A year of reckoning

Macro observations of 2008
The Beijing Olympics were a site to behold. Although I missed the games in Beijing I was lucky enough to see the Olympic sites and village both before and after the games.

The world financial markets plunged and the US housing market went in the crapper.

Oil and gases prices fluctuated wildly. I paid $4.10 at one point in Chicago and filled up for $1.43 on New Years Eve

The US elected its first black (multi-racial if you want to be technical) president. And an aspect to the election that I think got a little lost in the shuffle is the gains the Dems got in the House and Senate. I am truly excited about the Obama presidency and equally leery about the growth of the Democrats majority.

My biggest non sports heroes, Tim Russert, passed away far too early in his life. I would have loved to see Sarah Palin try to avoid appearing on his show. Also I think the loss of him as news director let NBC political coverage devolve into a left wing FOX News. I loved Keith Olberman on Sportscenter…, not so much on MSNBC. Incidentally, I became totally addicted to realclearpolitics.com. If you like politics it’s a website that you must visit at LEAST once a day. It had news from every conceivable angle and both sides of the aisle.


Micro observations and recollections of 2008
The order of thoughts and words reflect no particular order of chronology or value.

My parents ended their second Memphis stint of six years and returned to my hometown of Erie, Pa to live.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Memphis Tigers national championship run. Although they lost in the final to Kansas in an agonizing fashion, the heartbreak was worth the ride. Memphis enjoyed great national exposure and it truly brought the city together in ways not seen since the days of Larry Finch in the early 70’s.

I was able to travel to and study in Japan once and China twice. The best part of it was that it was on someone else’s dime.

I welcomed a new girlfriend and saw our relationship start, grow, strengthen, weaken, and ultimately fail. No one’s fault but I suspect two extended trips to Asia and a fierce love of my own independence may have had something to do with it.

I saw a very frustrating professional year end and a very rewarding one begin. Let me note that frustration at my job is someone else’s best day so I fell guilty even mentioning it.

I saw the Cubs comeback from a seven run deficit and win less than twenty fours after finishing school for the year.

I rang in 2008 in New Orleans, and since then have spent around months (in total) away from Memphis, caught MLB games in Washington, DC, Atlanta, and Chicago, , taught in DC for a week, won a dancing award in Japan, joined Facebook, presented at a statewide conference in Nashville about teaching about Asia, drank green tea wish Shaolin Monks in the mountains of China, taught classes to via Skype and blogger from Japan and China, rode subways/metros in Atlanta, Chicago, DC, Shanghai, Beijing, Kyoto, Osaka, and Nagoya, ate a seahorse, drank hundreds of beers, talked a little, ate hundreds of sandwiches, participated in an international BBQ contest, and climbed the Great Wall of China.., twice.

As the past year ended and the new one begins I sit on a patio drinking some coffee and appreciating my great life. I have a good job that I enjoy, great friends, and a wonderful immediate and extended family. I live in a city that I love. I am constantly challenged. My only “must do” for 2009 is to get healthy. There are many more things that I want to see and do and need to be in better shape to do many of them.

Happy New Year

I taught in DC