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So now we’re two full days into 2009, and it’s been… well, another set of days.

Actually, it’s been a lot of fun - though I’ll need to backtrack to last year to really recap what’s been going on.

After arriving back from New England early Wednesday morning, sprite and I got a bit of sleep before heading out on our traditional New Year’s Eve pastime: movie watching. We saw three films (with a dinner break at Ella’s Word-Fired Pizza), including Frost/Nixon, Slumdog Millionaire and Bedtime Stories. I liked all three films, though sprite really disliked Slumdog (it exceeded her tolerance for graphic violence and tension, so she left part-way through the film - Sarah and I stayed for the duration and liked the film quite a bit). The pizza, as usual, was good.

And due to the crazy timing - the third film was really short - we were home before midnight, so we got to toast the arrival of the new year with Dick Clark on the toob.

On New Year’s Day, I went out and rode 24 miles as part of the annual “Circle of Cycles” down at Hains Point. The morning was clear but brisk, and the wind was its usual strong self on the northbound side of each lap. But I got in some good miles, saw some old cycling friends, and felt alive on the bike - I guess I’m finally over my slight burnout that affected my riding in the last few months of 2008.

After that, sprite and I went to a wonderful brunch hosted by friends on The Hill, and partook of traditional Southern luck food, enjoyed lovely drink and lively conversation. So far, so good.

And today was a final vacation day for me (sure, I’m off on Saturday and Sunday, but those days are always off), so I slept in. After going out to a late lunch with sprite (who had to work, and whose lunch I delayed a tad because I didn’t realize the time), I came home to prepare a pot of chili before watching the Sugar Bowl.

And all I can say is…. GO UTES! And they once again prove that the BCS is a crooked crock: 13-0, destroyed a strong EC opponent, yet never in consideration for #1 because they’re not part of the money racket that is the BCS consortium - there was no way that they would be selected for the BCS National Championship Game, barring serious calamity. If they’re not #2 in the final rankings, it’s a sure sign that the system is rigged to favor those who pay into the scheme.

So where were we? Oh year - 2009. Should be a fun, busy year. I’m looking forward to skiing this winter (been skiing 5 days already this season, all in Vermont, all in less-than-ideal conditions), and will certainly make my way out west to Utah and Colorado. And I hope to meet up with more friends, old and new, on the slopes, because the social aspect of skiing is a real draw. And I might race a bit, too - the clarion call is there, once again.

I’ll ride the bike and race it some more in 2009, but I’ll also make sure to allow myself more time with sprite and our friends - better time management. I rode 5,300 miles and change in 2008, and aim to do the same or more in 2009.

I also plan on writing more often here on this blog. I’ve been distracted by other online social centers over the past year - Twitter, Facebook and sport-centered forums - but my real focus is this website, where I’ve been writing for years. Sure, I’ll still be writing tweets more often (easier to do on an iPhone), but they’ll be part of this site (once I get the silly plugin working properly again - it’s still mired in the past, it seems).

So welcome to 2009, everybody. Tighten your belt, exhale, and hold on - it’s going to be quite a ride.

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‘Nuff said!

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This won’t be a pessimistic post - really. The Christmas season is always a festive one for me, regardless of the fact that I don’t subscribe to the religious history of the day and the time.

But Christmas is a season full of pains. Some are literal - my shoulder is sore from a silly bike crash (tipped over at a traffic light), and I’m going to celebrate Three Kings Day by getting a root canal (whee?) - while some are figurative. The figurative pains are the ones I want to address.

First there’s the whole shopping thing. I know that Christmas shouldn’t be the capitalist orgy that it’s become (particularly in the United States, which loses the truly Christian meaning of the season in it’s rampant “shop-buy-shop-buy” mentality), but there’s still a need to pick up presents. Sure, some will be made (many for delivery by Three Kings Day), but many are bought. I’ve managed to survive the throngs (e.g. the shark feeding frenzy that is Costco on a Sunday afternoon), but I still feel somewhat… horrified by thw whole thing.

Then there’s the pressure to get everything done by the 25th. This is a short holiday season, given the late date of Thanksgiving this year, and all of life’s other pressures simply add to the pain of preparation for the holidays. Sending the cards (and yes, friends, cards are on their way, though not all will arrive by the 25th - sorry!), wrapping the gifts, getting everything ready to travel north tomorrow night. It’s a lot of pressure, most of it self-inflicted.

And pressure can bring pain.

And then there’s the cold. I love it, but it’s very cold for DC right now: lows in the teens, with windchill in the single digits. For a bike commuter, it’s a very frigid trip.

And if I don’t get enough pain, the headache won’t be pretty. Besides, I need to get up early in the morning, so much there is to do.

More to come if my brain survives.

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I feel like Charlie Brown today, mixed with a bit of Murphy and his stupid laws.

Nothing I’ve done has gone right. Everything I’ve gotten involved with has somehow gotten… well, not necessarily ruined, but certainly hasn’t risen to any acceptable expectation. Some of the roots of today go back a week or so, but everything came to a head today.

The only thing that turned out right was the soup for dinner.

I’m a stubborn only child, and on days like today it becomes very clear that this stubbornness can be a self-sustaining entropy generator.

And that’s what today has been. Murphy, bless him, was an optimist. And Charlie Brown always managed to find something positive amidst his rather pathetic existence. Even the Great Gonzo, he of the failed trumpet blare, always looked on the bright side of things.

I’m trying - really, I am. It’s just that today was a day filled with a lot of things that just didn’t go right. I feel like a dunderhead, and I don’t like it.

Of all the days in 2008, today is the Charlie Browniest.

(And I apologize to anyone who may have seen the negative side of a Charlie Brown day from me today. T’was not my best day.)

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So it turns out that Rock Racing - the bad boys of pro cycling - might have sponsor issues as Rock & Republic encounters financial woes. It seems that R&R is being forced to lay off staff and cut back expenditures in this current economic downturn.

Perhaps they’d be wise to rethink their business model. $400 pairs of jeans just don’t hold the interest of the average clothes buyer. Let’s face it: these jeans really aren’t all that much better than a $30 pair of Old Navy jeans. Really, where does the extra $370 go? Michale Ball’s party girl fund and the drug supply for his so-called “fashion designers”?

And perhaps he’d move more of his cool-looking cycling kits if he wasn’t charging $210 for a jersey. I’ve seen these clothes, and while the build quality is top-notch, is it really worth the price of three top-quality jerseys from Primal, Voler or Pearl Izumi? I don’t think so. And now these clothes are “priced to move” at holiday sale prices that are still $130 and up - not exactly affordable.

So perhaps, Mr. Ball, you might want to aim at the pocketbooks of the average fan: get them in your bike clothes, track suits and jeans at an affordable price and drop the bling (no more Cadillac SUV caravans and silicone-enhanced bimbos at the finish lines). Your team, which is full of talent, could continue and thrive, and your business could do the same.

Just sayin’…

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It’s the holiday season, one of those times when time seems to condense, rather than stretch. There always seems to be another time-related crisis: running late to a party, not getting the shopping done in time for the gifts to arrive from points afar, forgetting to send a certain card until it’s too late.

That’s the month of December in a nutshell.

I’d like to be more organized. The great purge I spoke of last week is in a holding pattern, though the stuff really needs to be out of the house and to the charity drop-off before we leave for Connecticut next week. So there’s something to do, right? And the time? Not there. But I’ll manage.

And then there’s the needed overhaul of my road bike. Right now, there are things amiss (derailleur hanger that needs replacement, winter tires to install, chain and cogs to clean, frame to wash), and I’d like to have that worked out before Saturday morning. Dunno if it will happen - time, y’know.

And what of gift prep? I have lots of gifts that are still missing components, most of which are things that I need to do with that “time” stuff that I grouse about.

Hmm. Perhaps I need to actually go out and do this stuff, rather than type things here? Will that possibly reclaim some time? Probably not.

Perhaps I just needed to vent a bit.

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Now, about those trees:

DC in the winter is really one of my favorite scenes - not when it’s almost 70F/19C like today, but when it’s cold and crisp. The sky turns a deep blue, and the stark, gray lines of tree limbs reach up in lovely contrast. Holiday decorations of red, green, silver and gold provide further contrast, as do red brick buildings and brightly-colored row houses in the neighborhoods that embrace unique color schemes. There are steam clouds that rise from natural sources (streams) and unnatural ones (sewer grates). Occasional birds happen by, all puffed up to deal with the cold.

It’s lovely.

The only thing it could use: a coating of snow. But that would just freak out the weak-ass Washingtonians who think they live in the tropics (only in the summer, folks).

* * * * *

And finally, my mind’s eye has been tricked by many things, of late. I think it all ties back to the time bit, because I have an incredible knack for misplacing things during this rushed holiday season. Sure, I track ‘em down in the end, but it’s still causing a lot of those “I could have sworn that was….” moments.

If somebody were to bottle time that could be used without penalty, I’d be a top fan at this time of year: for getting things done, for extending the lovely seasonal appearance, and to remember where I put all those things!

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