And such. Everybody’s doing it, so here’s my take. While I frequently check in with them, I don’t entirely agree with Pitchfork’s Top 50. Granted many of their picks are releases I meant to check out but didn’t get around to. But only a few of my faves turned up.
Neko Case “Blacklisted”
Sigur Rós “()”
Interpol “Turn on the Bright Lights”
Flaming Lips “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots”
Sleater-Kinney “One Beat”

Not listed were Sondre Lerche’s “Faces Down”, the Breeders “Title TK”, Imperial Teen’s “On”, or Low’s “Trust”…to name a few. Oddly enough, the New York Times gave the 20 Years of Dischord Discography (which I am currently enjoying) a favorable review.

live music news
I was able to get to a few live shows in 2002. The ones I enjoyed most had to be Nick Cave, Neko Case (twice, once opening for Nick Cave) and the multiple Low shows I was fortunate enough to attend. Especially their hometown record release show at the Sacred Heart Music Center. Sadly I didn’t make it to many punk/hardcore shows. I’ve turned into such a homebody. Perhaps I’ll have better luck next year.

sad music news
Too many musicians died in 2002. I’m likely leaving many out, but here are a few who were far too young:
Joe Strummer: 21 August 1952 - 22 December 2002
Run DMC’s DJ Jam Master Jay: January 21, 1965 - October 30, 2002
Mary Hansen of Stereolab: November 1, 1966 - December 9, 2002
Dee Dee Ramone: 1952-2002

I should be in bed. About 24 hours ago I was up hurling. Got that whole stomach flu thang going on. Again. But I’m hoping to miraculously be well again by morning. Or midafternoon at least. As we’ve got company coming for New Year’s Eve. We’ve been shockingly social lately. Friday night we had friends over. Did our gift exchange (I love my new limited edition Hellboy watch) and played UNO, Simpsons style. Saturday I had friends in town from Chicago, who wound up crashing here for the weekend. They were up for the Thrash Fest, which I skipped. But it was good to see them. They played with the little man and hung out. They went to the co-op with us, and I was able to get J to make them his yummy chocolate chip cookies *and* his fabulous french toast. They, in turn, brought their Lord of the Rings platinum edition DVD box set. J and I watched the movie, with extra scenes, Saturday night while they were out. And Sunday night we started watching the documentary footage (six hours worth). So again, I stayed up too late. Three nights in a row. Which contributed greatly, I’m sure, to my uber-illness. Sunday the little man and I hung out at the coffee shop with the girls. It was really pleasant. The monkey was shockingly well-behaved. This could be the dawn of a new era, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. Then yesterday I got up super early for a shopping spree with another friend. It was the first time we’d been able to coordinate it, well, ever. So I couldn’t back out. I’m glad I went, though it was likely foolish…as I wound up in bed by 8pm with a fever. But it was fun. We headed to Minneapolis, which was totally deserted. The stores were all empty, except for us. As was Cafe Brenda…where we had lunch. And the Tea Garden…where I got a yummy spicy soy chai latte with tapioca pearls. And the Lava Lounge…where I fell in love with a pair of $98 pants (with a 28″ inseam, yes, I am short) that I am still pining away for. I could never justify blowing that kinda cash on a single item. But the pants. Oh the pants. I’ll have to go back and photograph them at least. Sigh.

Some ignorant twit in the Denver suburbs had been keeping a nearly extinct, illegally smuggled Spix’s macaw in a teeny cage for twenty-five years, and had been taking very poor care of it. The species is extinct in the wild and there are only sixty in captivity. And those born in captivity are in-bred. At least poor “Presley” is finally going home. He’s being sent to Brazil to try to save the species. He’s had some of his cells multiplied and frozen for safekeeping, is finally being fed more nourishing food and has been given suitable perches. Hopefully it’s not too little too late.

For the past decade or so I’d managed to keep a grand tradition alive. Ok, maybe not so grand. But really, um, nice. Each Christmas Day/Evening I would go out, with friends and/or family. To dine at one of the few open restaurants…and catch a movie afterwards. Some years the meals were better than the movie, and vice versa. Films viewed in Christmas past include “The Full Monty“, “Cast Away” (I didn’t pick that one), and “The Royal Tenenbaums“, among others. Meals have usually been Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai or Middle Eastern. Not so this year. J and I didn’t have much of a plan. We were sort of plodding through the days prior to the holidays. And then so preoccupied we didn’t have time for much discussion. But we knew that many of the regulars would be out of town. Two favorite friends decided to take a much-needed break in Chicago. And some of the little man’s paternal family are in Arizona, while others are in the Bahamas or Bermuda or something. So there was no one to hang out with the little man while we did the dinner and a movie thing. But getting takeout and watching a rented movie sounded like a fine alternative. Except that we discovered too late that there didn’t seem to be *any* restaurants open. It was just after 6pm in sleepy St. Paul. I called all the nearby Vietnamese and Chinese restaurants, but to no avail. Getting hungrier by the minute I realized we’d have to make do with the slim pickings in the kitchen. The boys ate a not-so-fine feast of…sigh…cereal. And to J’s disgust I made myself an Elvis-style meal. A grilled peanut butter sandwich (hold the bananas, add jelly). But J still loves me. And I’m going to make danged sure that this doesn’t become our new holiday tradition.

Just finished reading the trilogy, His Dark Materials, that I picked up the other day. I’m thinking that I should have savored it, read it a little more slowly…but I couldn’t help myself. Besides, J had caught up with me. He’d started reading the third book while I was sleeping. It could have been a fight to the finish, but now I’m ready to reluctantly hand it over. But what to do with myself now? I’m all hopped up on caffeine…but we’ve only a few hours before the festivities begin at my father’s. Not enough time to properly start any project. Could do some laundry, but…bah to that. I have some writing of my own I’d like to carry on with…but I’m too antsy. I’m sorely tempted to let the little man open his gifts now…but I promised myself I’d wait until tomorrow. We already did a little dancing, while listening to Sondre Lerche and stomping on bubblewrap. That was a good time. Hmmm. Perhaps some fingerpainting is in order. And then I really will need to do some laundry.

So I decided against going to see Solaris. Did take care of the errands, as intended, and retrieved the little man a little early. Which was a good thing…for the most part. We’ve had a pleasant enough evening. The low point was when he was chasing after a ball and slid face-first into the buffet. Ouch. Much hugging, rocking, and a little bit of the Powerpuff Girls (which he calls the Parkerpuff Girls) and things were mostly all better. The high point was when he started belting out his showtune style holiday medley…which he must have picked up at preschool. It took me a while to figure out just what he was singing. His version of Jingle Bells comes out as “JeeMoMi JeeMoMi JeeMoMi….Heyyyy!” and quickly glides into “You Bettah Wahouh” before colliding with a rendition of “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” that I couldn’t even begin to transcribe. Going along with this holiday spirit (despite the fact that we’re not Christians) we watched the Invader Zim “Most Horrible X-Mas Ever” special…which was entertaining, but nowhere near the quality of the previous episodes. Who can blame them, though. It was the last episode they ever made. So sad. Anyhow…after that I wrapped the remaining gifts in need of wrapping. Every year I say to myself “self, you aren’t going to get sucked into this consumerism b.s. and go off buying everyone gifts” and every year I manage to fail a little more spectacularly. You see, I enjoy giving gifts to people I like. So then I think, hey, I’ll *make* everyone’s gifts. But then I realize I have a limited amount of time, and my skills are limited to making mix tapes. So then it turns into, “well, at least I’ll only buy gifts from locally owned businesses and/or directly from artists themselves”. Which I did. A lot of. Except for that one bizarro impulse gift. I was at TJ Maxx. I sometimes go there for wrapping paper, gift bags, etc. because their offerings are that lovely combination of lower price + better quality. So I was on my lunch break and needing to get back to the office…but decided to cruise through the toy section, just for the heckuvit. And this one item caught my eye. For some time now the little man has been happily playing with our real teapot at home, and the toy tea set at preschool. So why not move him up to a fully-functioning coffee maker? It says for ages 3 and up, I kid you not. The strangest thing is…I think he’ll love it.

Technically the office is closed this week, and most of next. But here I am anyhow. It’s something of a pre-emptive strike. The work I accomplish today will, hopefully, reduce my stress levels after the holiday break…when there will be a series of tight deadlines to meet. Today has been pretty productive. Amazing the things one can accomplish without interruptions. But I’m going to head out soon. To run a few errands. I’m debating what to do afterwards. Whether to pick the little man up early from pre-school, or go see the Solaris remake while it’s still in theaters. I know, I know, I should spend the extra time with the monkey…but the next couple of days are going to be crazy, what with the holidays and all. And mommy needs some down time now and then. Speaking of the holidays…it will be yet another brownish-greyish xmas. We had snow on the ground for about half a day, which I managed to photograph. Generally I’m not much into winter, but I do think it would be fun to take the little man sledding one of these days.

Been listening to the Magnetic Fields today.
Remembered to order a bunch of gifts online…all a little too late.
A couple of batches of them have just arrived.
Didn’t bake anything for the little man’s preschool holiday party.
Did bring in some inferior store-bought cookies instead.
For the first time in months I submitted to the Mirror Project, and answered a couple of waferbaby brainstorms.
Daydreamed a bit.
Started reading, and enjoying, Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy.
Ate another slice of chocolate almond midnight cake.
Got a surprising amount of work taken care of.
Forgot to pay the phone bill. Again.
So the line has been disconnected. Again.
Going to have J’s name put on the account…so he can help deal with those particular devils.
Didn’t buy a lottery ticket, though the powerball is up to something like 215 million dollars.
Did something else I can’t talk about here. Yet.
And finally…I photographed the little man wearing J’s headphones.
He looks so serious.

I’m opting out of my department’s afternoon field trip. Earlier we had a potluck lunch together (with a suprising variety of yummy vegan foods). And soon a large group of folks will be off to see The Two Towers. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve long been wanting to see it. The trailer gave me goosebumps. But I’d like to see it with J, for one thing. And for another…I am severely missing my monkey. Recently I’ve attended a few holiday-ish social functions, resulting in extra time away from the little man. So tonight will be all about him. Which means picking him up from pre-school and heading straight home. Where there will be play time and bath time. And after dinner I’m planning a pile-up on our favorite comfy chair. Usually I sit down first, then the little man climbs on to my lap. Then one of the cats (Princess Jasmine) curls up wherever she can squeeze in. Once we’re settled in I shift the chair into reclining mode. Sometimes one or two or all three of us will fall asleep. Ah, bliss. Until then I’ve been looking at photos of the little man and smiling. And fighting a strong urge to fingerpaint.

The past several days have been equal parts elation and exhaustion. Too much to document thoroughly. Instead I’ll resort to a sloppy stream of consciousness style. You have my apologies.
the good:
chocolate almond midnight cake
the little man’s penchant for hugging and cuddling
dance dance revolution
invader zim
august moon
sigur ros
weekend partying ’til 2am, with anarchist librarians
a newly rebuilt home computer that doesn’t constantly crash (yet)
a new haircolor and cut
foosball follies
the bad:
an unanticipated hospital visit (for a family member)
the end of AMA at the Riverview
indeterminate deadlines
the little man’s penchant for flying dropkicks
our ancient oven’s failure to close completely
a new haircolor and cut (after the first washing, it will never again look like it did at the salon)
the ugly:
home heating and plumbing problems