Happy Birthday

My blog is one year old today and I have yet to post 100 entries. (Although, I think I’m only two or three shy of that blessed number.)

I’m not sure I’ve contributed much of value, but I will say a lot has happened in the last year, both personally and in world events.

Here’s a rundown:
- John Paul II dies; Benedict XVI is installed.
- Chief Justice William Rehnquist dies and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor retires. They are replaced by John Roberts and Samuel Alito, but not without first nominating Harriet “I Know This Woman” Myers thereby creating a political uproar and ensuring that the President’s real choice—the aforementioned Alito—would breeze through confirmation without any glitches.
- Days before I started this blog, “home grown” terrorists in England detonated a series of bombs in the London transit system killing 52.
- Terri Schiavo was finally allowed to rest in peace, but not before Congress and the President stupidly intervened.
- Peter Jennings died from lung cancer. ABC replaced him with Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas. Shortly after starting their joint stint, Woodruff was wounded while on assignment in Iraq. ABC has since replaced both with Charlie Gibson.
- Katie Couric left NBC’s The Today Show to become the first solo female anchor at the CBS Evening News—one more reason NOT to get your news from CBS and why watching The Today Show is better now.
- And then there’s Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes (and the mysterious, as-yet-to-be-seen “Suri”…) One word for this duo and its offspring: Cuckoo.
- The name of a CIA agent, Valerie Plame, was leaked to the press. The fallout: Scooter Libby resigned/was scapegoated/took a bullet for the Veep, Karl Rove remained intact and as cunning and ruthless as ever, and Dick Cheney was unscathed.
- Michael Jackson went on trial for molesting kiddies at his Neverland Ranch and was acquitted. He promptly moved to Bahrain where he’s now dressing like orthodox Muslim women, complete with sequined hijab. Rumor has it, he’s booked as the half time entertainment at this year’s annual Hajj.
- The BTK killer was caught and convicted. (Now there’s a creepy dude.)
- And then there’s Star Jones… ‘Nough said.
- Three years after the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas, NASA launched Discovery.
- And disasters held the biggest headlines of the year beginning with the Asian tsunami at the very end of 2004 and ending with the worst hurricane season in U.S. history. Hurricane Katrina alone topped the record books and virtually destroyed New Orleans. The result: Michael “Brownie” Brown does a heck of a job and resigns. He now works as a consultant on projects featuring disaster planning as the primary focus.
- Baseball returned to D.C. and halfway through the season, it looked like the Nats would go to the World Series. Then they fell flat on their faces. Still, it's good to have them back.
- The Olympics were held in Turin, Italy, and Bodie Miller was a disgraceful sot, while Michelle Kwan graciously exited stage left for the good of the figure skating team.
- Personally, I started a job and was laid off from said job.
- I bought my first house.
- My maternal grandfather passed away.
- My cousin’s grandfather—Heinz Rimmasch of Salt Lake City—passed away yesterday. He was 94 and one of the most elegant men I’ve ever met. An old world master craftsman, Opa could paint a piece of wood to look like marble and was skilled in the craft of gold leafing.
- I started this blog and I’m still wondering what it’s all about.
- And traffic in D.C. still sucks!

Among topics I’ve scribbled about in this blog:
- LEGOs as a metaphor for life
- Being nice to toll booth operators, et al.
- Mediocrity
- Birkenstocks
- Bad books
- The President
- Terrell Owens (remember him?)
- The death of the family dog
- The laughability of snow days in D.C.
- The Christmas/Season’s Greeting/Winter Holiday debate
- Menstruation (Parts I and II)
- My grandfather
- Being laid off
- Ice cream trucks
- Dreams
- Rain gutters (Parts I, II, III…)
- And, to the horror of my friends, the challenge of understanding the culture of the neighborhood I just moved into

So, there you have it. A year’s worth of blogging. I wonder if I’ll keep this up? It’s been fun, but has it been worth it? That’s the query…

Stay tuned…