Happy Holidays 2009!

And for those who have wondered with baited breath what has been keeping us occupied these past few weeks...

Christmas Eve at our house

The tradition continues (3 years now) for Jess and I to spend long hours cleaning and cooking (although she did better with not stressing out as much this year!) so we can pack our little place with 16 people for Christmas Eve dinner. Presents, games, and songs filled out the evening.

The Christmas Half & Half, with my aunt Eileen, and my buddy Charles in the background.

My cousins Reuben, Gabriel, and Isaac

My Jess and my mom in the kitchen working the ham, whilst Maggie the Christmas Pump waits for a morsel to fall.

Christmas Day

We go down to my parents' house to eat, open more gifts, and sit around.

Me and Jess. She still likes me after 3.5 years.

My mom, Donny, Gabby, and Maggie the Christmas Pump (now with Sparkly-Red-Christmas-Bow!)

(My dad had to work on Christmas day, so he wasn't around until later, but he was there. He was also at Christmas Eve, but apparently I didn't think whatever he was doing all night was that interesting.)

Post-Christmas in Mammoth

What is turning into another end-of-year tradition for us is heading up to Mammoth Mountain for a few days. Good friends, good snowboarding, and I saw snow fall for the first time in my life.

Nick, Tim, Jess, Me, and Charles

Getting ready to sit down to Tim's dinner: Coque Au Vin

Frozen water falls from the sky. It's magical.

So that's what we've been up to recently. How are you?

Half Life in Engrish?

I've never even played this game, but my friend showed me this video...

Great Cover: Pomplamoose covering MJ's "Beat It"

Hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Any of you do the crazy Black Friday thing? We went to the mall in the afternoon after we saw Wes Anderson's new movie, "The Fantastic Mr. Fox," based on the book by Roald Dahl (James and the Giant Peach; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; etc.), and it wasn't all that crazy.

I am determined to do all my Christmas shopping via the internet, and I'll try to do as much of it as I can on "Cyber Monday," the internet's equivalent to Black Friday. Most websites offer free shipping, along with special discounts. No traffic, no scrambling for parking, no long lines and pulsing masses of people. Isn't my Christmas cheer astounding?

Anyhoo, I wanted to post this video from that group Pomplamoose (I posted their cover of Beyonce's "Single Ladies") because it's fascinating to watch, and it's pretty dang catchy. Thanks to my friend Tim Costine for alerting me to this video.

3.5 Year Anniversary!

In three days, Jess and I will have been married for three and a half years! It has been non-stop action and adventure; similar to Die Hard. I'm not sure why I thought to post something about a half-anniversary, except that a friend of mine from church forwarded me an email with a bunch of kids' responses to various questions about marriage.

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO TO MARRY? You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming. -- Alan, age 10 No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with... -- Kristen, age 10 WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED? Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then. -- Camille, age 10 HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED? You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids. -- Derrick, age 8 WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON? Both don't want any more kids. -- Lori, age 8 WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE? Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough... -- Lynnette, age 8 (isn't she a treasure?) On the first date, they just tell each other lies and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date. -- Martin, age 10 (isn't he ready for the world of dating?) WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT WAS TURNING SOUR? I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns. -- Craig, age 9 WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE? When they're rich. -- Pam, age 7 The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that. -- Curt, age 7 The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them... It's the right thing to do. -- Howard, age 8 IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED? It's better for girls to be single but not for boys.. Boys need someone to clean up after them. -- Anita, age 9 (bless you child) HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED? There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there? -- Kelvin, age 8 (I like this kid) And the #1 Favorite is .... HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK? Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a truck. -- Ricky, age 10

Artist of the Day: Whitley

I heard this guy on KCRW as I was driving home the other night, and he got wedged into my brain. His first album "Submarines" is mellow acoustic folk music, but his second album adds a little more synth-pop-rock to his singer/songwriter sensibilities.

That all boils down to an uber-catchy sound that I've been playing all day long via his Myspace page which you can get to by CLICKING HERE.

He's originally from Australia, and for some reason, his newest album "Go Forth, Find Mammoth" is not yet available from the U.S. version of iTunes, but I think his single "Poison in our Pockets" can last me until whenever that happens...

Watch Out! Olympic-Size Fail

What Christopher Hitchens Has Learned From Debating Doug Wilson

Christopher Hitchens is a celebrity of sorts among the militant atheist movement. He extended an invitation to debate any person of faith back in 2007 and has had that invitation accepted on a number of occasions. Perhaps most notably, he toured across the nation debating with Protestant theologian Douglas Wilson filming a documentary that releases on DVD this week called "Collision." (CLICK HERE TO SEE THE TRAILER)

Check out his honest and interesting thoughts on the whole experience HERE.