Technically Momma turns 75 tomorrow, but we’re celebrating a day early because it’s the one day everyone has off and can gather at her place. I can never put into words just how lucky I was to have her for a mother. Especially compared to some of my friend’s mothers or just some of the ones you read about in the newspaper. She taught me well over the years and has always been there to lend an ear when I was troubled, and often times more than that when a car needed fixin’ or an unexpected emergency put us in a bind. She often went without so that us kids had what we needed. She is the reason I do not have a troubled past checkered with various criminal offenses.

So a very happy birthday to my mother, without whom I wouldn’t be here today (quite literally). I hope she has many more yet to come. If you’d like to give her some well wishes you can do so here or on her blog.

I’m going to do something I almost never do: I’m going to not only make some New Year resolutions, but I’m going to post them publicly. I don’t normally bother with resolutions at all because years of experience has taught me that I’m terrible at keeping them. My standard joke was to say that I resolve not to make any resolutions allowing me to both keep and break it all at once.

However, this year I have felt every single one of my 42 years weighing upon my body. From the occasional back spasms to the ongoing rotator cuff issues to my right knee starting to act up to a general lack of energy. All issues that tie into the fact that I am far heavier than I should be. I don’t have a current measurement of my heft, but last time I was checked I was back up to just under 300 pounds. A number that surprises people to hear because I don’t look like someone who is that heavy to a lot of people, which just goes to show how shitty most people are at judging weight. I’m fat and it’s been affecting my health more and more the longer I ignore it and I could probably counter a fair bit of it by just getting off my ass and exercising a bit.

Which brings me to my first resolution: I resolve that I’m going to start exercising regularly in 2010. I will not be setting any weight goals because I honestly would be happy if I can just manage the willpower to do something for 30 minutes three times a week. Anne has been wanting to sign up at the local Rec Center where they have a fitness program with trainers that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg and I think it’s time. Hell, it’s long overdue. Whether it’ll be a treadmill, stationary bike, or whatever I couldn’t say. I’ll probably try several before I settle on something I can handle. The next two resolutions aren’t anything so dramatic, but are things I had fully intended to start doing in 2009 and never managed to get around to it.

I resolve to finally get the SEB Podcast underway. ***Dave and I keep bringing it up to each other and then proceed to go back to doing whatever we were doing and forget about it. The idea of chatting with ***Dave on various topics makes me very excited as the test run we did over Skype awhile back went very well. One of us is going to have to wrangle us together and get it done, though, and seeing as it’s my podcast that means it’s up to me. I’m still open for ideas on formats, topics, and even people to participate if anyone else out there wants to spend some time blathering with me on Skype.

I also resolve to finally try my hand at video blogging. I bought the RCA Small Wonder and a webcam specifically for doing video blogs and, again, I’ve never gotten around to doing one. This one might be even more difficult than the podcast as I have even fewer ideas of what to do with it and there’s considerably more work involved as lighting becomes an issue as well as editing and even a background. I did some live streaming during the Blogathon that was pretty nifty, but it became clear that shots of my basement walls were less than amazing background fodder.

So that’s it. My three resolutions for 2010. The funny thing is I’m less confident of my ability to keep the last two resolutions versus the exercise one as the latter requires less creativity. Still, I’m going to do my best to keep all three. I might only get a single podcast or video blog done this year, but I’m going to do my best to get at least that much done. Wish me luck. Self-discipline is something I’ve always struggled with.

So what resolutions, if any, are you guys making?

Oh, hey, look! I’ve got this blog thing I’ve been doing for awhile and I’ve been ignoring it these past few days as I play with my new toys. Sorry about that. Give a guy a little time off from work and he uses it as excuse to relax and catch up with friends and relatives. Why the nerve of some people!

I trust you all had an enjoyable holiday however you may (or may not) celebrate it. Mine started off a little slow, but picked up steam after the wife finished up her day at work and we headed over to the in-laws for Christmas dinner and gift exchange. Then the two of us went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie which I highly recommend. I’m a bit of a Holmes fan and I was a little worried about the movie, but I have to say that I really enjoyed Robert Downey Jr.’s take on the character and I really liked the fact that Watson was not presented as a bumbling side-kick.

Saturday brought a charming visit with the famous Godless Girl at a local Starbucks as she was in town visiting her family for the holiday. We spent a couple of hours talking about this and that and our journeys away from religious belief to atheism. After that it was a relaxing day at home for me as Anne had to work, but Sunday we traveled up to the wilds of Otisville to visit with my parents and see Courtney who was there for a Christmas visit. Then yesterday was the day we were going to go out and look for a new couch, but we never made it. Instead we lallygagged about the house.

Loot-wise I am most pleased as I picked up three new video games — Uncharted 2, Assassin’s Creed 2, and Metal Gear Solid 4 –a copy of Simon’s Cat which is just as delightful as his animations, a copy of The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins, a copy of The Complete Works of Mark Twain, a set of very sharp knives and a hand-made Christmas ornament, a Book Bungee bookmark, and a couple of gift cards. And, at some point, a new couch once we figure out what we want and where we’ll be buying it from.

I haven’t kept up with current events much beyond following the news about the incompetent suicide bomber who tried to blow up a plane landing at Detroit Metro with an underwear bomb. It seems the package of explosives were sewn into the crotch of his briefs so as to be disguised as his, well, package which is not normally part of the pat-down process. I suppose we’ll be dropping trousers at the security gate soon for a visual inspection if we seem a little too well endowed, eh? I gotta admit that you really have to be dedicated to your cause to pick your genitals as the place to blow yourself up. I couldn’t bring myself to do that. They’ve given me far too much enjoyment over the years.

And with that mental image I shall bring this little entry about nothing in particular to a close. Time to go back to more of that relaxation thing I’ve been so busily engaged in the past couple of days. I may not be in Hawaii like some other blogger I know, but I can be just as productive as I would be if I were actually there.

So it’s just before 9AM here in Ann Arbor and I’m sitting in my living room watching TV on a very wet Christmas day. This year has been a big change for me and I haven’t always handled it well.

I’m spending most of the day alone for the first time in my life. Courtney has moved to Grand Rapids and Anne is working until 4PM so there was no early morning madness of gift exchanging, tearing into carefully wrapped packages, and gleeful squeeling. It’s been a tight year money -wise so there’s not a lot of gifts under the tree anyway. I wouldn’t even be awake right now except that Courtney called me at 7:15AM to wish me a Merry Christmas, which was a little annoying at first because it was a reminder of what I’m missing out on.

And then I pulled up my big boy underpants and adjusted my attitude. I have a very idealized idea of what Christmas is supposed to be like and this year I’m about as far from it as it’s possible to be, but life is about change and in the great scheme of things I have to admit I’m pretty lucky. I have a wonderful marriage to a woman I love greatly, I’m employed in a state with the highest level of unemployment, I have a daughter who appears to be well adjusted despite having me for a father, I have a roof over my head, toys of all manner to play with, a cat that keeps me company, food in my fridge, and an abundance of good friends. Later today we’ll be headed over to Anne’s parents house for Christmas dinner and gift exchange with people who have accepted me as family.

Nope, I’m not rich and probably won’t be anytime soon, but I’ve got a lot to be happy about. Things could definitely be much worse. Sometimes we need to stop and consider how fortunate we are. It can be easy to take things for granted that we really shouldn’t. That’s my Christmas gift to myself today.

So here’s hoping that your Christmas day is a good one and that you and yours are doing well. May you be safe, healthy, and happy. And thanks for making SEB a stop on your daily browsing.

One of the things I’ve always wanted to be was that crazy guy who goes overboard decorating his house for Christmas. While driving around this Christmas Eve getting a last minute present for my wonderful wife I happened to pass this perfect example of what I hope to do some day. Check it:

Be sure to click to embiggen them! The amazing part is that these aren’t able to capture everything that was there or all the motion that was taking place. It’s a good thing this house is in a more rural area as cars were slowing down and  pulling over to the side of the road to get a better look. The congestion would’ve been incredible had this been in town.

Ah, someday my home will be like this. Or perhaps even worse better!

Yes, I know I’ve been posting a lot of videos lately and that’s because there’s been a lot I’ve wanted to share. Like this one by the fine folks of Pomplamoose Music. I could have sworn I’ve written about them before as well as posted another music video they did, but I can’t seem to locate it. Perhaps it got lost in the move.

Anyway, it’s a secular Christmas carol called Always in the Season that I can’t get out of my head. The best part is you can get this song and another, as of yet unreleased, song by them for free in exchange for a little charity on your part. They’ll explain it after the song:

I love how energetic Jack Conte gets when the percussion kicks in. It’s hard not to get caught up in that kind of energy.

So the deal is you give someone in need a goat and they’ll give you a couple of MPfrees! Good music and a worthwhile cause. Just the sort of things this season should be all about. If you want to give a goat this holiday, or anytime really, you can do so over at World Vision Online.

Found over at Boing Boing.

What do you get when you combine a love for Guitar Hero with a love for computer controlled Christmas list displays? You get this:

We’ve covered synchronized Christmas light displays in previous years, but this one is the first I’ve seen to include some interactivity. That shows a devotion and serious amount of spare time that I can only marvel at.

Found over at Crunch Gear.

I luvs me some Muppets. Especially this trio, which just so happen to be my three favorite of the lot. And this Christmas song happens to be one of my favorites as well. Two great tastes and all that…

Yeah, it’s starting to feel like an SEB Christmas now!

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Just a quick note to let folks know that Amazon.com is giving away free MP3s of Christmas music every day until December 25th. So far they’ve put up “Joy to the World,” by Casting Crowns and “Snow Angel,” by Tori Amos. Both totally free as in beer. Don’t worry if you weren’t there on December 1st as each one will be available up until the 26th of December.

They have an advent calendar style page set up where you can see each day’s release. Check it out at the Amazon.com 25 Days of Free in December. It does require that you install the Amazon.com MP3 downloader software to grab the files, but they have no DRM and the downloader should work on all platforms.