Pucks & Gs

Well, this is the post-Christmas blog and I suppose it's tradition to talk about how great the holidays were and how filled with the Christmas spirit I was and how much joy and love the season brought. We all know that is not how I feel about things, so I shall leave you with the fact that because of Christmas I've eaten nothing but cookies and chocolate covered marshmallow Santas for a week straight and as a result my pants are feeling a little snug through the ass and I'm having eater's remorse, I spent most of the time doing dishes and cleaning, and I'm just ready for things to be over already. Can't I cancel New Years...I think that should be allowed...I mean, I know I can't cancel Christmas (the children, think of the children), but I think I should be able to cancel New Years...it's just always been one of those holidays that reminds me that I'm going to die fat and alone and be found 2 weeks later, half eaten by wild dogs.

Although I hate New Years, I do like the idea of starting new and fresh with a clean slate for a new year. That has always appealed to me, and I'm very happy to see 2009 come to an end. I know that early 2010 is going to be filled with a lot of hard work as I finish up my pre-reqs and apply for my program, but 2010 HAS to be better than 2009...karmically it just HAS to be!!

I am happy to report that my ukulele has been shipped and I should be receiving it soon! I can't seem to be able to track it from the number they gave me, but I'm not going to let that trouble me...it will get here eventually....right?

So I've been thinking about what new fact I wanted to research and realized that there were two little ones I wanted to do instead of one big one, so here it is, The Things You May Not Have Known, Post-Christmas 2009 style.

1. Hans and I rented Public Enemy, the movie about John Dillinger (starring Johnny Depp, who, looks EXACTLY the same as he did when he did 21 Jumpstreet...how is that possible?!). I liked it, except for the casting of Billy Crudup, but really that has more to do with the fact that I've never really forgiven him for leaving Mary Louise Parker 7 months pregnant to run off with Claire Danes...I mean, what kind of man does that, but I digress. Anyway, in the movie they referred to the FBI agents hunting John Dillinger as "G-Men" and I had no idea what the "G" in "G-Men" stood for, so I looked it up...it stands for "Government" but referred specifically to federal agents, not state or local government agents. Its first popular American use was in a book about Al Capone written in 1930, but was used earlier in Ireland starting in 1916 to describe the detectives of the Dublin Metropolitan Police force's "G Division."

2. Next. The Winter Classic. Now, if you're not a hockey follower, which, I must admit, I am not, you might not know what The Winter Classic is. Allow me to enlighten you. The Winter Classic is a NHL exhibition game that is played entirely outside! The first game was held on New Year's Day 2008 and was so popular (almost 72,000 people in attendance & 3.7 million viewers) they decided to do it every year. It's played in a different location each year...last year they played at Wrigley Field in Chicago and this year they're playing at Fenway Park in Boston (it's the Bruins versus the Flyers). And because the wind can cause an unfair advantage, the NHL breaks the third period into two 10 minute increments instead of one 20 minute period, and the teams switch directions! I know absolutely nothing about hockey (I suppose at one point I'll probably do a facts entry on that!), but I think I'll be watching the Winter Classic this year....think of all my potential hockey boyfriends!