It has been a year of much weirdness and of great happenings in the world. The rumblings of massive change have somewhat subsided but only because the framework is in place – now we will begin to see the results.
As I did last year I hereby offer my annual roundup of activities.
January
– Sonsabitches Eagles get whipped in the playoffs thereby dashing all hope. No surprises here.
– We found out who would star in the long-awaited film version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
– I made a list of predictions for 2004, surprisingly many of which came true.
– Captain Kangaroo died. One by one the old guard fades away.
February
– I broke a rib snowboarding. My first winter sports injury and only my second broken bone.
– I shaved my moustache that long ago? Good God. I still look like a deranged Muppet.
– Ronald Reagan turned 93. The irony of this celebration was to become apparent all too soon.
March
– I saw lots of very good movies.
– I went to New Orleans and was unimpressed. Except for the Saint Patrick’s day shindig in the Irish Channel. That was fun.
– I wrote a will.
April
– Had a very good, very strange weekend in Beantown. At least the Red Sox beat the Yankees 3 out of 4.
– Got Netflix. I don’t watch movies often enough to really justify the expense but what I’ve seen has been almost universally good.
– I compared Arlen Specter to a malevolent Oompa-Loompa. That is still funny. Funny and true.
May
– I actually didn’t drive to or pass through Philadelphia for a weekend.
– I bought a used iPod – which didn’t work – so I sent it back, got screwed on the transaction and ponied up to Apple for the real deal (refurbished). I am still a happy man.
– I expounded on words I don’t like and things I ought to be ashamed of and aren’t.
June
– Missed my mother’s birthday to watch the Phillies play the Red Sox in Fenway. Saw a fight and the Phillies lost.
– Iraq regained its soveriegnty. “Let Freedom Reign.” Indeed.
– Ronald Reagan celebrated his 93d birthday by dying.
– Bloomsday celebrated its 100th anniversary. I read a bit of Ulysses but gave up when the day passed. I’ll get back to it one day.
July
– The Dems royally screwed up Boston for a week with the result that I had some very pleasant company for a couple of days in boring old Gettysburg.
– Went to another new (to me) ballpark. I slowly sidle towards completing my life’s goal.
– I spent a lot of time abusing the two Democratic Johns, celebrated the Fourth of July, the thirty-fifth anniversary of the moon landing, and Bastille Day and finally considered possible future career choices.
August
– Went to Indiana. The year of “Anywhere But Here” rolls merrily on.
– Saw another baseball game in another new place. Six teams, four ballparks on the year.
– Had a fine time road-tripping through North and South Carolina in search of Revolutionary War sites.
– Warped Tour weekend included a trip to Atlantic City complete with a millionairess burlesque.
September
– Made my mostly annual piligrimage to the south and west. Had a beer atop Lookout Mountain. Good adventure.
– I paid tribute to the nuns of my past on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of their arrival in my diocese.
– Saw a very silly, purportedly artistic, rumoredly anti-Confederate display at the College. My alma mater steadily sinks into lefty-fueled madness.
– Tramped all over Antietam and came home to drink with men out of the wrong era thereby ruining their event.
October
– Oh baseball, thou sport of the gods!
– The X-Prize was finally won, opening space to a new era of exploration.
– The Red Sox not only made it to the Series, they won the thing in grand spanking style!
November
– The President handily won re-election. His opponent conceded both quickly and graciously; thereby surprising the entire world.
– Pissed away a good weekend in Key West. Fun, but not too fun.
– The old monster – Arafat – finally did us all a favor and died.
December
– I turned 31
– Better yet, I turned 31 on the sacred soil of Ireland. Pints were consumed, generally unattractive, badly dressed Irish women were mourned over. Music was enjoyed. Much walking was done.
– My grandfather died, everyone immediately felt a great sense of relief. His life was, therefore, celebrated rather than his death mourned.