Now that November has rolled around on the old calendar, it’s time for me to start pulling together music for my “Favorites of 2009″ mix.

So far, this year is shaping up nicely with selections from The Bird and The Bee, Tegan and Sara, Metric and Doves.

My criteria for this compilation is pretty simple:

1. The song must have been released sometime in calendar year 2009. And…
2. Only one song per artist, which creates a bit of a challenge for narrowing down great albums.

I was really pleased with the 2008 mix, Promises of Candy and it remains to be seen if 2009 has the same staying power.

Grandma Janet with newborn Jason. June 1979.

Two weeks ago today, my Grandmother, Janet Barry, passed away after nearly 10 months of medical complications.

A better author could put words to the thoughts and feelings I have had over the past year. I am not that author. It is an immensely intimidating task. And everything I begin to write falls into cliché. I can say this:

I love you, Grandma. I am proud to have been your grandson.

Summer is long over. And a lot happened that I neglected to recount on the pages of this weblog. I hereby present:

Summer 2009: the Recount-ening

July
When my main desktop computer crapped out on me in May, I limped along using my laptop. It was a less than optimal solution but provided me with the basic email and internet functionality. In early July I purchased my first computer in probably 5 or 6 years. And the first brand new computer I’d purchased since college. My Mac mini is a delight. Sure, it’s no power house but it is leaps and bounds faster than the machine it was replacing. And it brought me into the modern Mac-era. Yay! I’m currently using it to work on some more video projects. Hopefully more on that soon.

Also in July, Susie and I had a most pleasant visit from her kids, Nick and Jen (and Jen’s husband Drew). Susie and I never know what to do when we have guests, but fortunately for us, Nick, Jen and Drew were more than content to enjoy simple pleasures; lots of poolside fun, tons of food and plenty of video game play.

August
Our furry family is growing. In August we adopted Luna, the lightning kitty. There is a small horse farm that sits next to our neighborhood and this year Susie has been spending time grooming and taking care of three wonderful horses. Luna is a rescue from a litter of barn cats on this farm. Sadly, only she and one of her brothers survived (the brother was also rescued/adopted into a good home). The others disappeared under suspicious circumstances. Coyote or other predator perhaps.

To say that we love Luna is an understatement. Having her in our home and watching her grow and play over the last couple of months has been incredible. I’ve never had a baby pet (I’ve barely ever had pets!) so there is much that I am learning; like why does she have such an endless appetite? Luna has integrated nicely with our other pets, the dogs accept her and mostly ignore her. Our other cat, Calypso, has grudgingly come to befriend Luna, and the two of them play now. Luna even respects the bird. For the time being.

Also in August, we made our second camping trip. What better time to leave the house for a long weekend then when we have a 4 week old kitten? We found a nice pet sitter and took off for Huntington Beach State Park (just 20 miles south of Myrtle Beach). What an incredible park! Late August, wonderful weather (the half day of rain notwithstanding) and a dog-friendly beach. This camping adventure, like our first, was over two nights (about what I am comfortable with at this point) and plenty of delicious food cooked out over the open fire. The dogs loved their second trip to the ocean, but having them did make it hard for Susie and I to enjoy the waves. We had to take turns in the water and that’s of limited fun. The park warrants return visits.

And that about wraps up the summer. Our pool is closed, the weather has turned nippy and the sun goes down around 7pm. Time for Autumn.

Four years ago today, Susie and I were wed. How I ended up with such a remarkable woman is beyond my comprehension. ♥

One year ago today I lost my job.

Oddly it’s turned out to be a great thing.

The agency I was working for, the place that was the whole reason Susie and I moved to South Carolina, has had two more rounds of lay-offs since last July. That swanky new office building downtown is quickly killing the company.

Looking back, I realize how incredibly lucky I was to find a new job. A new job with a higher salary (the highest salary I’ve ever earned, in fact). And it offers better benefits. Of course that’s all tempered by the 48 mile, each-way commute. And the work is not terribly fulfilling.

In just a scant 12 months, so much has changed. Last year, I was sending out resumés and getting responses to many of my inquiries. But now, there’s hardly anyone hiring in the design/advertising market, save for a few places on the coasts. It’s scary stuff.

So for now, I will count my blessings, offer help where I can to those former coworkers who now find themselves out of work and look for exciting freelance design opportunities…

“And the cosmic ballet goes on.”

I’ve never been camping before. I have a vague memory of owning an old hand-me-down tent as a child. But I know I never l slept outdoors with it. We were never a camping family, growing up. But mostly it’s because I’m scared. Once when visiting friends I opted to sleep in my car instead of under the stars. It was one of the most uncomfortable (and stuffy) night’s sleep I’ve ever had. At least I avoided any bugs or (gasp!) wild animals.

I guess I just needed the right camping buddy. Susie has been camping loads of times (and in much more primitive settings). And she’s a lot tougher than I am. I knew she’d take care of me (see the above reference to bugs and wild animals). And I always feel more comfortable having the dogs with us.

Susie had a week off from work so we took my birthday and the two days afterward and had ourselves a little camping trip at our favorite place, Lake Jocassee.

I needn’t have worried. Camping was great fun. Sure, the first night was a little rough for both of us; getting used to the sounds and all. But by the second night, slept quite soundly.

The tent we bought is spacious, easy to put up and lets in plenty of light and breeze. Susie’s parent’s bought me an AeroBed air mattress for my birthday and that thing is crazy comfortable. Certainly aided our good night’s sleep.

Of course we did more than just sleep! There were breakfasts and dinners cooked out on the grill. And not boring basics either, real meals like spaghetti and meatballs, pancakes and delicious hamburgers. If camping can be like this every time, I’m in.

The water at Jocassee is unbelievably clear. And we spent most of our days in and around the water. The campsite had a great view of the lake with easy access to the shoreline. The lake levels are incredible this year. We’ve finally moved out of the drought conditions, and I think that’s made a world of difference for the lake. The water level was the highest we’d ever seen. In fact, the only way we could get to our favorite cove was by canoe; the area was no longer accessible by foot because of the level of water.

The canoe scared me the most. There’s something unsettling about a small watercraft on a big open body of water. Even with a lifevest and moderate swimming abilities, I’m still filled with a level of anxiety about being on the water. So I didn’t quite get my money’s worth out of the rental. But I think Susie made up the difference, going for a long trip and investigating parts of the lake we never see; like the dam.

My new camera weathered the trip and I was able to capture some great photographs and even some video. Best of all, at no point during our stay were we locked out of the car.

I’d call this first camping trip a huge success and foresee many more trips to Devils Fork State Park on Lake Jocassee. Maybe even a trip to Myrtle Beach…

I had no inclination to get a new digital camera. My 3.2 Megapixel camera is perfectly acceptable. It works, and takes fine photographs. Even some video. So why did I get a new camera for my birthday?

One part envy, one part tech lust, one part selfishness.

As I mentioned previously, I forgot to bring my camera to my sister’s graduation. My brother and mother took a boat load of pictures. And the quality of their images was way better than anything my camera kicked out. Not so much the megapixel density, but the clarity and color of the photographs were impressive. Their cameras were also smaller and thinner than mine. And the displays were much larger than the postage stamp size on my camera. It didn’t help that at about the same time Cabel Sasser was writing a glowing review of his new Canon SD960 (the bigger brother of my SD780). Envy.

I’d been interested, for some time, in a digital camcorder. Something like a Flip or the new(ish) Zx1 from Kodak. Susie’s tape-driven camcorder has ghastly battery life and besides, collecting and editing tapes is a pain. My new camera shoots 720p hi-def, widescreen video. Lust.

What can I say, it was a birthday present. For my 30th. A milestone. That seemed like reason enough. Selfishness.

I put the new camera through it’s passes with photographs and video of the pets. (What can I say? They’re unbelievably cute and photogenic.) The video capture impressed me immensely, right out of the gate. The kit even came with a micro-USB to RCA cable that let’s me connect the camera directly to the television. {squee!}

The anondized metal casing gives the camera a very sturdy feeling. But the slim size is almost too small. There were several times I found myself gripping the camera extra tight during our camping trip (more on that later). Another compromise of the slim form factor is the special lithium-ion battery. No more AA rechargeables for me.

With all that said, I really do love my new camera. And I thank my mom and my wife for the joint gift.

Today marks another anniversary, three years ago today we moved to South Carolina. The weather almost mimics that of 2006; HOT.

Susie and I have been tempted to stray in the past three years, but we’re delighted with our cute little house. We’ve even made a few minor improvements that make life here all the more comfortable.

One week from today, I turn 30 years old.

It’s one of those significant numbers. But I don’t feel anxious or overly excited about it. I do feel like Charlie Brown admitting that.

Others have waxed far more poetically about turning the big-three-oh but I will say that the only “goal” I recall having was to be married. And that was happily accomplished 3-1/2 years ago.

As it turns out, May has been the month of traveling.

Attended my sister’s college graduation over Mother’s Day weekend. This was a solo adventure. We had nowhere to stay with the pets, so Susie elected to stay at home.

The university held it’s School of Fine Arts graduation in the relatively new and climate controlled hockey arena, Goggin Ice Center. Most comfortable graduation ceremony I’ve ever attended. Sadly, no body checking or Zambonis.

There’s a gaping hole in photo coverage. I forgot my camera. And what of the camera on my mobile phone? By the time graduation rolled around Sunday morning, the phone battery was dead. C’est la vie.

Something I learned on the 8-hour drive? There’s a long stretch of I-40 in Tennessee that broadcasts a local TV station on the radio. My iPod FM transmitter was interrupted by Oprah and local weather.

And then over Memorial Day weekend, we took a mini vacation to visit Susie’s parents at their property on Lake Cumberland, Kentucky.

The water levels are still low due to the Army Corps of Engineers work on the dam system but that wasn’t the news-making part of the trip.

One of the things that Susie wanted to accomplish on the vacation was to do a little water skiing. Unfortunately we had tremendous trouble with the boat trailer and never did get out onto the open water.

The long and short of it is that my in-law’s V8 Chevy failed while trying to attach the trailer hook. The brakes completely gave out. No one was hurt and the boat seems to have escaped damage but the car had to be towed.

No boat for us!

In the end, I think we had a very good time on the lake. And I did remember to bring my camera for this trip.