I don't wanna go to Sunset Strip...

Okay, so when you walk into the Moore Theatre after a fancy dan pizza at Serious Pie in North Belltown (mind you, although you might find the thought of a canned Pabst Blue Ribbon, some duck prosciutto topped with persimmon and pomegranate, and a pizza made with 28 year old parmesan, clams, lemon thyme, pancetta to be offensive - it was by far the most wonderful pizza food I have ever eaten - my date swore by Tom Douglas, I think the phrase used was "Tom Douglas is like one of those Top Chef's - and I have to admit - it was well worth the wait to have that pizza - next time, I have to order my own bowl of soup, I think the older italian couple sitting next to me got a little pissed that I watched him eat every drop of his bread soup....so, shameless plug, when in Seattle, go to Belltown - go get your name on the list of Serious Pie, then walk across the street to LOLA and have the stiffest drink known to man, then walk back down the street, and hopefully you will be serenaded by the guy above...sad story, but beautiful Sam Cooke voice...and holding hands in the drizzle of a downtown Seattle New Year's Eve...well worth keeping in the file cabinet of the mind)

I have had some pretty uneventful New Year's Eves - that happens to you after a while - you get happy about being at the house and having too many beers and blowing shit up, and blaming the kids when the neighbors come outside and wonder why their bushes happen to be on fire...) - and I have had some great ones too - but the best one had to be two nights ago - letting go of this decade and grabbing ahold of a new decade - holy crap - getting old fast, but still feel twenty...

So The Moore Theatre, Cake - what else is there to say - John McCrea in his stoic matter of fact way came out on the stage, and opened with Comfort Eagle - and always to expect from other bands, he did what he does best, and played the music, made love to the crowd, and continued to build his religion, and they played for two hours well into midnight when balloons and streamers and confetti shot across the crowd - a crowd that was an eccentric mix of gray hairs and goofballs - but I have to admit, I was pretty focused on my company - the slow close dance to I am going to Mexico, the soft song that is pretty damn sad, but pretty important to me - always seems to pop up at the best times...

This New Years was unbelievable, and I am not typically known for my cheery writing style, but for two days now, Italian Leather Sofa plays back and forth in my head, and I get to remember Veuve Cliquot and starry eyes as we did exactly what we wanted to do to usher in 2010.   I think every year you should set the tone by doing exactly what you want to do - now granted, I would loved to have robbed a Brinks Truck, set some stuffed animals on fire, and ran naked through a baseball game at Yankee Stadium, but I do have a career and a job to keep, and for some strange reason, I think a stint in a Federal Pen may prevent that - but having said that, the next best thing was to be at a Cake concert after having gourmet pizza and a Pabst Blue Ribbon with Cadence.

Now on to the resolutions - I have not thought much about them this year - in fact, I decided to come up with my resolutions when I finally sat down to write the first blog of the new decade - and here they are:

1.  The loft.  I want a big industrial loft.  Just 2,000 square feet of open space with a big glass brick bathroom in middle - somewhere seedy and dirty and with one of those elevators that opens up and down - you know, the old freight kind that you can drive a car into.

2.  The checking account.  This year, I think I may actually balance the thing every once in a while.  I signed up for one of those services that sends you alerts whenever you get close to exceeding your balance, and hell, my smart phone has been buzzing like a vibrator at a Vegas hotel.

3.  The kids.  The two most important things in my life deserve better.  So, this year, I give them better.  I am not quite sure what that means - they have seen more of me this year than they have in the past three - but they will get better.

4.  The relationship.  Yup, that's what it is now - a real bona fide relationship.  I want to keep it new and fresh and serious and funny and happy and bouncy and healthy.

5.  The job.  It is nice to have a job where you get to do what you love - and I would like to continue doing that.

6.  The friends.  Time to keep the ones I have, build new foundations, and make sure that I can be a friend as well as have them.

Those are enough general resolutions that can put enough guilt on my shoulders to keep me in line for a couple of weeks - no more specific resolutions (i.e. I am going to lose twenty pounds a month for the next three months, or I think I am going to give up the f word - those are way too difficult to keep up with)  -the general ones have those buddhist themes to them that set more of a general goal - if I can keep three of them and keep them on my mind, then I will be doing pretty well.

Happy New Year everyone, scattered writing, but the brain is a little scattered right now - going for a Swedish Massage (my first) after a workout, and I am a little nervous about someone I don't know touching me for an hour...

George