Oh bugger it.

I had some thoughts about 08 that I keep meaning to blog, and hopes for 09. I’ve tried to write it down and have deleted three posts so far as they are utter crap. I am going to make it as succinct as possible:

2008:

• motorcycling to Alaska and the Yukon: Good. No, great. Life changing in fact.
• getting old sucks. Middle age blows, and the peri-menopause is making the mood swings, umm, interesting. Pauly quipped about how he was enjoying tracking my ride on the hormone rollercoaster on Twitter. I can’t help but think that this could be a new prop bet income stream for some enterprising degenerate. I want a cut.
• poker and I fell out of love. Well, out of obsession. Actually, that’s not a bad thing.
• made new friends in the blogosphere, and deepened the relationships with old friends. You are all loved and cherished.
• somewhere in 08, my beloved stopped being Hunny Bunny in this blog and became simply Keith. There is a reason for that.

2009:

• one of the iGoogle quotes yesterday was this gem from Edmund Wilson: There is nothing more demoralizing than a small but adequate income. Indeed. 2009 will be a year of living more modestly and meaningfully. Happiness is not a purchase or a deposit on Full Tilt. Happiness may be piano lessons or glass-blowing classes. Happiness can definitely be found at blogger gatherings, but I’m not going if I have to look between the couch cushions for spending money.
• My weight. Sigh. At one point last year, I was below 190 for the first time in a decade. Then I gained it all back and a few more pounds just for fun. Fuck. Fuckity fuck fuck. Let’s see if the Wii Fit makes exercising interesting enough for me to stick with it (four out of four days so far, yippee skippee). And to paraphrase the Unibroue tag line, I’m going to try and eat less, eat better.
• I’ve had some friendships with very dear people fall by the wayside last year. I am going to do my best to make sure that does not happen this year.
• The holidays have shown me yet again that my family gets me and still likes me. And vice versa. 2009 will see more time spent calling and visiting with this loving and funny bunch.
• Be more careful of who I share what with. It’s an interesting feeling to have someone you don’t know that well ask you a question about something very personal. We all like to talk, we all chat, we all gossip. I need to remember that and remember even while in the throes of an alcoholic haze that some things should not be for public dissemination.
• I need to lighten the fuck up, not be so critical, and stop thinking so much. Let. It. Go.

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Also in 2009 is this:

Am I going to play? Likely, some of it anyway.

Am I going to care about it the way I have in previous BBT’s, i.e. obsessively? No.

I got too wrapped in BBT3, to the detriment of work, friendships and home. I don’t need the escape this year.

Of course that’s what I say now. I doubt it will change much once the structure and prize pool have been announced, but who knows. I’m fickle.

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My 80g iPod video has been acting odd, so I have taken the time to reformat and reload the beast. Gone are the poker podcasts I don’t listen to, the video podcasts I never watched.

I’m keeping Mr Deity, Tiki Bar, CBC’s Quirks and Quarks and TED Talks. I’m going to add The Moth, Escape Pod and HowStuffWorks. I’m also looking for recommendations as I have a lot of bus rides to fill up between now and when I can uncover the bike. What do you listen to?

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To my recent visitors from Pokercrack.com: I don’t write to amuse, I don’t write to entertain, I don’t write to be popular, I don’t write for you. I write for me. If you happen to like it, great; if not then I politely ask you to please quietly bugger off. And FYI, I don’t talk to people on planes after that one time with the guy from Utah who tried to *save* me.

Thret, glad to see you still reading…how goes?

Wading in Lake Simcoe, May

Chilkoot Pass, August

Humpback and Alaska Ferry, August

Sunset in Telkwa BC, August

Rain over mountains on the way to Anchorage, August

Underwater bench @ Liard Hot Springs, August

Muncho Lake, BC, August

Sportsman Motel in Wawa ON, August

Fishermen return, Tyson Lake ON, September

Rearview sunset, October

Snow, December