Ringing In The New

Happy New Year! And it's good to be back after . . . yeeks, was it really nearly a week? Well, I missed you, at any rate.

Nothing terribly interesting to note or report at the moment, but here's what's on my mind:

. . . The ice storm that was threatening the DC region passed us by with a only drizzle of rain and a scrim of ice on the windshields this morning. This was much to my daughter's chagrin, who went to bed convinced she would awaken this morning to notices that school had been cancelled. And this is a kid who likes school. She just likes the idea of snow days even more.

. . . It's horribly annoying to watch newscasters cover the Very Important Story of Sasha and Malia Obama attending their first day of school . . . and then have those same newscasters moan and wail about the media coverage of what should be a private event. Mika Brzezinski on the increasingly loud Morning Joe practically dressed down their own MSNBC reporter for covering the story for their very own show. Here's some advice: then don't cover it. You don't get to have it both ways.

. . . Rock Band 2 for the XBox kicks serious ass. Madi, Barb and I set up our own virtual band (which I dubbed Blind Gravy, a decision I made by fiat, since no one was home at the time) and we spend a little bit of time each evening with Madi on guitar, Barb on drums, and me on bass, wailing away at Bon Jovi, Duran Duran, Jimmy Eat World, and Lit. Barb has perhaps the most exhausting role as the drummer, but just when we think she's wearing out -- and therefore ready to stop -- she suddenly brightens and says, "If we can get through a four-song set in Los Angeles, they'll give us an airplane!" And off we go again. I love my family.