a ton of things we need for the baby. Little Keegan will be here soon.

Evernote rocks.

I've been listening to Brad Sucks a lot. Also a lot of Miles Davis. Currently listening to Chinese Democracy by Guns and Roses. It's better than I imagined.

Today is the 108th year of the Cat/Griz (Bozeman/Missoula) football rivalry game. I will be tailgating (read: drinking) with people from Bozeman who are Griz fans and drive here every weekend to see them.

Obama's family chili recipe is my new favorite recipe. Chili is easily my favorite food. Especially with cornbread muffins.

Last night was dinner at Sean Kelly's. I will never tire of eating there.

Every day affirms the fact that I think Missoula is one of the best places in the US to live. It has it's faults, but the positives outweigh any negatives.

The Jonestown cult in Guyana is absolutely fascinating. I still don't quite understand what made those people follow Jim Jones. I don't understand what all the fuss was about religious communism, but I still find it interesting.

Henry Rollins coming to Missoula on my 30th birthday was fucking amazing. I've watched 2 out of 3 of his recent documentaries. I will be watching the one about The Troubles in Ireland in the next day or two.

Voodoo Funk is my new favorite music blog.

I can't wait to see the movie The Best Bar in America. The trailer makes this movie look better than I thought.

We stomped the Bobcats 35-3.

Sarah Palin is the Bumpkin King

Sarah Palin is dumb as a rock, has a sketchy past, and has some downright scary beliefs about the world. She's a goddamn country bumpkin hockey mom. I can't even imagine how the hell she got this far. Seriously, she's scaring the shit out of anyone with any intelligence in this country. Just yesterday it was released that she has now fudged on her 2007 tax returns.

I was going to make one post containing all the Palin related items floating around the Internet over the past two weeks, but I've decided not to. Anyone who's paying attention at all can find those items.

Because she didn't completely blow it on the Biden debate, she's now being hailed as a "breath of fresh air" by some republicans. What? I can't honestly imagine how anyone could even consider this woman eligible for much more than an assistant manager at a department store. The only reason she did any better at the debate was because she was groomed to regurgitate her talking points. She wasn't asked hard questions, and when she was, she just rambled on about whatever she wanted. At times she read straight from her notepad.

I just read an interview with her where she was annoyed at the Katie Couric interview because she didn't ask enough questions about what she stood for. So basically, Katie Couric asked you simple questions about your life and beliefs and you couldn't answer them, so she's annoying? Palin just thinks she can say whatever the fuck she pleases and it's supposed to be enough? I guess it was the liberal media bias that made her come up with those answers. Where is the creative editing when you're listening to two people talk? I'm confused.

Aside from the fact that the woman is not the most eloquent speaker, she can't even answer simple, basic questions. Couric asked her what kind of newspaper she reads and she couldn't name one. In one part of the interview, she just starts rambling on autopilot, bouncing from one talking point to the next.

At the debate, the only thing she did was come up with generic, canned answers. She never said one thing of substance. And unbeknownst to me because I missed the first 25 minutes of the debate, she used the terms, "betcha", "dern right", and "Joe Six Pack." I don't see how connecting with the lowest common denominator is anything other than what it is. I think she thinks she's going to connect with the Wal-Mart shopping/redneck/troglodyte/bumpkin part of the population. God help us.

I'm just baffled at how this vapid, clueless woman is even close to becoming the Vice President.

More Financial Doom and Gloom

From an article in the Missoulian about how the local condo sales have slowed down:

Eric Hefty, developer of The Corner on Brooks Street and South Higgins Avenue, isn't as confident as Coffman, but still thinks the high-end condo market is strong.

“These are really going to be as good as you get,” Hefty said. “The people that have the ability to afford the upscale units are a little different.”

Different, eh? Thanks Mr. Hefty!