Dean's World

I’ll go out on a limb and make a prediction:

2008 will be a much better year for Dean than 2007. Talk about annis horribilis…..

Happy New Year!

I wasn’t going to bring it up, but since Kevin is ailing, and misery loves company and all….

I developed some sort of lower back problems a week or so ago. It’s the first time I have ever experienced such misery. I can lie down or stand without pain, but I can’t sit. So my week off has pretty much sucked. I got lots of reading done, but I’ve been away from the internets and such.

I got the idea yesterday to go into the office and borrow one of our travelling lap tops. It took me all day to get it talking to my home wireless network, but I’m golden now. So I’m getting caught up.

Needless to say, tonight won’t be very exciting for me….

Staying home, working through Icewind Dale II again. Just quiet.

I'm going to a party full of people who don't drink. We'll probably get real wild and watch a movie or something. ;-)

Wishing you all a Happy Healthy Prosperous New Year!

Me? I just woke up. Still on my first cup of coffee. Have to shovel myself out of here to get to work, where I will no doubt spend the night dealing with the drunks that don't know how to party right. I love working New Year's Eve - never boring. I hear tell that by the time I get up tomorrow I may very well be digging out yet again! Ugh. It's not even January yet and I'm already sick of snow.

Good riddance to 2007 - by far my worst year ever! I for one am looking forward to the New Year. Lots of fresh starts for me and my sister sent me a horoscope that claims there are once in a lifetime planetary lineups in my sign that will prove to be very favorable to me.

Welcome 2008! I am happy to greet you!

Everyone please stay safe tonight!

Happy New Year to everyone.

One small town perk is that we're so close to everything that I'll be walking tonight instead of driving. I'll also be keeping my scanner with me. I can never drink comfortably on New Year's Eve - I worry about all the people I know who are out tonight.

We're meeting friends tonight at a local restaurant/lounge. I expect it will be low key and subdued because their long-time bartender was the young man we stopped CPR on the other night. There'll be a new face behind the bar and it will remind everyone of the loss of our friend. We went to the funeral home last night. It was the largest turnout in the 136 year history of the business. We had to park almost half a mile away, and we stood in line for nearly an hour, just to get in the door. From there, another 20 or 30 minutes of winding up and down hallways just to get into the viewing room. I think our entire town was there at some point. I was floored by the number of strangers, too...so many friends he had. He was a force, a light, amongst lesser people. If only life gave out "do-overs".

I guess you can think of New Year's Eve as
"do-over night" - here comes a whole new year, we can refresh our page and make the upcoming days better than the last ones. That's what I'm hoping to do in 2008. I want to make a difference in someone's life this year. I want to speak up where normally I would be quiet, or offer help where normally I would look away, pitch in without being asked, listen where I would normally tune out - I want to BE different in one of those ways, or many of them. I am hoping for a return of joy - I remember what it felt like, and I'd like to get it back.

So Dean, here's a dry toast to you with my caffeine-free diet cola. Peace, Happiness, Harmony and Good Health, body and soul, to you and everyone here.

Linda

Yeah, sure, Jack -- on Dean's blog!

So,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

Just wanted to be first to say it in 2008.

38?

The RIAA is suing someone for copying CD's legally purchased onto a computer.

The industry's lawyer in the case, Ira Schwartz, argues in a brief filed earlier this month that the MP3 files Howell made on his computer from legally bought CDs are "unauthorized copies" of copyrighted recordings.

What's next? Suing for listening to a CD in their car as well as at home?

I guess you can think of New Year's Eve as "do-over night"

What a fantastic idea for a short story. Or maybe a recurring bit in a webcomic.

You'd want to set it in a distinctly alternate world, though, because if you did it as concealed magic realism in this one, it supports the negativist aesthetic view of life.

Oh, and today I have a bud coming over to play Portal and Guitar Hero III on the big screen. . .and perhaps to be pressed into service painting 1/2" 4x8 sheets of foamboard black for use as easy-up/easy-down light control panels in said entertainment room.

I'd also like to find a life-size super-large 360 degree light-green-forest-spring image for their reverse sides -- chopped up into 4x8 sheets and printed out then glued to the non-black sides of the foamboards. I could probably hire a professional photographer to do an elliptical 360 degree shot, but if anybody has any better ideas, I'd love to hear them.