we just won't be defeated

a metaphor, or something

I was walking home from the Metro about a half-hour ago, and had the delightful experience of stepping in a pile of shit in the middle of the sidewalk that some kind dog owner had neglected to clean up.  And that about sums up my miserable day and this miserable year.  I'd wish for a better 2010, but what's the fucking point?

but i, i gotta keep trying....

I expected - back when it first came up - to derive no small amount of joy from making birthday mixes for my niece.  And I haven't been disappointed.  But what I didn't expect - at least not right away - is that I would enjoy equally what they had to teach me about music.  I'm officially retired from the cutthroat sport of bad karaoke, but it's possible I just might win KttD X anyway.  After spending almost a week in Ohio with a couple of die-hard Hannah Montana fans, this song has jumped to the top of my short list.

Miley Cyrus - The Climb

my holiday in more than one hundred bullet-pointed words

A couple of hours ago, I got home from my annual December tour of the flyovers.  Here are a few of the highlights:

• I kicked my sister's ass at Rummikub.  It's mostly a game of chance, so it's not as satisfying as a Scrabble victory.  But the important thing is that I won.  A lot.
• I watched Elf as I wrapped presents for the unknownth year in a row.  It was weird that I wasn't wrapping presents on Christmas Eve this year.
• I met up with a friend from high school I haven't seen in at least ten years, and maybe since graduation.  That was good.
  
• My ploy to buy the love of my nieces and nephews through cool Christmas presents continues apace.
• I went to see Up in the Air by myself on Christmas Eve.  That was a little ironic, but I enjoyed it anyway.
• I'm sick and tired of coming home sick and tired.  I'll settle for just tired if my sister agrees not to bring sick kids from here on out.
  

god bless us, every one

 
So I guess, like, Merry Christmas and stuff.

 

Bad Santa - Sigmund Sawed-Off Freud

the view from a room

blizzard of '09

two months minus two days

Karaoke to the Death

In some respects, I can't believe it has actually come to this.  But then, I missed the six-month deadline earlier this year and things weren't nearly so hectic for me back then.  I've had some serious shit all balled up at the head office lately, so it didn't hit me until this morning that I missed the traditional two-month warning for Karaoke to the Death by two whole days.  Start finalizing your song selections and making your travel plans, because KttD X: St. Valentine's Day Massacre is set to rock your face off two months from, uh, last Monday.  Sorry about that.

all's well in hell

I thought last night that I had fulfilled my weekly blogging quota to keep pace in the 104 Posts in 52 Weeks (104P52W) Challenge, but I remembered this afternoon that one of the bylaws is that at least twenty-four hours must elapse between qualifying posts.  So that video of the Rollergirls is, I guess, a bonus.  It's a good thing I keep track of this shit, because this is another one I'm sure Jodi and Daby wouldn't have caught.  Anyway, as long as I don't have anything else to say, here's the track listing of a sweet new mix I made this afternoon.  I titled it after a lyric in that transcendent Wrens song.

Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?  She & Him
Brilliant Disguise  Bruce Springsteen
Oxford Comma  Vampire Weekend
I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man  Prince
Miracle Drug  A.C. Newman
Varsity Jacket  Twin Cam
Rocket Queen  Guns N' Roses
I See A Darkness  Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Hell Is Chrome  Wilco
You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)  The White Stripes
(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To  Weezer
Salome  Old 97's
Tokyo  Bob Schneider
Antichrist Television Blues  Arcade Fire
She Sends Kisses  The Wrens
Holland, 1945  Neutral Milk Hotel
Monsters  Band of Horses
Mystifies Me  Son Volt
You Belong With Me  Taylor Swift

that's how they roll

I spent a lot of time this evening flipping channels between three games, and the one I watched least was the only one worth watching.  It figures.  Everything always sucks this time of year.  I don't know why I expected sports to be any different.  Anyway, during one of the commercial breaks I didn't reach for the remote quickly enough, but I was pleasantly surprised to see a few of the DC Rollergirls fill my screen.  I could wait until tomorrow to post this, but I'm already ready to move that last post down the page a bit.

celebrity spokeswomen

A few observations:
1/ The Cherry Blossom Bombshells are the strongest contingent, which is unsurprising.
2/ I enjoy seeing the roller derby names as subtitles, especially "Five-Ho."
3/ Who the hell are the Meat Locker Babes?

my thursday evening

I learned this evening that the Miami Redhawks basketball game against the nineteenth-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats is being broadcast on ESPN2.  I've never seen Miami play basketball on television outside of March (and those March games are rare), so it would just figure they'd be on at the same time as the Steelers.

At halftime, Miami is down by only one point.  The Steelers are losing and Ben Roethlisberger was just sacked for the fifth time.  They look fucking terrible, and they're playing the goddamn Cleveland Browns.  So I think I'm gonna switch over to the basketball game.  I'm sure Ben will understand.

my sunday afternoon

Fuck the Raiders.  Fuck the ***skins.  Fuck Dan Snyder.  Fuck the Just Us League.  Fuck Dabysan.  And fuck Cap'n fucking Crunch.  I hate football and I got a lotta anger to spread around.

[UPDATE: Okay, so the Saints held on and managed to keep my Monday from being utterly miserable.  But you know what?  Fuck the ***skins anyway.]