One Of My Turns

It's that time of year again, folks, when the "Honey-Do's" switch gears from the inside of the house to the outside. Time to clean the gutters, rake the leaves, take the patio furniture down and store it for the winter. My efforts are rewarded, as they are each year, with a great big holiday bottle of Tanqueray gin.
Time to settle in and take stock of the prior years trials/successes and plan my moves for (holy crap!) 2009.
My musical tastes change as well. The bright summery sounds on my iPod take a back seat for the more introspective and moody sounds that have always soundtracked my winters for as long as I can remember. Sure the bands have changed, but the mood of the music has remained fairly consistant. Bands like Pink Floyd, The Orb, Mercury Rev, Dylan and The Band, Wilco and many more who took a powder during the blazing summer months here in Northern California make a welcome return to heavy rotation. This is also a season for giving and sharing and I make room each year on my iPod for my daughters and my wife, who don't always quite share in my love for the more eclectic sounds.
There are a few holiday playlists I need to get busy creating: a jazz one for me, some Harry Connick Jr and his "ilk" for my wife (she really has pretty good taste, but gets a little maudlin with her music this time of year) and some kids' classics for the little one's which may or may not include some Burl Ives tunes.
It's been one hell of a tough year for those of us who choose to stay in the newspaper biz as a profession, so a little holiday cheer is very much needed. But hey, I've still got my house, my family and my health, my friends, my job and my iPod. I have nothing to complain about and everything to look forward to.


Cheers!