as time goes by

2008 is over. history. in the books. what a year, right? wow. that was something. what am i looking forward to 2009? a couple things.

1. adventure- i'm ready to change my environment. my current environment is starting to weigh me down. i'm ready to see something new. to live in a new area, to experience new people and new ways of doing things. i'm ready to hike, to bike, to take the bus/train. i'm ready to get out of the endless loop of eating out and drinking.

2. new president, new ideas- i certainly hope mr. obama and the brain trust he has assembled will come up with new, invigorating ways of salvaging our way of life. our current means of living is fouled up. it's over leveraged. it's outdated and it's obscene.

3. wilco's new album- nuff said right?

4. 30 years- i will turn 30 in 2009. i accomplished many things before turning 30 and several took me by surprise. so that milestone will not be one of regret and self-loating for being lazy. it will be one of celebration and motivation to continue.

5. health- 2009 will be all about health. mental health. physical health. the ideas i started putting into action in the latter part of 2008 will be heavily implemented in 2009. it's time to start living life to enjoy it, not to defeat it.

so those are a few things i'm looking forward to in 2009. obviously, i'm really excited still about being married and living my life with my wife. she has been such a positive influence on me. i look forward to continuing to live our lives together and laughing and enjoying our lives.

one of my close friends is having a baby in january of '09. i wish her the best in her endeavor. i wish all my friends and family the best of luck. i know some of you have huge things in play for 2009. and the rest has no idea, which is good too. leave it open. you never know when success/love/joy will come along and knock you in the throat.

i really cannot wait for obama to take office so i can start posting articles again. happy new year.

my favorite buildings

i really hate new year's eve. i always have. i don't enjoy the holiday at all. it's really quite a letdown. you stand around and count down to this moment and then everyone gives each other a smooch and then it's over. and it really sucked the whole time. and usually i spend it with a bunch of people i don't really like. so i'm starting off my new year with lame surroundings. i hope i do something different in 2009.

here are some albums that should come out in 2009. the avetts and wilco are listed. sweet.

i have my picks for the nfl postseason:

1st round
baltimore over miami
indianapolis over san diego

philly over minnesota
altanta over arizona

2nd round
indianapolis over tennessee
baltimore over pittsburgh

new york over philly
atlanta over carolina

Conf. finals
indianapolis over baltimore
new york over atlanta

Super Bowl
new york over indianapolis

eli versus peyton. it's going to happen.

have a safe and happy new year. i hope you're doing something cooler than me.

therapy car noise

i'm back. christmas is over. had a good one. got to spend time with family and friends, which is what i look forward to; that and eating a lot, which i did that as well. i seriously put on 30 pounds in two weeks. never been done. i am now larger than a desk. in fact, i know eat desk-sized portions.

niall ferguson has a six part series called "the ascent of money." i watched part one last night and loved it. each episode is about 45 minutes. you got to check it out. good back history on how banking was created and where and why. it's great.

here are some scenarios for 2009's economic outlook. i am no expert, but i'm banking on the double dip scenario.

here is a video detailing iceland's situation.

7 winning industries for 2009. video games are included as one. i don't quite understand that since video games are crazy expensive and so is their gear. the rational thought is, well spend money once on a video game console and save money by playing at home and not going out. that makes sense, but the up-front cost is large enough to be put off in harsh times. that's my thinking. it also includes education institutions like devry, which is lame. when hard times hit, people enroll in schools, in institutions of learning, like universities. they get master's degrees and law degrees. they don't learn how to weld two bits of metal together and then sell mattresses out of the back of the van in the early evening when mattress selling is at its peak. they just don't.

by the way, how great is it that the cowboys got rolled by philly and missed playoffs. i made a bold prediction before the season started. i said the cowboys and the patriots would not make it to the super bowl. it's amazing that i could have said that neither one would make the playoffs and i would have been right. wow.