Author: Jeff Tabaco

Now a quick year-to-date in review, which is pretty easy as 2008 is only about a week old:

New Year’s Eve party: What I thought was going to be a little get-together turned out to be a good-size house party. They had Dance Dance Revolution (which I must get now for our Wii), karaoke, champagne at midnight, etc. Lots of fun.

On New Year’s Day I went shopping at Tanforan: Old Navy (hoodie and khakis; thank you, 50% off sale), Barnes & Noble (I Am America (and So Can You!)), Target (sweater; mmm, argyle). That evening we watched Colma: The Musical on DVD. It’s a charming little musical, and half the fun for us is the fact that it takes place in a neighboring town Colma, locally known for its many cemeteries (as well as car dealers and big-box retail). But much of the “Colma” shown in the movie was actually filmed in Daly City; some scenes take place at the hill at Westmoor High School at the end of our street, and in one shot (though not in the trailer, below) you can even see part of our house!

The worst of the recent storms came Thursday night into Friday, and that morning our power went out. Since I couldn’t work at home, I went along with Thom to his office and was able to use the internet there. We had lunch down the street at Roy’s, which was fantastic and just the thing counteract a dreary day. The highlights were crispy lobster potstickers to start, and carrot cake cheesecake (yes, cheesecake on top of carrot cake) for dessert. Oh, and the main course (macadamia nut encrusted mahi mahi) was good too.

The power came back on at the house in the wee hours of Saturday morning. In the afternoon I took down most of our Christmas decorations — the window lights are still up though turned off, and I left the garland (minus lights and ornaments) around the fireplace. It’s wintry! That evening we met up with some of my relatives at Paradise, a Chinese restaurant in South San Francisco. My, that was a lot of food.

On Sunday evening we brought in some fast food and watched Wordplay, which we’d recorded on PBS a while back. (Trailer below.) It’s a documentary about crossword puzzles, New York Times puzzle editor Will Shortz, and the annual crossword puzzle tournament. Thom and I are both crossword lovers, and so we both found it fascinating. I used to do puzzles more regularly, especially on my commute to work; I really should get back into it. (On a related note, to any Facebook folks out there: I’m always up for Scrabulous!)

Monday: Back to work! Sigh.

There are only a few hours left in 2007, at least here in the U.S. The days sure go fast, especially during the last weeks of December. It’s hard to believe Christmas was a week ago. Thom and I had a nice time visiting his family in Covington, Virginia (photos); actually, it was the first time he and I have spent Christmas Day together, since in the past few years we’ve spent the holiday with our respective families on opposite ends of the country.

But we’ve always been together for New Year’s. Tonight we’re off to a little party with my mom, cousins, and other relatives. Cheers to a happy new year and see you in 2008!

Here are a couple of photos of our house, decorated for the holidays. I put the window lights up just a few days ago:

It’s pretty simple and classic. Next year, I’m thinking music and laser light show. (Kidding … sort of.) And here’s the fireplace, with garland, stockings, and ornament trees. (To the left is our recently acquired Victrola, courtesy of our good friend Harold!)

Thom and I will be spending Christmas in Virginia with his family, and our trip begins in less than ten hours. Eep. We’re pretty much ready; it’s just kind of surprising how fast the holiday has sneaked upon us.

We’ll be back on Thursday; in the meantime, I’ll try to update Twitter when I can. As you might have noticed, I’ve added a Twitter badge to the sidebar of my home page, which pulls in the most recent updates. Yes, my friends, it’s come to this (cartoon by Hugh McLeod of gapingvoid):

Happy holidays, everyone!

I know I’ve been remiss in my relaying of all things Rufus, so here’s a bit of news related to his Judy Garland concerts: a CD of the Carnegie Hall concert was released yesterday, as well as a DVD of the concert in London. (Aside: I’m inspired to get a copy of the 1961 Judy album, which — gasp — I don’t already have.)

In other news, there are a couple of tempting holiday concert dates on his schedule: he’ll be joining Belinda Carlisle on New Year’s Eve for “Paris à Go-Go” at Walt Disney Concert Hall in L.A., and on Valentine’s Day he plays Radio City Music Hall in New York on his ongoing whirlwind world tour for Release the Stars.

“The Web 2.0 ‘bubble’ had it coming. A Silicon Valley music video by The Richter Scales“:

Ha, love it. By the way, that In-N-Out/Krispy Kreme sign could very well be the one here in Daly City. (I say as if I hadn’t been there enough times to know.)

I subscribe to the e-mail newsletter for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. I have this vague dream of attending the games in person, especially since Vancouver is closer than any host city to where I’ve happened to live during the Olympics. (Well, L.A. was indeed closest, but in 1984, I was … seven years old; by the time the games were held in Salt Lake City, I was living in D.C.)

When I got an e-mail from them earlier this week with the subject “Meet the Vancouver 2010 Mascots,” I was already cringing. Granted, most Olympic mascots have been pretty innocuous, but Izzy certainly gave them a bad name. When I saw the Vancouver ones, I thought, they’re really cute! (A little too cute? I suppose unlike most sports mascots, Olympic mascots have come to be designed for children. At least there’s the marketing for all. Ah, so cynical already.)

It’s time once again to bring out Bruce McCall’s “Thanksgiving Rules Revised” from the New Yorker. Just follow these simple guidelines, and you’ll be all set for the holiday craziness.

Have a happy (and sane) Thanksgiving! Now pass the stuffing. No, seriously, hand it over.