Now that I've been writing this blog for a while, I sometimes like to look back at what I wrote at the beginning of the year. I want to see if I kept my New Years resolutions. So I looked back at what I wrote on January 1st of this year, and it seems I only mentioned three things, and I accomplished two of them.
I wanted to take the family on a decent, US vacation that wouldn't make us go broke. I had mentioned either Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone, or Disney World. We ended up going to Disney World (and New Orleans), which was pretty nice. We managed to save some money on the attractions by going to a loathsome timeshare meeting, but it all worked out pretty well in the end. The kids got their day at The Magic Kingdom, and another day at the Hollywood Studios. If we go back again, we'll have to do the other two parks (Epcot and the Animal Kingdom.)
My next resolution was to get over my anger issues towards my brother. To be honest, I've barely thought about him this entire year. We did send him a Christmas card earlier this month. As expected, we didn't get anything from him. He can keep the feud going for as long as he wants. I don't really care. I've moved on.
The third one was more of Christy's resolution than mine. She would like for me to talk a little less about our personal life on the blog. But I still do. If I didn't, that would just leave me to talk politics all the time, and the few readers that I have here don't seem to really appreciate my liberal rants, although I fully intend to keep ranting when I feel the need.
This year started pretty well, with us moving into our new house and discovering what it's like to actually own a house. My fears of insane electric bills didn't come to pass. I think our biggest bill for one month was $130, and that was because we had the heat on all the time. Our house has very good insulation, so it always tends to stay warm (or cool) even when we're not using the A/C or heater.
Life went along pretty well until we had a death in the family in the late summer. Christy's father seemed to think that life no longer had any meaning for him, so he killed himself. That was a bad time. Christy crashing our new Toyota Corrolla was also a low point during the year.
In better news, David (in Taiwan) got married in October, so let's hope the third time is the charm for him. Probably the biggest highlight (for me anyway) of the year was seeing Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd) performing "The Wall" in November. I can't even really describe how awesome that show was. Looking back, my only regret now was that I didn't see it more than once. He's going to be filming his upcoming shows in London next year, so I expect we'll get a blu-ray of the concert soon. Most likely he'll be filming the show where David Gilmour makes his surprise cameo.
I've been on Facebook now for about a year and half, and I'm having some odd experiences there. Just recently, I've come across three people that I knew decades ago. Two of them became "Friends" and one of them blocked me from ever seeing his profile again. The first one, a girl named Abra, who I worked with back in 1991 at Crown Books. David (in Taiwan) and I were managers of that store in Grenada Hills, CA, and she was one of the cashiers. The second guy, Kerr, was a kid I knew back in something like 1977 when I was in elementary school. He looked totally different. He was a guitar player for a heavy metal band, with long hair and a long beard, looking like a roadie for Motorhead. I sent him an email saying "Is this the Kerr who used to go to Imperial Elementary school in Downey back in the 70's?" He replied "I am." Then I asked him if he remembered me, and I haven't heard back from him since then (this was about two weeks ago). Finally, I discovered another old friend from elementary school (and high school) named David Sandvigen. We were pretty good friends back then, so it surprised me when he not only rejected my "Friend" request, but blocked me as well.
What the hell? I thought. Had I done something to piss him off 20 or 30 years ago? I couldn't really remember. I didn't think I had. I saw his picture, and he had become morbidly obese, and with a goatee, he looked like a gangster from the Sopranos, or a Martin Scorcese movie.
"Maybe he feels ashamed about his appearance?" my wife suggested. Could that be it? I really have no idea, but why even register on Facebook if you don't want people to see you? That didn't really make sense. My only guess is that maybe he wants to distance himself completely from the past. It's just a bit odd when people I've barely spoke to in years want to be friends, but someone I was good friends in the "non computer" world don't want anything to do with me. C'est la vie.
There didn't seem to be any big superstar deaths this year, nothing close to last year, when we had Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett at the same time. The only big shocks for me this year were Gary Coleman and Corey Haim. And Abe Vigoda is still alive.
So, that's it. My last blog for 2010. Happy New Year to everyone!
I wanted to take the family on a decent, US vacation that wouldn't make us go broke. I had mentioned either Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone, or Disney World. We ended up going to Disney World (and New Orleans), which was pretty nice. We managed to save some money on the attractions by going to a loathsome timeshare meeting, but it all worked out pretty well in the end. The kids got their day at The Magic Kingdom, and another day at the Hollywood Studios. If we go back again, we'll have to do the other two parks (Epcot and the Animal Kingdom.)
My next resolution was to get over my anger issues towards my brother. To be honest, I've barely thought about him this entire year. We did send him a Christmas card earlier this month. As expected, we didn't get anything from him. He can keep the feud going for as long as he wants. I don't really care. I've moved on.
The third one was more of Christy's resolution than mine. She would like for me to talk a little less about our personal life on the blog. But I still do. If I didn't, that would just leave me to talk politics all the time, and the few readers that I have here don't seem to really appreciate my liberal rants, although I fully intend to keep ranting when I feel the need.
This year started pretty well, with us moving into our new house and discovering what it's like to actually own a house. My fears of insane electric bills didn't come to pass. I think our biggest bill for one month was $130, and that was because we had the heat on all the time. Our house has very good insulation, so it always tends to stay warm (or cool) even when we're not using the A/C or heater.
Life went along pretty well until we had a death in the family in the late summer. Christy's father seemed to think that life no longer had any meaning for him, so he killed himself. That was a bad time. Christy crashing our new Toyota Corrolla was also a low point during the year.
In better news, David (in Taiwan) got married in October, so let's hope the third time is the charm for him. Probably the biggest highlight (for me anyway) of the year was seeing Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd) performing "The Wall" in November. I can't even really describe how awesome that show was. Looking back, my only regret now was that I didn't see it more than once. He's going to be filming his upcoming shows in London next year, so I expect we'll get a blu-ray of the concert soon. Most likely he'll be filming the show where David Gilmour makes his surprise cameo.
I've been on Facebook now for about a year and half, and I'm having some odd experiences there. Just recently, I've come across three people that I knew decades ago. Two of them became "Friends" and one of them blocked me from ever seeing his profile again. The first one, a girl named Abra, who I worked with back in 1991 at Crown Books. David (in Taiwan) and I were managers of that store in Grenada Hills, CA, and she was one of the cashiers. The second guy, Kerr, was a kid I knew back in something like 1977 when I was in elementary school. He looked totally different. He was a guitar player for a heavy metal band, with long hair and a long beard, looking like a roadie for Motorhead. I sent him an email saying "Is this the Kerr who used to go to Imperial Elementary school in Downey back in the 70's?" He replied "I am." Then I asked him if he remembered me, and I haven't heard back from him since then (this was about two weeks ago). Finally, I discovered another old friend from elementary school (and high school) named David Sandvigen. We were pretty good friends back then, so it surprised me when he not only rejected my "Friend" request, but blocked me as well.
What the hell? I thought. Had I done something to piss him off 20 or 30 years ago? I couldn't really remember. I didn't think I had. I saw his picture, and he had become morbidly obese, and with a goatee, he looked like a gangster from the Sopranos, or a Martin Scorcese movie.
"Maybe he feels ashamed about his appearance?" my wife suggested. Could that be it? I really have no idea, but why even register on Facebook if you don't want people to see you? That didn't really make sense. My only guess is that maybe he wants to distance himself completely from the past. It's just a bit odd when people I've barely spoke to in years want to be friends, but someone I was good friends in the "non computer" world don't want anything to do with me. C'est la vie.
There didn't seem to be any big superstar deaths this year, nothing close to last year, when we had Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett at the same time. The only big shocks for me this year were Gary Coleman and Corey Haim. And Abe Vigoda is still alive.
So, that's it. My last blog for 2010. Happy New Year to everyone!
It's a good thing to just put your brother behind you. If he'd not ready to have a decent relationship, there's really no hope for it anyway. If he's ever ready, you can move on from there, as you please, either way.
ReplyDeleteHEY, wait just a minute there! *I* enjoy your liberal rants. As the years have gone by, I've become more and more liberal, and love reading your thoughts on those things.
I'm glad you talk about personal stuff on your blog. I feel like I know your family a bit. Certainly more than if you didn't talk about all of you.
Facebook is an odd thing I think, on some levels. On other levels, I think it's the best thing that has happened on the internet.
I found a step cousin I hadn't seen in many years. I adored her and her siblings growing up. She'd moved to the East coast and when I told her I was going to be back there a few years ago, she told me to have a nice time, and didn't even mentioning seeing me. Weird to me. But not to her evidently.
Janet
I have them, too. No use figuring out why they don't send you back a Christmas or New Year's wish or want to associate with you.
ReplyDeleteLife goes on without them, as it should be. I've mentioned it before: "You can not have true friendship or a healthy community with bowl in hand, begging for love."
Although, when they don't answer you back, there's always a "red flag" one must see to why they don't reply, especially if you had disputes with them in the past.
Narrow down your circle of friends or family by just the ones at home. You don't need too many to be content with.
JD Salinger, Claude Chabrol and Eric Rohmer died in 2010.
ReplyDeleteBlogs are whatever you want them to be. Where else is everybody free to say whatever they want in as few or as many words as they want with photos of fluffy bunnies or raging erections. The worst thing you can do is cater to some virtual audience. Those are the most boring blogs.
Family is very easy to ignore when they live far away. When I got a chain Christmas letter from my sister it reminded me that I was supposed to write a letter to my mother a few months ago.
Facebook just seems stupid to me. If I stopped talking to someone 20 years ago why would I want to start again now. They add everyone as "friends" because whoever has the most, wins.
You probably pissed off Sandvigen 100 years ago in some imaginary way that you know nothing about. People can hold endless grudges for the strangest things. Just look at your brother.
I kind of like the "voyeur" quality of Facebook. It's interesting to see how people look 20 or 30 years later. I kind of enjoy looking at how old the girls I liked in high school (who obviously would never have looked at me back then) look now.
ReplyDeleteI don't cater to any audience with my blog. I'm sure there are people who read this blog who never comment, so I can't assume it's all hardcore conservatives just because of the one or two who do comment. I actually have another liberal rant coming soon.
I write about most of the stuff Christy doesn't want me to write about, but I usually wait until some time has passed when she probably wouldn't care anymore anyway.