Happy New Year! :)

As much as I hate blogging about blogging, I’m gonna do it.

I’m struggling to find my voice here. My first article is about to be a year old, and in a year I’ve only produced 12 posts total. Yawn.

I don’t post here because I can’t figure out what it is that I want to say, and I think maybe that’s the problem. Rather than throwing a bunch of stuff against the wall and seeing what sticks, I’m trying to figure out what will stick before I throw. Meh… I’m tired of trying to “be” something and about to start just throwing. Let’s see what sticks.

Music – I started practicing piano again. I really do love playing. I don’t know why I stopped. I probably love playing it more than guitar. Then again, maybe because it’s still “new” and I haven’t reached one of those plateaus that require you to push through. That’s definitely where I’m at with my guitar playing. I think I’ve reached the limits (reached them a long time ago actually) of “messing around”. If I want to get better, I’m going to have to apply myself. Hmm, applying myself… that’s a whole other discussion for later.

iPhone – I am 99% sure I’m going to get one when our contract expires in January. Really excited about having internet access all the time, and especially with a camera. I need to open a Flickr account. Actually…

MyFamSpam – Recently (as in today) thought about starting up some version of FamSpam for my family. I really want to be better about keeping in touch, but I’m just not a big phone talker. Plus, it would be a nice side project for hacker street cred.

Music (again) – Watched the Fearless Freaks documentary on The Flaming Lips. Probably one of the best rock documentaries I’ve seen. Both for how open and honest the band was with the guy doing the documenting, and also for just how awesome those guys are. I’ve loved their music since The Soft Bulletin album, but I have a better appreciation for the guys behind it now.

Alright, that is all… back to work.

There’s a blog post from Errol Morris up at the New York Times where he asks the head photo editors from 3 of the big news wire services to choose their favorite photographs of President Bush. The pictures and commentary are both equally good, and many of the pics I hadn’t seen before.

One of the most striking to me was near the end, a single closeup of his face, crying at the Medal of Honor ceremony for a Marine killed in Iraq.

“It wasn’t often that you saw George Bush become emotional and cry in the course of his presidency and as far as I remember, this was the first time that anyone saw him shed tears specifically related to casualties and the events in Iraq.”

I have mixed feelings about the war and Bush and his presidency overall. All of that aside though, this picture to me captures the immense weight and gravity of what it means to be Commander in Chief and still (just) human. And with Bush, whose humanity might be both his greatest asset and flaw, it comes through all the more clearly what a terribly difficult job it must be.

My sister and her fiancé (Congratulations!) gave me Radiohead’s In Rainbows on vinyl for Christmas. I love the music itself (possibly one of my favorite Radiohead albums now), but I’m equally impressed by the way it sounds. The pop n’ crackle goes great with the music itself, plus there’s an extra depth and quality of sound. Maybe it’s the thicker, 180 gram vinyl. Whatever it is, I love it. It’s got me looking at some of the Radiohead re-issues on 180g vinyl now.

I’ve also been listening to all my old LPs, 10 and 7 inches. I never really considered myself a vinyl enthusiast, but there’s definitely something special about the sound and experience of listening to music on vinyl.