PS2

So on Sunday I regressed just enough to buy a (refurbished!) PlayStation 2. Yes, I bought this for myself. Yes, I am 12. But I have a credit card, and a job, so sftu! I never had video games when I was a kid. My parents bought Brendan (the favorite son) a Nintendo system when I was away in college. I remember my dad got pretty good playing Mario Brothers, Duck Hunt, and Tetris while he was recovering from his heart attack. (or did it cause the MI?).

If anyone out there has any old games they want to unload, drop me a note. On the negative side, I think my elbow hurts from playing Lego Star Wars with a wee bit too much of The Force.

The sky is falling!!!!!!!!!

Oh, the joys of living in the south... We received about an inch of snow last night and I didn't have to go to work until 10:00 today. If you can still see the grass under the snow, there's no reason to panic, but I'm thankful for the extra hour of sleep this morning and the snow does look pretty on the grass.

January TV!

I am falling in love again with my TiVo! I can watch 24 without the tension draining commercials. I can skip over the awful singing in American Idol and only watch the truly horrendous and laugh along with the brilliantly observant Simon.

• "On the bright side, now you know you won't be a singer."
  
• "That wasn't even human."
  
• "Coaching you to sing would be like coaching a one legged man to run the 100 meter dash in world record time. Can't be done."

And then, of course, Lost.

Escalation is Not the Answer

Read Senator Kennedy's speech. Read this legislation [PDF].

Contact your representatives and senators and tell them to support it.

This is OUR America, and this is important.

The King

From the Writers Almanac:

It's the birthday of Elvis Presley, born in Tupelo, Mississippi (1935). He learned to play the guitar when he was 12, and his friends said that he could reproduce perfectly almost anything he heard on the radio. After high school, he got a job as a truck driver for the Crown Electric Company, and he began studying to become an electrician. His career as a recording artist only came about because of his love for his mother.

At the time, the Sun Record Company had a special recording studio where anyone could come in and pay a small fee to record personal records for themselves. In the summer of 1953, Elvis scraped together four dollars to record two songs, "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin," as a present for his mother.

The recording engineer that day liked Elvis's voice, and somehow those recordings made their way into the hands of producer Sam Phillips, and that was the beginning of Presley's career.

We visted Graceland and Sun Studios this summer, and I have to say, it was one of my favorite stops on the McAllistour.

Running, the iPod Shuffle, and Life

Saturday was a weird one. It was 75 degrees & sunny. We had windows open all day. This isn't January weather. I know we live in the South, but come on! I ran outside in just shorts & a t-shirt. Lisa got me an iPod shuffle for Christmas. I love it because I am the type of runner that needs distraction. Music in my head lets me ignore the burning in my legs. It is tiny, weighs almost nothing, clips to my shorts, and has 225 songs on it.
I love not knowing what's coming next. It's a good metaphor for life - you have an idea of what you want to come next, and you know based on your style and tastes what might come next, but instead of U2 or REM, you get something from Neil Diamond or Yo-YoMa, and you are pleasantly surprised to listen to the whole song. Like life when things don't go as expected, but the twists are a pleasant surprise and you find yourself enjoying them.

13 Virtues for the new year

Ben Franklin's 13 virtues are a good template to start thinking about the new year.

Temperance: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

Order: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

Industry: Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

Sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

Justice: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

Moderation: Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloths, or habitation.

Tranquility: Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

Chastity: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.

Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Do you love life?

"Do you love life? Then do not squander time; for that's the stuff life is made of." -- b. franklin

Ah, I love the new year! Clean slate, so many possibilities lie ahead, so much potential! It's like walking into a hardware store and seeing all the parts and pieces and tools and all you need to make that super-duper "thing" is a little motivation and Yankee ingenuity.

So, for 2007, I am going to do some great things:

1. First up, and this is a little bit cliche, I know, is to get myself back into shape. I have a modest goal of losing 5-10 pounds by my birthday (March 25).
   
2. I am seriously considering a half marathon in late spring.
   
3. This blog thing needs to take off again. Writing it over the summer last year, Lisa and I had fun and we were able to put some of our thoughts and experiences into a context that helped us make sense of what we were doing and seeing. I want that to happen on a daily (or at least more regular) basis.
4. Communicate more with my friends - you know who you are.
5. Get the lawn into shape.
6. Travel somewhere new.
7. Create something artistic that I can be proud of to show off.
   

What about you? Any goals modest or outrageous?