life is strange sometimes, you know…sometimes things can be going so well, and something comes out of left field and blindsides you…or life can be going so unbelievably well in some areas, but in other parts it can just be falling apart…its really hard to watch bad things happen to people you love, and to know that you can’t do anything to help or change it, you can only pray for things to get better, or accept the results when they don’t…if anyone doesn’t know the story, nicole’s grandmother has become pretty sick recently, and has been in and out of the mayo clinic for treatment…although she isn’t officially my family yet, she has always made me feel like another of her grandchildren, and i feel like she is my own grandma now…so, sorry if this was a downer for anyone, but life isn’t always sunny, and i never promised to write about happy things all the time…later

why is the world so obsessed with blogs right now? why are they the hottest thing around, and why is everyone starting one? why are they leaking the latest news/rumors, factoring in the presidential election results, and exposing major scandals?

are we acting out the dreams of our youth, to be on TV and be the reporters bringing the news into millions of homes? when you start a blog, you have your own channel, you are the star, the producer, the director and the writer. you can become a celebrity, or you can have a small following of family/friends.

is it something with our generation, our need to be informed at all times? is it because we grew up with access to news 24/7, watching major news networks like CNN? is it simple vanity, that we think others would like to read about the boring and mundane details about our life? or do blogs sometimes serve a greater purpose, like keeping loved ones that we can’t be physically close to up to date on the important things in our lives?

if you have any thoughts or ideas, please share them…

i’m not sure where to start…2004 was another good year, hung out with old friends, made some new ones, started a blog, redesigned my blog, co-started a web design company, kept working at my daytime gig, got a new car, got a new dog, witnessed an unthinkable event and drank a ton of beer…to celebrate the end of the year, i’m gonna list a few of my favorite things throughout the year…hold on, here we go:

5 Best CDs I Heard in 2004:

1. The Killers – Hot Fuss
2. The Postal Service – Give Up
3. Modest Mouse – Good News For People Who Love Bad News
4. The Streets – A Grand Don’t Come For Free
5. RJD2 – Since We Last Spoke

5 Best Movies I Saw in 2004:

1. The Return of the King
2. Garden State
3. Kill Bill Vol. 2
4. Spiderman 2
5. Napoleon Dynamite

5 Best Books I Read in 2004:

1. Designing with Web Standards – Jeffrey Zeldman
2. Web Standards Solutions – Dan Cederholm
3. The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
4. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal – Christopher Moore
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – J.K. Rowling

5 Best Beers I Drank in 2004:

1. Young’s Oatmeal Stout
2. Leinenkugel’s Big Butt
3. Newcastle Brown
4. Pete’s Wicked Ale
5. Shiner Bock

5 Best Restaurants I Ate at in 2004:

1. HuHot Mongolian Grill
2. Taki Japanese Steakhouse
3. Centro
4. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro
5. Joe’s Crab Shack

so, that were some of the great things that happened in 2004…bring on 2005, here I come!