2006: Year in Review

Like all the newspapers, magazines, etc, I am going to write a series of posts with my Bests Lists. I am going to start with the Six Best TV Moments. For those of you that may not know, I have a horrible memory. These moments came to me without research or the use of memory devices. When I get to listing movies, books, song/albums, etc, I will be using my Netflix Rental History, Date Added on iTunes and the list I keep of Books Read. Why six instead of five? I refuse to feel constrained by numbers.

SPOILER ALERT. If you aren't up-to-date on LOST, 24 or The Office, don't read my list.

6. NBC Thursdays: This isn't a moment, but the first Thursday that NBC aired My Name is Early, The Office, Scrubs and 30 Rock was genius. I love that all of these shows are non-traditional, no-laugh track, high-quality comedies. I didn't watch 30 Rock until it moved to Thursdays, but it has moments of brilliance. And yea for Scrubs returning before January!

5. Stephen Colbert's rant at the end of his Midterm Midtacular broadcast. Colbert is so funny! I thought about just putting his show in general on the list, but this rant showcases everything great about his show. Here is the text. "Tomorrow you're all going to wake up in a Brave New World, a world where the constitution gets trampled by an army of terrorist clones created in a stem cell research lab run by homosexual doctors who sterilize their instruments over burning American flags. Where Tax and Spend Democrats take all your hard-earned money and use it to buy electric cars for National Public Radio and teach evolution to illegal immigrants. Oh, and everybody's high! Whoo!"

4. The Grey's Anatomy Super Bowl episodes. Who knew this show could be suspenseful?

3. Jim tells Pam that he loves her on The Office. Everything from this point on in the episode was fantastic, and kudos to the writers, because most viewers just expected Jim to tell Pam he was taking a job in another office.

2. Michael kills Anna-Lucia and Libby on LOST! This was jaw dropping! The episode was progressing slowly, and then - BAM - everything changed in an instant.

1. They killed President Palmer on 24! The promos hyped the premier of S5 of 24 by saying, "The first 10 minutes of 24 will change everything," and it did. They killed off another main character, left one in a coma (or in critical condition) and had another one running for her life. I did not see the assassination of President Palmer coming, another jaw-dropping moment on television. Anytime I see All State commercials with Dennis Haysbert, I mourn President Palmer's death on 24.

What are your favorite moments from television? I purposefully omitted sporting events from my list. I haven't decided if I'm going to do a sports list or not. I'll be back with my Top 10 (+ or -) Combined Media List (books, TV, movies, songs/albums) when I get back to my memory devises. (I'll try to think of catchier title.)

Merry Christmas!

Paint and Snow

I've been painting my "new" bedroom every night this week. Painting red is not fun because it takes so many layers. And I can only paint one layer a day because I can only work at night. It's a slow process. (In case you didn't read Jaime's blog, we are renting a house together starting Jan. 1.) Our nice landlords let us in early to paint and move stuff in, but we don't start paying rent until Jan. 1. I lived in this house for two years when I first moved to town, so it already feels like home. I'll have the same bedroom and everything.

A cold front came in on Monday, and we got a little snow last night. I love snow, even in small quantities. I don't love ice that presents like another layer of paint on your car. Hard to even scrape off. But soon I'll have a garage and won't have to worry about that.

Tomorrow is my last day of work until Jan. 2. Working in higher education has it perks.

The radio stations started playing Christmas songs more frequently once the temperature dropped. I'll admit that I would have thought it strange to hear a Christmas song on Saturday when it was 82 degrees. Wise decision.

The Cowboys are in the playoffs and Tony Romo is in the Pro Bowl!

Search Kindly

I don't know how many of you out there are like me, but I Google everything. Is Grey's Anatomy new tonight? Google. How do I renew my driver's license online? Google. Where do I want to stay when I visit New York City. Google. And magically, Google answers.

Let me introduce you to Search Kindly. The whole point of Search Kindly is to take something that you'd be doing anyway, like surfing the Internet, and turn it into a really meaningful action. All the money generated by Search Kindly is donated to charity. For November and December, all the money they make is going to Invisible Children, an organization committed to ending the war in Northern Uganda where children are forced to fight as soldiers. For fear of being hunted by the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army), these children commute on foot every night to find safe places to sleep in their town centers.

I've started using Search Kindly for all my search needs. Google provides the search engine for Search Kindly, so it's like nothing has changed, except that with each search, I'm making a small difference. (They aren't making a lot of money, so spread the word!) You can even add Search Kindly to the search bar in Firefox and IE7 to make it your default search engine.

Give it a try!

"If you're going to search, why not Search Kindly?"

Christmas Parade

This is what I've been working on for the last week. The parade was Saturday night. On Friday, I got the converter to power the lights, and our wattage was too high. So I picked up a generator from facilities. The generator didn't have a muffler, so it was crazy loud. The students riding on the float were singers, so I knew we couldn't have a ridiculously loud generator. So on Saturday morning I rented a generator from Home Depot. Life is good. Then on Saturday night, we could not get the trailer to hitch to the truck. It took us 30 minutes! About 3/4 of the way through the parade, the rented generator ran out of gas. I kept the original, loud generator in the truck, so we switched power supplies. It was all downhill from there, until we got the float in storage and tried to unhitch the truck. The hitch would not come off the ball! We had to trick the trailer by raising the "leg" and putting a brick under it. Once we did that, we were able to raise it off the truck. Crazy! This morning I returned the generator. It's over! Until Monday, when I have to rally the troops to strike the float.

My weekend has not been restful, but I'm taking it easy this afternoon and willing my Cowboys to a win an important game that probably has playoff implications this evening. If you've seen me watch a Cowboys game, you know it's not relaxing or restful.

Brrrr!

I ran this morning before work, and it was cold! I don't think my legs ever warmed up. You would think that the part of your body in motion would get warm and stop feeling numb, but it was not so. This is the first time I've run in the morning since it's been gloves-and-earmuffs cold. Now I just have to get out there again on Thursday morning knowing how cold it will be.

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I can burn TiVo recordings onto DVDs now! And I didn't even have to buy the special software! Awesome! And I can even edit out commercials!

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"I'm being very 'American Beauty' right now and taking lots of random pictures, so just ignore me." - student that walked into my office and started taking close-up shots of pictures on the wall, wreaths, etc. Must have an interesting project due in his photography class. You don't hear too many people referencing "American Beauty" these days. I need to watch that movie again.

Holiday Edition

In response to Elisa's blog, here are my answers to the 2006 Holiday Edition of Getting to Know Your Friends.

1. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Yum, especially the fruit flavored ones.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wraps, sometimes weeks before Christmas.

3. Do you hang mistletoe? No

4. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Dressing.

5. What is your favorite holiday memory as a child? I have very few childhood memories, and I can't recall any holiday memories at this time.

6. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Don't remember.

7. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We open all the gifts from our immediate family on Christmas Eve and exchange presents with my uncle's family on Christmas day.

8. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? With ornaments.

9. Snow! Love it or dread it? LOVE IT!

10. Can you ice skate? Yes, but nothing fancy.

11. Do you remember your favorite gift? What's with these questions that require a memory? I got TiVo as an early Christmas present this year, and that was pretty awesome.

12. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Chocolate Mirange Pie, Chocolate Mint Sugar Cookies

13. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Eating? I can't think of any unique traditions my family has.

14. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? I love finding the perfect gift for someone, which is always my goal, but I like receiving the perfect gift as well.

15. What is your favorite Christmas song? All I Want for Christmas is You by Vince Vance and the Valiants, O Holy Night by John Berry.