i wanna be your man

it's 2010. it has been for a while. things are changing already, even before the new year. wow. since i was 15 in my first job at kroger, we never stopped hiring. we never started firing unless you fell asleep, were drunk or made out with the cleaning lady. but that's changing. keep your heads on straight. and pull up your socks. i have to pull up my socks all the time. seriously. it's like the elastic only keeps for a year maybe. but these socks are old probably. i bet i haven't bought new socks since i was 16 or 17 and i didn't buy them. my mom probably did.

i like to do this thing where i look at what i'm wearing and try to figure out how much it cost me. the other day i was wearing shoes that pete gave me. total so far: $0.00. my pants were from goodwill. total: roughly $4.00. the shirt was given to me by my wife, so that cost me nothing. and my jacket was from goodwill too. so with the pants and the jacket, my total outfit cost me $6.00. nice! but that doesn't count socks and underwear, cause to be honest with you, i'm not sure where any of that came from. i think i was given socks and underwear when i was born and i still have it.

so to the serious stuff:

great article in the atlantic about the demise of america. what does that mean? is it born into our culture? is for real this time?

matt taibbi is back and railing on fannie mae and freddie mac.

seriously, where do my socks and underwear come from? i should clarify that by saying "underwear" i mean whity tighties. boxers, those i bought. i remember buying those. those did not come with my birth. the rest, i think did.

bluebird

"i'm a bluebird, i'm a bluebird, i'm a bluebird, yeah, yeah, yeah."

accidentally like a martyr

"enjoy every sandwich." that's what warren zevon said.

murray rothbard breaks down the case against the fed.

how overhauling derivatives died in the WSJ.

niall ferguson breaks down the ascent, not of money, but of the new east dominance.

percussion gun

i think i know what i'm doing for new years and it doesn't involve drinking or standing around with a bunch of people i don't like. that is great news to me. way to kick off 2010. start with something different. start it up right again. this decade needs to be a return to a way of life i surrendered about a decade ago. clean. pure. honest. focused. easy. slow. content.

i went walking with my wife on sunday afternoon. we walked down to the arboretum and she took along her tree book and stood around for about three hours trying to identify trees. it was probably some of the most fun i had all month. it was free. it was enlightening. i learned stuff. i got to see my wife in her element, out amongst the trees and nature. it was wonderful. that's what i'm talking about. my 20's were a great time, but i'm glad they're done. lots of ups and downs. lots of influence and questioning. lots of unnecessary stress. lots of people who came in and now they're gone. there are quite a few people still in though and those are the people i should be concentrating on. some of them have kids. i need to spend more time with these people and their families.

here is what i expect to happen in the next decade (of course if i had done this at 2000, every word of it would have been wrong, so bear with me on this):

1. i will pass the cpa test in 2010-2011
2. my wife and i will make a drastic change location wise
3. my wife and i will buy a house
4. we will vacation in a foreign land
5. i will finally buy a new car
6. my professional career will take off
7. my wife will start a new business
8. i will have the same friends i have now (i can count five)
9. we might have a kid (possible)
10. we will have two dogs

that's it. you really don't know, do you? so much could happen that we don't expect. i just know i want the simple life with my wife. i want flowers and gardens and coffee and seasons and hikes and bikes and a fireplace and two dogs. i can't wait.

i got you (at the end of the century)

christmas is over. my wife's birthday is over. the vacation is over. i'm back at work. my wife's birthday was awesome. we went to mark's american cuisine for dinner. totally awesome restaurant. we had all sorts of delectables. and some good vino. then we went to a comedy club where i ran into kena, an old friend from fox sports who promotes comedians. she was managing two of the dudes that performed that night. one of the dudes was making fun of how white people dance (real original material right?) so since we were sitting right up front, and i mean right up front, he singled us out. well the daughter of the couple we went with actually got up on stage after he asked her to and she danced her ass off, so much so that the dude lost his routine and had no idea what to say. he basically dropped the mike and left the stage.

so later, as the event was winding down, kena runs up out of nowhere and yells that it's my wife's birthday. so the whole club starts signing happy birthday to wife stevie wonder style, which was sweet. i wasn't able to sing it, because i didn't know stevie wonder style. but it was fun. good, good times.

christmas was good time. i'll gloss over that.

so back to business right? back to studying and reading and getting smarter. so here's some stuff to read:

paul krugman shows how the last decade was basically a wash.

apparently john mccain wants to reinstate glass-steagall. i applaud him for his efforts and i hope it passes.

in his new book, the evolution of God, robert wright looks at changes in religion during times of war, political unrest and the shrinking of the world.

anybody interested in the school of austrian economics? go here and read the theory of money and credit by ludwig von mises. good stuff.

war is over

"so this is Xmas
and what have you done
another year over
and a new one just begun

and so this is Xmas
i hope you have found
the near and the dear one
the old and the young

a very Merry Xmas
and a happy New Year
let's hope it's a good one
without any fear

war is over, if you want it
war is over now."

happy christmas everyone.

2009 in tunes

i guess it's time for my annual top ten list of albums. 2009 wasn't a great year for music. it was a good year. i heard lots of good albums, not many great ones. yesterday, tanner burned me frankel, the low anthem and a.a. bondy, so i might change this list once i listen to these albums and get familiar with them. but for now, here it is:

1. the avett brothers- i and love and you
2. grizzly bear- veckatimest
3. dark was the night- various artists
4. animal collective- merriweather post pavillion
5. fruit bats- the ruminant band
6. flaming lips- embryonic
7. girls- album
8. the low anthem- oh my god, charlie darwin
9. the white rabbits- it's frightening
10. wilco- wilco the album

there it is. honorable mention:

yo la tengo- popular songs
elvis perkins- in dearland
u2- no line on the horizon
phoenix- wolfgang amadeus phoenix

and that's really it. like i said, not a great year, but a good one.

anybody have anything else to add?

someone to share my life with

wednesday is my wife's birthday. i instituted what i called "the seven days of birthday" last wednesday where my wife got a gift every day leading up to her birthday. the last three are going to be awesome. she's going to love them! i am the best husband ever. seriously. look it up.

i had blood drawn today for the first time since i was 14. i am the biggest wiener when it comes to blood. but i got through it. it still hurts a little. not much.

i'm so excited about this week. this is going to be a fun week. (check back next week for the entry when i say that this week sucked.)

we've been had

"we've been had. you say it's over. sometimes i'm just happy i'm older. we've been had. i know it's over. somehow it got easy to laugh outloud."

-the walkmen

dig a pony

i saw "fantastic mr. fox" last night. wow. that movie. stop-animation by wes anderson. voices with george clooney and glenn close. the funniest line in a movie in 2009 was by ash, the son voiced by jason schwartzman:

"you're disloyal." that was delivered better than any line in the history of lines. so funny.

i also ate twos bags of popcorn and two giant sodas. i think my total caloric intake for the night was between 15,000 and 20,000 calories last night. i think tonight i'll dream about working out.

the movie actually had three beach boys songs. the movies starts with "heroes and villains." amazing montage sequence. i love a good montage. set to a tune by the b-boys, even better. next was "i get around." great tune. and finally, "old man river," which the beach boys didn't write, but they have an outtake where they are singing with it with minimal instruments and the harmonies are killer. totally killer.

in other news, my cat is the cutest animal on earth.

swimming in the flood

it's cold outside. jeeze. colder than when it snowed.

so for all you sports fans who voted for the tagline of change and hope (myself included in that sports fans reference), you have probably woken up to the harsh reality that change is not coming and hope is dead on the vine.

one of my favorite political writers right now is matt taibbi. he writes mostly with rolling stone. i posted a link to his article a while back about goldman sachs when eviscerated the financial institution.

well he's back. and this time he aim is directly on the obama administration. the obama big sellout. i highly recommend you read it and try your best to understand the back room dealings that are going on here. we'll never know for certain how many of these deals happen, but when one is exposed, familiarize yourself with it. get to know it. and remember it. they think we don't have a memory.

for the next election, we need to make our voice heard. we will not stand for the republican or democrat parties any longer. they're day in the sun is done. vote 3rd party all the way. even if it's the most ridiculous 3rd party there is. how can it be more futile than what we have?

this is a call

well it's not snowing anymore. i'm sure most of you guessed that.

i have been super busy this week. i'll have to catch everybody up later in the week.

i ate some righteous hummus today. very swell.

snow in houston

i cannot believe it. there is snow everywhere. not enough to make you stay in all day, but snow nonetheless. it's beautiful. i made one snowball and my hand almost froze off.

heroes and villains

lyrics

the song

my hero

i don't care what anyone says (and i'm not exactly who this vague force of evil i'm referring to is, but i'm sure it's out there (how's that for paranoia?)) but the foo fighters song "my hero" is one kick-ass, full-on, bitchin' rock and roll tune.

i saw the foo fighters do a vh1 storytellers. it's probably the only music-type show vh1 has done in six or seven years, but it was good. i have mad respect for dave grohl. i don't necessarily love the foo fighters, but for that guy to come from being the drummer of the most adored band of the early '90s and putting out that first album of his took major, major balls. and it was pretty good. it wasn't great, but it was pretty good. i liked it enough to buy it, the last foo fighters album i bought, but still. the guy has personality and is always saying something interesting or funny when i see or read about him. gotta love that.

breathe

"every day, i die again and again, i'm reborn."

"there's nothing you have that i need. i can breathe."

- both from bono.

age brings wisdom. supposedly. but for the most, i think it does. christmas is a great time of year. but man, i see so many people killing themselves, not enjoying the spirit. the lights. the music. the shiny stuff. it's beautiful. there's nothing at best buy or some jewelry store that you need. like jeff tweedy said, "the best life never leaves your lungs." don't get too high. don't get too low. that's how to live life. i wish i knew that ten years ago.

there's a lot going on in the world, but i want everyone who reads this to think and pray for jessie maker. she had her foot amputated. i pray for healing and strength for her. she is most beloved and is an amazing woman. i have no doubt she will overcome this and be up again taking care of those around her.

moods for moderns

food stamps now help one in eight americans and help to feed one in four children. read that again. one in eight americans and one in four children. that is amazing. i sit here and read that and think, there's no way that's right. but it is. one in four children. 25% of the children in this country are fed with the assistance of food stamps. we're hearing a lot of talk about a "recovery," but each time i hear that i think about what i see and hear everyday. i don't think we're grasping how deep this problem is going because a) we're not paying enough attention and b) we still think things can continue the way they always have since i've been alive (30 years): debt will spur growth. that is not sustainable. it is not logical.

we're lucky. most of you/us reading this are in a state that, while not immune to this great recession, has weathered it better than most. there are entire states out there that are hurting. and while the story about tiger woods wife beating up his back window with a golf club might be fun and entertaining, the truth is:

1. we're sending more troops to afghanistan, where we've now been for almost nine years; longer than our involvement in WWII
2. we have 17% total unemployment, which includes people who have given up looking for work and part-time employees who would rather be working full-time
3. we have an imploding national debt that will start to eat into our everyday lives as we grow older
4. we have a political system that is engrained in the status quo
5. for those with jobs, we have stagnant wages with price increases in food, power, medical and retirement fees

we need to pay attention. we need to hold those in charge accountable. start writing your senators. start writing your reps. start writing the president. we've got huge problems and we're patching holes while the boat is sinking.

we're marching towards zombie capitalism.

and the glitter is gone

michael moore's open letter to president obama.

it actually inspired me to write one to him as well. click the link on the bottom of the letter to write to him or someone who reads for him or to him. who knows. it just felt good writing and telling someone what a mistake it is to send more troops to afghanistan.

nice

a shot in the arm

man. i needed this past break. it felt so good not to go anywhere or spend all night studying. wednesday, my buddy and i went and rampaged this ping-pong table. that was incredible. ping-pongs wars ensued. thursday was nothing but food covered in gravy, which is the way it was intended to be. and friday we saw my friend's little boys and played with them. and saturday and sunday, we took it easy. so nice.

does anyone really believe that if you listen to a repetitive phrase, or several repetitive phrases while you sleep, that you can actually memorize them in your sleep? i wonder. it's actually called "hypnopaedia" which translates to sleep teaching.

greatest avclub inventory ever. 17 peculiar beach boys songs! i have them all. my favorite on the list is probably johnny carson. that is a brilliant album.

great article by niall ferguson regarding the possible debt implosion and how the great superpowers have fallen because of it.

be thankful you have a job right now. seriously.