Awesomeness of 2008

During the New Year holiday it's always easy to look back on the previous 12 months and point out some of the crappy things that have occurred. Lord knows that the last eight years have been bountiful in the crap department. So this year I wanted to share a few of the great things that I think helped fill the year with positivity for us as individuals, a people, and a community. I'd love to hear some of yours!

Happy New Year!

Barack Obama

We as a nation rose to the occasion, and elected our first African American president. Although the fact that we made history with that vote is not lost on me, I'm more proud of the fact that we elected the right person. We actually weighed the possibilities and used our intellect to cast our vote. Good morning, America.

Rachel Maddow You must be living under a rock or Fox News if you haven't heard about this awesome new addition to the political news landscape. Actually, I'm sure Fox News junkies know about her too. How can you miss such a fresh, smart, poised, confident face chomping at your heels?

Pushing Daisies So we got two seasons of smart witty television out of this show. I should be happy and thankful, but I'm kind of bitter and cranky about it. I wish we as viewers could handle fast-paced, smart, multiple storylined dialogue. But, apparently if it's not dripping in obvious humor, sappy uninventive love triangles, stethoscopes and lanes of Wisteria we just can't keep up. So, Pushing Daisies is to be relegated to the back room marked cancelled. I think there is an open seat next to Arrested Development.
Duffy and Adele In a year filled with more head shakingly awful hip-hop, emo boy bands wearing girls jeans, and yes another Britney comeback (blechh) we were so fortunate that the UK shared Duffy and Adele with us! These girls made it enjoyable to listen to an entire CD and appreciate an artist who can actually sing. Duffy's breakout single "Mercy" made the rounds on the radio and could be heard as bumper music for some TV shows which helped her sell an excellent album. Adele had the great fortune to be seen by millions on Saturday Night Live the night Tina Fey and Sarah Palin did "some fancy pageant walkin' " and her sales soared. Couple those events with an appearance on Ellen and I think Duffy and Adele have reached the audiences that deserve to know them! Are you in the know?
Fallout 3

What can I say about the game that has, at current count, taken 110 hours of my life? I think one word is--AWESOME! Post-Apocalypse DC never looked so good, played so well, and engaged me to the point that I recruited my lovely to play and now we are relegated to set a timer so we each get fair, measured exposure. 42 year old body...14 year old mind
3 months of a quiet night's sleep Anyone privy to our struggles here at the house with the students living next door know how wonderful it is for me to say that save for one or two nights, we have slept through the night for an entire semester! It's just amazing what can happen when the City Code Board gets involved...

dooce Although not new to me this year, dooce.com and it's creator Heather Armstrong continue to highlight my web experience and never fail to make me chuckle. You should check her out. This, people, is blogging done the cha-chingy way!

flailing economy

I like having extra cash and less worry, but it seems like we could come out better on the other side having learned lessons in true conservatism and frugality.

Hillary Clinton "Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it, and the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time."
It was an historic campaign and those eloquent words will be what I remember about this candidate. Hillary stood on that stage and delivered the most heartfelt speech of her career with words that hit me in the heart and made me proud to be a woman and a supporter.

Tina Fey

Tina, Tina, Tina...you just creeped right into our living rooms and made yourself at home didn't you? It's because of you that I even let that ridiculous Sarah Palin grace my television set.
I have always loved Tina and her highbrow brand of humor, and after she left SNL to branch out into her awesome show "30 Rock" I felt a little better about the state of the television sitcom. Kooky governors from Alaska will come and go, but Mom Jeans will always be in style!

Defeat of Prop 8 Would it have been nice to know that California would allow gay marriage after November? Sure. Am I disappointed? Of course. But I am reminded that something of this magnitude, something that will surely get the ball rolling for the rest of the country, will be met with resistance. No matter the resistance or failure, it is still a step forward. This too WILL pass.