The Essential MCF: 2K9-2K10: Part 2

My jumpstart on Cloakfest 2K10 continues! I've already covered October and November of 2009, and now we'll take a look at the essential posts from December 2009 and January 2010::


DECEMBER, 2009

How I Wasted My Autumn Staycation
The older I get, the faster my longest weekend goes, and the easier it seems for me to waste 6 days of my life. Somehow, I still made it interesting....

Wish I Understood...
There's a lot of things I don't understand: the death of a good friend's sister, the notion that animation as a medium is limited to an audience of children, the humor some people see in vomit, and why people will go to work when ill. I've been guilty of that last one, but actually encountered someone almost as bad as if not worse than me....

MCF Libs
It was an experimental [NOUN] that [VERB] readers [ADVERB].

The Tent
At the memorial service for my friend's older sister, I learn that his brother is a minister, and an amazing public speaker. As one of my other friends observed, “Weren't we supposed to be comforting him?” It was an amazing display of faith in what could have been a very dark time.

RoboJack
As weird as I am during the daytime, sometimes even I'm amazed by my subconscious. Here's yet another one of my crazy dreams, in which among other things, I'm a transforming Jack Tripper robot.

And He Can't Get Up
I have an off day at the gym, which pales in comparison to the news that my nursing home-bound uncle had a fall. I'm aging, but my family has a great head start, and it's tough seeing what they have to deal with, what I'll have to deal with someday.

The Hangover One Point Five
Who has two muscular calves and a wild first visit to Atlantic City? This guy. (Not shown: me pointing at myself with my calves.)

PBW: So Money, I Don't Even Know It.
And, in case there was any danger of me forgetting my weekend getaway to AC, I took plenty of pictures.

Shopping Daze
With the holidays fast approaching, and me run down with a sinus infection after partying too much in Atlantic City, I trudge through work, skip the gym, and manage to get some Christmas presents for my cousin's kids. Some years, last-minute shopping is more last minute than usual.

My Current Songs Five
It's five songs that I was really digging at the time. Three of those still get regular air play; I realize I miss the other two. I don't know if I could come up with as strong a current five right now....

In the Core Drama Universe
I turn my trope-busting gaze upon...DRAMATIC TELEVISION! Dunh dunh duuuuuuuhn! (Not shown in this house: “reality” television. Ever.)

Holiday Motion
Who has a tie full of Christmas trees and dances like a fool at his office holiday party? This guy. (Shown: Christmas tie and me dancing like a fool).

A Very Merry
Seasons greetings, from my favorite holiday special, and my cats.

My Christmas Special Fives
And these are my five favorite Christmas specials. Man, I had way too much holiday spirit last year....

Looking Back Looking Forward
2009 draws to a close and with it, the “oughts”. What did I do that was new, and what will I do with the next 10 years of my life?

Maybe...
...I'll do everything I listed as a possibility for 2010. At a glance, I did get a raise, a promotion, shave my head, and set a new record running an annual race. There's a few things on the list I didn't do yet, but this year isn't over yet either....


JANUARY, 2010

Firsts and Lasts 2009
I continue the tradition of starting one year by listing the first and last sentence I wrote for each of the 12 months prior.

2009 Music & Movie Wrap-up
What songs and films did I like in 2009? And what movies turned out to be disappointments?

Psych-In
I finally get into Psych(which I've since caught up on), and try to psych myself up for great accomplishments in 2010. I still don't own that house, but did I mention how well I did in the race? Also, my BMI is currently 27.3, which is almost one less than it was at the time of that post. Slowly but surely....

My 2010 Midseason Fives
Remember when I wrote about pop culture on a more regular basis? Here I go through my favorite shows starting the second half of their respective seasons, as well as the ones just starting in January or later.

I Need NEW New Sneakers
I realize, after the umpteenth time I damage my feet, that I need new sneakers, better than the last disastrous new pair I bought. The right shoes, I would learn, would make all the difference.

Comp-licated
My trip to Atlantic City lands me on a mailing list in which they constantly bombard me with enticing offers to return. But even in January, my various band leaders are vying for my availability, and I find weekends booked months in advance. Updating my credit card at this time also proves complicated, as does my love life, which I only allude to in the post. Fortunately(?), that last one would get much simpler when both options became unavailable within the course of a week.

Hypothetically...
...if I mixed in some genuine inquiries with some hypothetical ones, would anyone notice or respond?

Status Quo
My flair for the melodramatic gets the better of me, as I descend into a fit of feeling sorry for myself because a girl someone tried to fix me up with lost interest and stopped talking to me within a few short days. Looking back, that molehill is hardly the mountain I made it out to be, especially since I probably made more money playing all the gigs I was complaining about than if I'd missed them to visit this girl out of state. Things always work out the way they were supposed to, even if I only realize that in hindsight. And no roll of the dice is ever guaranteed.

No Sweat
Fortunately, it doesn't take me long to recognize I'm being irrational about that girl(even if it did continue to nag at me a bit longer). There's a big difference between playing it cool and actually staying cool for real.

Self-Absorbed
It takes a sermon from my pastor for me to consider the other side of the equation, to get out of my “What's wrong with me?” pity party and think about what someone else might be feeling or might have experienced that would influence her decisions(or seeming lack thereof). I also draw inspiration from Conan O'Brien's classy parting words. He rocks.

Wisdom in Stupidity
I'm the sort of guy who can listen to a Weird Al song and recognize the value of taking a risk. There's a 100% chance of nothing happening if we don't at least try, so the only thing we should regret is not trying, and never regret not succeeding when we do try. Or, as Han Solo more succinctly put it, “Never tell me the odds”.

The Finish Line
Dollhouse limps sadly across the finish line too soon, and my love life sidelines into the friend zone(which isn't so bad), but my physical fitness life accelerates as I get ever closer to running 7 miles a day, a distance I would reach and exceed in the coming months...

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And that's what I wrote about in December 2009 through January 2010 of my sixth year of doing this.

The Essential MCF 2K9-2K10 will continue....