May Some Good Fortune Come to You

Most of the world is holding the door open so that 2008 can leave the room as soon as possible, with all the financial misery plus the Madoff’s and Blagojevich’s of the world. Yet I find myself wanting 2008 to hang around for one more drink, or maybe to walk out the door with it to smoke one more cigarette.

Here is a list of goals I wrote for 2008, when I was focused on such things on January 1, 2008:

• See more live music—including attending the Americana Music Awards, and related activities. Well, put a great big old check by that one. Americana Awards at the Ryman, Grayson Capps at the Basement, Robert Earl Keen and Todd Snider at the Ryman, Elmo Buzz at the Three Crow, Tommy Womack at a freaking book festival!, Hayes Carll at the Belcourt, Ragweed at the Cannery, Bruce Robison at the Station Inn, and more.
• Write more and submit more. Another great big check. A poem of mine, titled “300 Feet Below Cardwell Mountain” appeared in Muscadine Lines, on-line journal. Also, one of my short stories, titled “And He Carried Away All Jerusalem” was a finalist in the April Family Matters issue for Glimmer Train. I submitted 16 other poems and 3 other short stories to literary magazines, about half of which were rejected and the other half just haven’t been rejected yet.
• Kick butt at work, not just get by. I’d say a B-plus on that one.
• Do London & Paris right. I’d probably say B-plus or A-minus on that one. Didn’t get to do Paris because there were fires in the Chunnel. I think we did a pretty good job on London. I know I can do better, though, so I can’t wait for another crack at it.
• Be a good Cub Scout leader/dad. Not so good on this one. The Boy’s pinewood derby and rain gutter regatta were both painted a basic silver, without a lot of effort. I even taught my son how to sneak out of a place during the raingutter regatta (you go to that door over there, walk to the car, DO NOT pass in front of that window over there; I’ll count to 20, and I’m right behind you) which is probably not a good example of Cub Scout leader or parent. But I can’t say that I’ve lost any sleep about that one.

Another milestone event is that my Mother-in-law moved to town, which is a really good thing because now Wife and I have more help with the Girl and the Boy, which really means that we can go see more live music together. It also means that I didn’t have to travel for Thanksgiving or Christmas, and I’m sure that lower level of stress has added a few weeks to my life.

So, all-in-all, 2008 was a good year (for me). Not sure yet what my goals will be for 2009, but I’m pretty sure “See even more live music” will be at the top of the list.

So whether 2008 was good for you or not, I share Todd Snider's wishes for you in 2009--May some good fortune come to you.