Recommended New Year’s Resolutions

Today is the end of 2009 and I can’t believe how fast it went by. A lot of things, good and bad, happened in 2009. And there is really no need to mention any of them since they have already happened.

Now I am looking forward to what 2010 will bring us. I am really not a “resolutions” type of person. When I was younger, I felt bad when I couldn’t live up to the resolution that I would make on New Year’s Eve — the whole “failure” thing.  But I am one who tries to find things to make myself better than the previous year.

While I was surfing the new at work (don’t tell anyone), I found this article and I liked what it said. So I am passing it along for others to read (to read the whole article, click on the link below).

New Year’s Resolutions: Top Ten Resolutions for Your Possible New Year
Recommended New Year’s Resolutions
By Susan M. Heathfield, About.com Guide

New Year’s resolutions top many to-do lists each holiday season. The new year is a beginning so new goals and resolutions, new plans, new dreams and new directions fuel your thoughts.

Do something you love to do, and that you do best, every single day.

Do something just for you every single day.

Give yourself credit and a pat on the back when you deserve it.

Strive to learn something new every single day.

Make professional contacts and network.

Practice professional courage by stepping out of your comfort zone.

Listen more than you talk.

Develop a method to track your life goals, your daily engagements, and your to do list.

Read voraciously to continue to learn and grow.

Take up a new hobby or activity this year.

Take yourself a little less seriously.

So I am not sure if it is because I am older (and wiser) that all of these make sense to me now.  For 2010, I will try to remember these goals, resolutions, plans or directions. But my main goals for 2010 are to be healthy, happy and surround myself with family and friends who will help me on whatever journey I take.

Happy New Year to all that read my blog! I have had so much fun blogging about what pops into my head!

25 Most Played Songs on my iPod in 2009

It has almost been one year since I got my 160GB iPod. I like how iTunes keeps track of the number of times you play a song. Those songs are not necessarily my favorite songs, but the most played songs.

Here is my list of the 25 Most Played Songs and the number of times played:

“Concrete & Clay” by Unit 4+2 — 109
“Spend My Life With You” by Eric Benet and Tamia — 102
“You’re My First, My Last, My Everything” by Barry White — 90
“My Back Pages” by The Byrds – 85
“Cupid Shuffle” by Cupid — 85
“Touch Me In The Morning” by Diana Ross — 84
“More Than A Feeling” by Boston — 82
“White Lightning” by George Jones — 79
“Thunder Road” by Bruce Springsteen — 78
“Mire Amigo” by The Hometown Boys — 76
“Over at the Frankenstein Place” by Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon — 75
“When She Was My Girl” by The Four Tops — 75
“Comin’ Home Baby” by Michael Buble and Boys II Men — 75
“Una Noche Mas” by David Lee Garza — 74
“A Big Hunk O’ Love” by Elvis Presely — 72
“Jump, Jive, An’ Wall” by The Brian Setzer Orchestra — 70
“The Promised Land” by Elvis Presley — 70
“Welcome To The Jungle” by Guns n’ Roses — 70
“American Girl” by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers — 70
“Viva La Vida” by Coldplay — 69
“Claudette” by Roy Orbison — 69
“The Change” by Garth Brooks — 68
“I Saw Her Again” by The Mamas and Papas — 68
“Season of Love” by Johnny Mathis featuring Nell Carter — 66
“You Really Got Me” by The Kinks — 66

As you can tell from some of my postings, I love listening to my iPod and all different music I have on it. I am looking forward to finding new music to listen to, as well as listening to all of my favorites.

2009 Kennedy Center Honors

Every year I try to catch the Kennedy Center Honors show. It was on tonight and I remembered to record it since I wouldn’t have been home when it started. And I am glad I did!

This year’s recipients were: Mel Brooks, Dave Brubeck, Grace Bumbry, Robert De Niro, and Bruce Springsteen.

The First Lady, Mel Brooks, Dave Brubeck, Grace Bumbry, Robert De Niro, and Bruce Springsteen, and President Obama

I was really looking forward to the tribute to Bruce Springsteen. John Mellencamp, Melissa Etheridge, Ben Harper, Jennifer Nettles, Eddie Vedder, and Sting all did a great job singing Sprinsteen’s songs. It was pretty cool watching the President and First Lady jamming to Springsteen songs.

But it was American jazz pianist Dave Brubeck tribute that I enjoyed the most! One of Brubeck’s songs  “Take Five” (1961) is on of my all-time favorite songs!

Here is how they honored Dave Brubeck:

A jazz performance by some of the most famous musicians of the genre – Grammy Award winner Christian McBride (“Illuminations”), Grammy Award nominee Bill Charlap, Jon Faddis, Bill Stewart and Miguel Zenon – performing together as the Brubeck All-Star Jazz Quintet, presenting an intricate medley of Brubeck classics “Unsquare Dance,” “The Duke” and “In Your Own Sweet Way,” followed by renditions of “Take Five” and “Blue Rondo a La Turk.”

(from Kennedy Center Honors website).

Then Dave Brubeck’s four sons played on stage and played with the All-Star Jazz Quintet. Yes, it brought a tear to my eye. Then all of the musicans played “Happy Birthday” for Brubeck — it happened to be his 89th birthday.

When the tribute for Brubeck was over, I went to my laptop to find Dave Brubeck songs. I am looking forward to listening to more of Dave Brubeck songs.

Never a Year Like ’09

I can not believe that 2009 is almost over! As in years past,  I am doing my part in passing along JibJab‘s Never a Year Like ’09.

Octomom. Balloon Boy. Tiger Woods. If there’s one thing for sure in this world, it’s that as long as people are acting reckless, insane and just plain stupid (i.e. like people), there will always be plenty of material available for JibJab’s annual “Year in Review” videos! Also, check it out and comment at http://sendables.jibjab.com/originals… !

It has been an interesting 2009… I am looking forward to 2010 and all it has in store for us!

Do you remember the game… PAYDAY?

I was thinking of board games that I used to play when I was a kid the other day. One of them one of them was Payday.

• The classic game of making and spending money! It all takes place on a calendar-style playing board where something happens every day, but PayDay isn’t until the end of the month. You’ll receive mail (including bills), make deals or even win the lottery!
• Unfortunately, you may spend more than you earn and have to to get a loan just to pay your bills.

I used to play this game with my brother for hours. I don’t think I ever read the directions on how to play the game, we just played it. I think we used our own rules on how to play the game. I just read the rules to Payday and I didn’t understand it. So there is no way I would have understood it when I was a kid!

I Googled Payday to learn more about the game, I was shocked to learn that there is a 30th Anniversary Edition — holy cow, that made me feel really old!!

Here are some other board games I remember playing when I was growing up:

• Monopoly
• Trivial Pursuit
• Sorry!
• Yahtzee
• Rack-O

The Perfect Bite

I made an enchiladas dinner with all of the sides and while I was eating it, I was thinking what different combination of the food would make a perfect bite. Here is my perfect bite of this dinner… some enchiladas, with a little refried beans and spanish rice.

And since I’m thinking about it, here are some more of my “perfect bites”:

• Corned beef, cabbage and baby carrots
• Turkey, stuffing, sweet potato and gravy
• Pasta, shrimp and mushroom
• Triple Delight — chicken, shrimp, beef and sauce
• Pulled pork, creamy cole slaw and BBQ sauce
• Garlic toast, my mom’s cheese ball and green olives
• Red beans and rice with sausage
• Cinnamon-raisin bagel, strawberry cream cheese and banana

I am sure there are many, many more “perfect bites” that I have had. But these are a few I can think of right now.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cheer Recipe:

Combine loads of good wishes, heart full of love and armfuls of hugs. Sprinkle with laughter and garnish with mistletoe. Top off with presents. Serves everyone!

Christmas Music

As I mentioned before, one of my favorite Christmas songs is “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)” by Darlene Love. On The Late Show with David Letterman, December 23, 2009 show, Darlene Love sang this song.

Here is a video of Darlene Love performing “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)” on The Late Show with David Letterman from December 23, 2005.

Facts about “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)” by Darlene Love:

• She originally recorded the song in 1963
• The song was written by Phil Spector, along with Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich
• Other artists have also covered the song: Jon Bon Jovi, U2 and Cher

Holiday Humor

Was surfing the web and I found this and thought it was pretty funny!

Happy Holidays!

Top Ten Uses For Fruitcake

10. Use slices to balance that wobbly kitchen table

9. Use instead of sand bags during El Nino.

8. Send to U.S. Air Force, let troops drop them.

7. Use as railroad ties.

6. Use as speed bumps to foil the neighborhood drag racers.

5. Collect ten and use them as bowling pins.

4. Use instead of cement shoes.

3. Save for next summer’s garage sale.

2. Use slices in next skeet-shooting competition.

1. Two words: pin cushion. 

Christmas Humor

Year End Lists: Billboards Best of the 2000s — Hot 100 Songs

I love the end of the year when all of the list of the best and worse come out. Not only are the lists out for 2009, but for the decade!

Here are the top 30 songs from Billboard: Best of the 2000s — Hot 100 Songs.

1. “We Belong Together“ — Mariah Carey
2. “Yeah! “ — Usher Featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris
3. “Low“ — Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain
4. “How You Remind Me“ — Nickelback
5. “I Gotta Feeling“ — The Black Eyed Peas
6. “No One“ — Alicia Keys
7. “Boom Boom Pow“ — The Black Eyed Peas
8. “Let Me Love You“ — Mario
9. “Gold Digger“ — Kanye West Featuring Jamie Foxx
10. “Apologize“ — Timbaland Featuring OneRepublic
11. “Dilemma“ — Nelly Featuring Kelly Rowland
12. “Family Affair“ — Mary J. Blige
13. “Big Girls Don’t Cry“ — Fergie
14. “Maria Maria“ — Santana Featuring The Product G&B
15. “U Got It Bad“ — Usher
16. “Whatever You Like“ — T.I.
17. “Bleeding Love“ — Leona Lewis
18. “Independent Women Part I“ — Destiny’s Child
19. “Foolish“– Ashanti
20. “Hey Ya! “ – OutKast
21. “Burn“– Usher
22. “The Way You Move“– OutKast Featuring Sleepy Brown
23. “Crank That (Soulja Boy) “– Soulja Boy Tell’em
24. “In Da Club“– 50 Cent
25. “Irreplaceable“– Beyoncé
26. “Hanging By A Moment“– Lifehouse
27. “Breathe“– Faith Hill
28. “Lose Yourself“– Eminem
29. “Fallin’“– Alicia Keys
30. “I’m Real“– Jennifer Lopez Featuring Ja Rule

Out of these 30 songs, I would have to say that “Hey Ya! “ – OutKast is my favorite… “shake it like a Polaroid picture“.

It’s hard to believe it’s the end of the decade!! Looks like I have another playlist to add to my iPod!