And just like that here we are again, ready to flip over the rightmost digit one more time. Guess I’ll have to retire my Big Lebowski calendar. (Seems like everywhere I go this week, someone mentions that movie, sometimes calling it “The Great Lebowski.” Good title for the sequel; although I favor the idea of “The Little Lebowskis,” which would chronicle the adventures of Maude and the Dude’s twins.)

It was a pretty good year for blogging: not the best, not the worst. Back in May I was trying to reach 500 posts and 500 comments; as of this writing, the stats show 581 posts and a staggering 876 comments (that number was inflated in October by long-since-disappeared would-be Deathmarchers; but still).

A few years back I posted an end-of-year wrapup where I quoted and commented on the first line of the first entry from each month. I was happy with the way that turned out, so I fully intended to do it again. However, a sizable brain freeze has resulted in every one but December actually being the last entry of that month. Oh well, fuck it. (I know, I know – that’s your answer to everything. Your revolution is over! The bums lost!)

January:
“I may have gotten a little carried away with this one.”
(True that.)

February:
“After observing the federally mandated waiting period, I am finally ready to name my album of the year for 2009.”
(The Decemberists, The Hazards of Love. I still feel pretty good about that pick.)

March:
“A historic day today as President Obama signed the hard-won health care reform legislation into law.”
(For the record, “An historic day” is anachronistic.)

April:
“I’m a bit freaked out right now because Stephen Hawking said that aliens are coming to kill us all.”
(It hasn’t happened yet. Maybe Hawking’s not so smart after all.)

May:
“Today marked the return of my favorite cat site, Baby’s No Help, a single-minded project devoted to chronicling the adventures of one complicated cat and her friends.”
(Up to date for the holidays: http://babysnohelp.com/static.)

June:
“I was deeply saddened to learn of the death this weekend of Manute Bol, the 7-foot-7 Dinka from Sudan who, among many other adventures on planet Earth, played 10 seasons in the NBA.”
(This was actually the third-to-last entry of June; but I am bending over backwards to mention Manute, because the thought of him never fails to bring a smile to my face.)

July:
“As a general rule I detest 80s nostalgia, because it tends to focus on the aspects of 80s culture that I liked the least.”
(Last night, some high-quality 80s nostalgia: X at Slim’s in San Francisco. This show had everything you could ask for. All the original members, plus Ray Manzarek on keyboards. Los Angeles performed in its entirety, plus a broad cross-section of songs from Wild Gift, Under the Big Black Sun, and More Fun in the New World. My first X show, in fact, since I started listening to them about 27 years ago. Worth the wait.)

August:
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Don’t teach a man to fish, and you feed yourself. He’s a grown man. Fishing’s not that hard.”
(I am pleased as the proverbial punch that Parks and Recreation, source of the above-quoted, will be returning to television in January.)

September:
“Today’s birthday: The late, great Marc Bolan, who would have been 63 today if not for an unfortunate incident with an automobile back in 1977.”
(When is someone going to write a Broadway show about Bolan? His music remains criminally underappreciated by the general public.)

October:
“We’ll pass a couple of important milestones this week: the one-quarter mark of the book and the first month of the Deathmarch.”
(The Infinite Jest Deathmarch continues. We should be finished by spring.)

November:
“The great Leslie Nielsen has departed this realm at the age of 84, and we shan’t see his like again, surely.”
(You got that right. And don’t call me Shirley.)

December:
“After reading a piece on Dangerous Minds the other day where they posted the various individual tracks of “Helter Skelter,” I was inspired to create my own mix in GarageBand.”
(Possibly the best thing I did all year. Still waiting for Paul to call and thank me.)