So I’m a little tired this morning. I spent the better part of an hour walking through the streets of downtown San Diego carrying my Old Farmer’s Almanac while trying to figure out what the weather is going to be like on New Year’s Eve. Not that I really care; my festivities will take place under a roof and the only moisture that I’ll feel will probably be the result of Bob Pollard’s onstage whiskey distribution.
It’s really hard to believe that another year is coming to a close and I haven’t compiled a single list of my favorite this or that. In fact, I haven’t compiled one of those lists since never. So why start now? Well, it’s a slow day at work, the almanac tells me that tomorrow’s weather will be fair, and I’m in the mood for some hindsight. So here you go—the top 5 things that I didn’t do in 2003:
5. I didn’t finish Infinite Jest. I’m sure that I’m not the only one out there that seems to be continually staring at the shelf, at that huge brick of a baby-blue spine with those big black letters, thinking, “This could really be the day that I give it another go.” After finishing House of Leaves, I had this urge to give it another go. And then there was the near instant recollection of all of those footnotes. Page upon page upon page. Well, some people have Everest; I have IJ. Here’s to you Mr. Wallace.
4. I didn’t go on a whale-watching excursion. Ok, so I shouldn’t be too down about this. After all, I’m not too sure that I could convince my wife into going along since she gets carsick easily—so imagine the boat ride—and she has a fear of big ocean creatures, specifically whales. This has been on my to do list since moving to San Diego.
3. I didn’t make the trip to see R.E.M. & Wilco play at the Hollywood Bowl. Just two hours up the 5 and forty bucks could have made for a great evening. I would have seen my favorite band of the 80s (R.E.M.) and my favorite band of the 90s (Wilco) at a place that I’ve wanted to visit; thus, three birds with one ducket. But alas, the show was during a week in which duty called and during a time in which the funds were low. Both bands did play San Diego’s annual street fest, but paying the fifty bucks to see them play half-sets was not, in my opinion, worth the headache of hour long lines at designated bathrooms and crowds who would rather see a Bob Marley cover band than anything else.
2. I didn’t use my tax refund to go to Seattle to see the Braves play the Mariners. It was a pretty good series, but I decided to use the funds to go to Atlanta and see a game at Turner Field. It happened to be Tom Glavine’s first game in Atlanta since he signed with the hated Mets. Overall, a good decision since I got to see the game with my dad, but man, I really want to see Safeco.
1. I didn’t quit smoking. Enough said.
