It’s 2009, and life is not without it’s stresses and issues, but is good. For those who care, and even who don’t, here’s a quick update since I’ve been very quiet on this blog through the holiday season.
1) I’d like to thank you all for continuing to keep up with me: thanks for your emails throughout the year reminding me about news I may have missed or berating me for an ill-considered opinion or giving me the hoards of information I’d never have gone looking for but have benefited from immensely on my radio show and even here on this blog.
2) My wife Melissa is wonderful. This is she. We’re business partners and best friends and much else, and ultimately life would be much harder without her. We’ve been married seven years (which is amazing to me) and I swear to you there isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t catch a glimpse of her getting ready in the morning and stop whatever I’m doing to admire. She listens when I speak my mind, cooks great food, impresses me with her abilities, laughs hard at herself, wants me to be myself at all times, loves the same movies and TV shows as me and is the sexiest woman I know. That’s a pretty good score.
3) I have a few New Years Resolutions. I never bought into them before, primarily because they don’t usually work, so I’ve always treated them as a joke (last year’s resolution, some of my listeners will remember, was to watch three times as much television as the year before). But I think these few things are good goals for 2009 and, hell, the main advantage of calendar-based tasking is psychological anyway. First, I’d like to write an op-ed for a major newspaper (like the ones I’ve done for the Los Angeles Times, etc.) at least once a month. Second, I’d like to post a three-minute videoblog/podcast here at least once every 2 weeks. Third, I’d like to pursue a book idea Crawley had for me, and work on it at least once a week. I’d like to buy Syd Field’s book on writing screenplays. I’d like to start reading fiction too (which I haven’t done in years), starting with Good Omens, which I’m going to read with Ariana (see below). This in addition to producing and hosting my daily radio show, editing a new website which will be live soon, and helping Melissa run her business. Sounds good!
4) The past couple of weeks have been fun. We had turducken for Christmas dinner, prepared by my brother-in-law Al, who’s a chef. He deboned a turkey, a duck and a chicken by hand, and wrapped them all up together with three different types of stuffing: I can’t remember a better-tasting Christmas meal. The next day I assisted Melissa as she photographed a 600-guest Muslim wedding in Mesa, Arizona, a crazy wedding with a beautiful bride and some great, friendly people and fantastic Indian food. The following day Melissa’s cousin Ariana (who is a good friend, pictured) was home from university and visiting for a few days. We played a lot of Wii, rode quads, watched movies, trekked the desert in my Jeep, found the purest sand in the desert and played in it, ate chocolate, took a drive at 2am to recover from the trauma of seeing Witness to Jonestown!, and much more. Then we were in San Clemente again to spend New Years Day and say goodbye to Ariana, who’s heading back north until May.
5) Then yesterday and today, Al, the man of many talents, has been installing our kitchen. I love this kitchen: soft-close cupboards and drawers may remove the ability to utilize them in a fit of anger but they are oh-so-nice with their hydraulic hinges. This is a big kitchen, with plenty of room for a chopping-block-on-wheels in the middle and me with my laptop at the other side of the bar. After the microwave gets installed above the range, we have to lay the granite countertop…. yes, it’s a lot of work, but is beginning to look great.
6) Now: Tomorrow morning, Apple’s Phil Schiller takes to the stage at MacWorld Expo instead of Steve Jobs. Until today, nobody knew why Jobs wouldn’t be there, but speculated about his health (which had some adverse effects on Apple’s stock). Some say Steve shouldn’t matter. I beg to differ. Apple is Steve Jobs, largely. And Steve Jobs is Apple. It fucking matters. Today, this letter emerged, confirming health issues but saying they’ve been diagnosed, that the treatment is simple and ongoing (and hormone-related), and that he should be feeling much better by the springtime. (By the way it turns out Jobs did the right thing by telling everyone what’s going on: rather than stock plummeting as many feared, it rallied upon the news that the health issues aren’t life-threatening. Good news all round.) One thing’s for sure though: the keynote tomorrow won’t be the same without him. What to expect Schiller to announce? Not sure. Possibly an updated Mac Mini, possibly an iPhone software update and some other stuff. Like any Machead, I’ll be watching closely. And the iPhone never fails to impress people no matter where I take it, so – update or no update – it’s just fine as it is.
Thanks again, friends, and I wish you all the best for 2009. Blog: ON!
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