December 31, 2001
Considering how filled with turmoil this last year was (mainly with the nation at large), it was nice to have such a subdued New Years just hanging out with friends. Had some food, drank a little wine, watched some silly short movies, and fell asleep promptly after getting into bed at 2 in the morning. Maybe it's a sign that I'm getting old, but I had fun and it was all very comforting and nice.

               

December 30, 2001
When I was out driving today and running errands, huge snowflakes were falling from the sky and literally exploding into little white 'puffs' as they hit the ground. It was too light to accumulate, but it was neat while it lasted.

December 29, 2001
Just when I thought that the tastiness of Thai restaurants couldn't be matched in my kitchen, the spell is broken (by the lovely Tina) and Pad Thai Noodles with astounding flavor are put together within the confines of my (somewhat cold) apartment.

December 28, 2001
I ended up driving in very blizzard-like conditions tonight and it shot my nerves all to hell. All I could think of was what happened just over a year ago and how I ended up with my car in a ditch during similar conditions. Tonight, I made it home safely, though, and all was well.

December 27, 2001
I've had a twitch in my left eyelid off-and-on now for a couple days, yet every time I tell someone about it and try to show them, it miraculously goes away.

December 26, 2001
I have ideas that I'm trying to churn out and keep all the other wheels rolling at the same time. New content and new sections will hopefully be forthcoming. 5 more days and this section is over...

December 25, 2001
There was food surrounding me all day, so I picked at things all day. Never quite ate a whole meal, but when it's all added up I think I did.

December 24, 2001
All the work in keeping a Christmas gift secret to the receiver finally paid off tonight when they opened the gift and were completely confused, then surprised again and finally happy (hopefully) with the end gift.

December 23, 2001
My sense of days is already completely screwed-up. Today didn't feel like a Sunday, but it's nice knowing that I don't have to set my alarm for tomorrow.

December 22, 2001
My "little" brother graduated from college today. It made me feel somewhat old, but I think I'll be OK.

     

December 21, 2001
As I biked out of my workplace, I thought "I don't have to come back here until the 2nd of next year." Then, I smiled, laughed a bit, and pedaled on home.

December 20, 2001
Wrapped some more presents and now my Christmas tree is bonafide with a full range of gifts underneath. The first time I've had a tree of my very own.

December 19, 2001
Hell yeah! While there were some small problems with it, I thought that Lord Of The Rings was still one of the most fun movies I've seen in a long time and quite possibly the best fantasy film I've ever seen.

December 18, 2001
There was some snow coming down again tonight for awhile. It's already gone, though.

     

December 17, 2001
I think that one thing I've inherited (and have been influenced into by outside sources who will remain unnamed) is somewhat of a packrat tendency.

December 16, 2001
This is really strange, but when I was walking back from the store tonight, I heard a car that had an engine that sounded exactly like a bubble-mower. If you don't know the toy I'm talking about, this post isn't going to make any sense, but if you do you're probably already chuckling at the thought. I know I was.

December 15, 2001
The key word for today is 'food.' The key word for tomorrow will be 'exercise.'

December 14, 2001
Feel sort of like a grownup today. Finally got some things in order that I'd been needing to do for a long time and even though it wasn't really that big of a deal, it felt like I'd accomplished a lot.

December 13, 2001
Finished another book today and marked it down on my list. Although it's still not a huge amount, I've already read about twice what I did last year, which is what I wanted to accomplish.

December 12, 2001
Busy making gifts for people tonight. Music related and fun fun fun.

     

December 11, 2001
I have a Christmas tree in my apartment for the first time since I've been on my own. It's an old aluminum one with a rotating light wheel (pictures here) and it even has some gifts under it. I'll have to make a habit of it in the future.

December 10, 2001
I was sweating while biking home from work today, and I'd even shed a top layer that I wore to work. When I felt the damp against my skin, I decided that I want cold! I want snow! I want to fight against the bitter wind on my bike ride home and have to warm my hands up once I get inside. That, and it's a better excuse to treat myself to hot chocolate.

December 9, 2001
I left my apartment for a grand total of 15 minutes today, yet still feel like I didn't accomplish much.

December 8, 2001
If you're going to set foot into a major chain store during the month of December, it's best to do it one hour before closing time. If you try in the middle of the day, you'll be driven to madness. MADNESS I TELL YOU!

     

December 7, 2001
Sitting by my computer, I hear some slight scratching around in one of the crawlspace storage areas connected to my apartment. that I have. Thinking that it's a mouse and it will run off once it hears me, I go over and bang on the door but I still hear the noises. I open the door slowly and peer in, still hearing the noises, then an oppossum sort of saunters out where I can see him as I freak out and slam the door. Called my landlord pissed as hell (even though I don't have anything but some old boxes in there and there's no way he can actually get into my apartment unless it learns to pick locks), then called wildlife rescue. All their oppossum people are gone for the night, so I call animal control and it takes them 40 minutes to get someone here, and by that time the oppossum is gone again. After he leaves, I run to a nearby store and got some mothballs and threw them all over in the crawlspace (the animal control guy said they won't come in because they have such a refined sense of smell that it hurts them). Regardless, my landlord needs to fix some things (I live in a large, converted-into-apartments 100 year old house and I understand that they often need work), otherwise I'll be finding a new place to live.

     

December 6, 2001
As usual, the holidays and end of the year are rapidly approaching and I'm not ready for either quite yet.

December 5, 2001
The odometer on my bike has over 1000 miles on it now. That's over 1000 miles commuted to work this year, which admittingly isn't as good as some people do, but I'm still happy with it. I also put almost the same amount on my rollerblades this year as well, but that was more the exercise component.

December 4, 2001
A bird pooped on the sleeve of my coat and pantleg when I was biking to work today. Even though that had never happened to me before, I kept riding along like it was the most normal thing in the world.

December 3, 2001
I think that a majority of people have sort of lost their sense of wonder with the world in general, and although that's the easy route to go, I'd prefer the opposite. Granted, we're in the middle of a war and a depression (officially now, according to the government), but it's no need to find everything in this world so absolutely uninspiring. If I can no longer get excited by little things, then what's the point? I remember what it was like when I was 10 years old, and I always want to have at least part of that fascination with things. For most people, I don't reverting a bit to that bygone era of youth would hurt them one bit. They say that irony is dead, but I'd also like to put bit of a damper on cynicism if I could.

     

December 2, 2001
I hate to keep mentioning the weather, but I feel that I need to. I would have never guessed that on this day of the year, I'd be out rollerblading in a t-shirt and light pants and sweating in the warm sun. It can't last much longer, but I almost hope that it does. You hear about the crazy Nebraska weather, and this would be it.

     

December 1, 2001
I was shown pictures of Prague by a family member who went there recently and it's again jumped up on my list of foreign cities that I need to visit in the future.