In what has become my blogging tradition for the holidays, please enjoy Steve Martin’s Five Wishes for Christmas.
Have a good holiday season…
[podcast]http://radiocitymke.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/steve-martin-five-wishes-for-christmas.mp3[/podcast]
Nothing like counting those chickens before the eggs are even laid (to say nothing about hatching). When I got home yesterday, I was thinking I would whip some photos from the holiday season up on the site, to augment the one I borrowed from Christy. But I really didn’t have any shots worth posting (out of the 12 that I actually took).
I mentioned to Michelle that part of the problem is I’m really bored with my camera. I don’t even particularly feel like taking it places or turning it on when I do remember to bring it along. Bocko needs a new camera to reinvigorate that photographic energy.
To that end, one of things I’ve decided to spend a portion of the forthcoming tax refund on is the digital SLR I’ve been on the verge of purchasing for about 3 years now. I’m sure Wordy will be pleased to no longer have my annual “which-camera-should-I-intend-to-but-not-actually-buy” emails. This is the outfit I’m figuring on purchasing (whether through the linked vendor, or another). I’m going to spend a little bit more and get a telephoto lens included, because having that versatility was one of the prime motivations I felt to get a DSLR in the first place. Next year when I go to the ballpark, I want to take some nice shots of guys in the field…
Speaking of which, 20 Brewers tickets is one of the other things I’ve already spent that tax money on.
…
I guess now that I’m 30 I should try to get a better handle on this whole “saving money for more important stuff” thing. I SWEAR I will do that right after I buy a new TV…
Michelle and I took a ride up to Nordic Mountain today so I could try out my new skis, and we could work on our plan to ski as much as we can [afford to] this season. It went great. The new equipment that Michelle got me for Christmas and my birthday is going to serve me well for a good long time. Jen and Joe were also right about my boots; they were exactly the right size, they’ll just take time to break in. After a few runs, I had forgotten the agonizing lengths I had to go to just to get them on…
Meanwhile, in the NFL, I went a lousy 1-3 in my Wild Card Weekend picks. At least the one that I got right was a Vikings loss. Funny epilogue to that comment– we ate dinner at Fratello’s in Oshkosh after our ski day. We had missed the end of the football game (they had it on in the bar at the hill, but we left part way through the 4th quarter), and I asked our waiter if the Vikings lost. He told me they did and I gave him an enthusiastic, Borat-style, double-thumbs-up. “Yeah,” he said, “I’m from Minnesota.” Haha. Don’t worry about it; we tipped him well…
But now I’m tired and I’m going to bed. I did fall once today too (trying to stop too fast at the end of a run) and I think I sprained my right thumb. That’s my spacebar thumb, so this typing kind of hurts. Sleep tight!
Last day of work in 2008. Can’t tell you how nice it is that this is “Friday”– because yesterday was about the longest Monday in the history of the Gregorian calendar. Tonight, despite the weather, Michelle and I are off to Madison to meet up with D-Slo and Andrea ((They got engaged, in case you missed it.)).
But yes, so: on the eve of Christmas Eve, I like to have our old friend Steve remind us once again that, while many holiday wishes will remain mere wishes, there’s no harm in dreaming. Have a happy (and funny) and safe holiday…
Steve Martin – Five Wishes for Christmas ((transcript at whysanity.net))
If I had one wish that I could wish this holiday season, it would be that all the children to join hands and sing together in the spirit of harmony and peace. If I had two wishes I could make this holiday season, the first would be for all the children of the world to join hands and sing in the spirit of harmony and peace. And the second would be for 30 million dollars a month to be given to me, tax-free in a Swiss bank account. You know, if I had three wishes I could make this holiday season, the first, of course, would be for all the children of the world to get together and sing, the second would be for the 30 million dollars every month to me, and the third would be for encompassing power over every living being in the entire universe.
And if I had four wishes that I could make this holiday season, the first would be the crap about the kids definitely, the second would be for the 30 million, the third would be for all the power, and the fourth would be to set aside one month each year to have an extended 31-day orgasm, to be brought about slowly by Rosanna Arquette and that model Paulina-somebody, I can’t think of her name. Of course my lovely wife can come too and she’s behind me one hundred percent here, I guarantee it.
Wait a minute, maybe the sex thing should be the first wish, so if I made that the first wish, because it could all go boom tomorrow, then what do you got, y’know? No, no, the kids, the kids singing would be great, that would be nice. But wait a minute, who am I kidding? They’re not going to be able to get all those kids together. I mean, the logistics of the thing is impossible, more trouble than it’s worth! So — we reorganize! Here we go. First, the sex thing. We go with that. Second, the money. No, we got with the power second, then the money. And then the kids. Oh wait, oh jeez, I forgot about revenge against my enemies! Okay, I need revenge against all my enemies, they should die like pigs in hell! That would be my fourth wish. And, of course, my fifth wish would be for all the children of the world to join hands and sing together in the spirit of harmony and peace. Thank you everybody and Merry Christmas.
I feel like I’ve had enough prep time for the holiday season, for the most part. Have a few last-minute things to do, and Michelle has had to use my kitchen for cookie baking while her oven is on the fritz, but I’m not too stressed.
Work is going to the slow for the next couple days, and I definitely have no complaints there; might get some miscellaneous personal stuff done…
Over the weekend, our Bock fam Christmas at Jen and Joe’s was nice; the turducken was good for dinner, Uncle Bob bought me and Joe some cigars, I made a quarter or so at Sheepshead, and the Mark-Bock-fam kicked butt @ Guitar Hero.
Hope you all have a relaxing holiday, and if you’re around, we’ll see you soon!
Heard some Neil Diamond on the Christmas station I’m listening to. It reminded me of the realization that I had back in December 2006.
Back to Internet shopping…
Per Wordy’s mention in a post from a couple weeks back, I am now on accuradio for my holiday listening pleasure (I listen to Christmas music at work exclusively during the month of December).
I only loaded this mother up about 15 minutes ago, but I am in favor over the live365 that I’ve gone with in the past because it seems I can narrow down the music selection more specifically within this “holiday” genre (i.e., no En Vogue singing “Sleigh Ride” right after Mannheim Steamroller; both nice selections, but if you don’t want to mix them, you shouldn’t have to).
So, if you’re looking to give your season a soundtrack, give it a try.
After what feels like at least a 2-week period of not-being-at-work-too-often, time to settle in for the month of December and the home stretch of the fall semester. This time of year is usually peppered with students who forgot they had a bill to pay to go to school, but even more of them are too busy catching up on all the work they haven’t done all semester long. So it should be slow, but steady.
At home, I’m going to be focusing on decorating my house for the holidays this week, and getting a jump on shopping. I have a number of gifts already planned and noted, so it’s just a matter of getting out on the ‘tubes to do the buying. I’ll also be finishing up a bit of writing, and getting together a plan for New Year’s Eve / my birthday. FYI, the party is set for Wauwatosa and the Mundschau house, more details to come…
I don’t know how you feel about it, but it seems like the signs of winter are in full force: snow on the ground, Christmas season is here, Red Arrow park is open for skating… Enjoy your holiday season! Hopefully I’ll be able to focus enough to work, too.
Hey.
So the Christmas snuck up on, and then snuck past me. Hope you enjoyed yours. It was nice around here. We were over at Grandma’s house on the 22nd, and Michelle and I swung by the Behling’s, too. It’s always nice to see everybody. Hard to believe how grown up all the Bock kids are getting…
I was kind of sick on the 23rd and 24th, but I managed to visit the Mark Bock house on Sunday for the goddamned Packers game, which was nice, despite the outcome for GB. Being on the road in the playoffs might not be a bad thing for this group… Then on Monday (Christmas Eve), I slept in late to try to get some rest before riding up to Michelle’s aunt & uncle’s house in Sheboygan for dinner and a visit to her grandma. I didn’t go over to Grandma’s, what with my sickness and stuff.
On Christmas Day, Michelle hosted the family get-together at her apartment downtown. I had my doubts about how that was going to work, but she made it happen. It was definitely successful, and proof positive that you can make things happen in whatever space is available if you think creatively about it.
Today, I worked a little bit on the web server, realizing that I have a lot out there that could use cleaning up, and then Michelle and I went out to brave the mobs at the mall. I stood in a line at Kohl’s for a while, but we had a fine time browsing the post-holiday deals.
Can’t believe tomorrow is already Thursday. DEFINITELY glad that I don’t have to be back to work until next Wednesday, and it will be a short week to get back into the swing of things. For the rest of this week, I’ll probably be busy with party preparation here at my house. Got a lot to clean up and shop for before Monday. I’m definitely looking forward to having folks over and ringing in the new year.
Hope to see you soon, but if not– have a great week and a happy new year.
Nice that the kids are leaving campus in a day or two. I am anticipating the relaxation of 11 days off in a row like you wouldn’t believe. That means I do need to bust a little ass and get stuff accomplished at work this week, though. Glad that the new people are finally starting to be more autonomous and useful. That helps.
Meanwhile, my new favorite dirty Christmas carol lyric is:
“We won’t go until we get some.”
Don’t look at me like that. You know.