The 43

Snow fell yesterday and today in Salt Lake City, and outside feels more like January than November. I took the dog on a long walk tonight, and I'm already yearning for spring.  Rather than write about warmer seasons, I'll tell a wintertime story that doesn't have anything to do with winter other than it occurred in December. In 1980, Mom, my sisters and I, along with some neighbors, attended a kids' Christmas party thrown by a women's or seniors' group in our Oriole Park neighborhood. The event was held at the Oriole Park field house in the gym, and for a 10-year-old who didn't believe in Santa anymore, it was boring. A middle-aged (at least) woman dressed up as a boy from the 1930s and sang "I'm Getting Nothin' for Christmas." Santa made an appearance. All the kids got books for presents. For my age group and gender, I received The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn by John Bellairs. It was a mystery about a kid who stumbles into puzzle left ...

By my calculations, from the first day the lockdown began in earnest and the reality of the impending pandemic became inescapable , today is Day 240. Eight months ago, I figured we would be out of the crisis by now.  We aren't. As I write this, an alert came over my phone that Utah's governor is holding a press conference in a little while to announce new restrictions. The state has been spiking for weeks, but in the last week, it spiked really badly -- almost 3,000 new cases on Friday. We weren't getting that many in a month back in the spring. A combination of apathy, pandemic fatigue, politicization of the crisis, poor planning, and young people not giving a crap if they get infected has got us to this point. I can't say that if I was in my 20s I'd be as much of an asshole as the youth of today are being, but much of the latest fuel to this fire, at least locally, was people hanging out at Halloween parties. The biggest rate of spread in Utah is in the 15-35 age ...

YEAR: 2020 AGE: Turned 50 ... today! LOCATION: SLC, Ramona Avenue CUBS' RECORD: 34-26 SONGS I LIKED: "Somedays (I Don't Feel Like Trying)" by the Raconteurs; "Letter to You" by Bruce Springsteen TV SHOWS I WATCHED: "Schitt's Creek"; "Brockmire" MOVIES I SAW (STREAMING ONLY): "Onward"; "Palm Springs" I'm starting my 2020 post with an event from 2009. That November, Michael was in kindergarten, Ben was in 3-year-old preschool, and I was writing a book . National Novel Writing Month is a project that encourages and inspires would-be writers to pen 50,000 words of a book during November. The idea behind NaNoWriMo is that all those people who want to write a book but never seem to get around to it just need some structured support, tools, advice, and constant reminders to get to work. I was one of these people. Working at a newspaper, my days and weeks were filled with writing or fixing other people's w...

YEAR: 2019 AGE: Turned 49 on Nov. 6 LOCATION: SLC, Ramona Avenue JAZZ'S RECORD: 50-32 SONGS I LIKED: "Alligator" by Of Monsters and Men; "Africa" by Weezer TV SHOWS I WATCHED: "The Good Place"; "Game of Thrones"; "The Mandalorian" MOVIES I SAW: "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker"; "Avengers: Endgame"; "Toy Story 4"; "Midway"; "Ford v Ferrari" After 48 posts, I wanted to write something unique about 2019, something not necessarily about parenting, childhood, moving, work, school, courtship, vacations, music, cars, games, sports, holidays, parties, weddings, or how fast time flies. So, I'll write about the dog. First, a 2019 primer: The year was surprisingly normal. We all traveled a great deal -- my year included trips to Denver, Missoula , Las Vegas , northern Wisconsin , Chicago , and San Diego . Michael started his sophomore year and Ben began eighth grade. We encounter...

YEAR: 2018 AGE: Turned 48 on Nov. 6 LOCATION: SLC, Ramona Avenue CUBS' RECORD: 95-68 TV SHOWS I WATCHED: "Young Sheldon"; "Law and Order: SVU" MOVIES I SAW: "Avengers: Infinity War"; "Bohemian Rhapsody"; "Deadpool 2" One of the gazillion joys of being parent is those moments when everything your children do -- and everything you've done for them -- seem to crystallize into a perfectly proud accomplishment. I'm sure every parent experiences this through the years -- it's not unique. If I may brag, at my high school graduation, I won an award that I had no idea was coming, as the senior who best exemplified the spirit and principles of the school. I was more stunned than anything, and didn't quite put myself in my parents' shoes as they saw me walk up to get the award. As a parent myself, I realize, that moment must have totally rocked their world. OK, bragging over. At least the bragging about Joey the 17-ye...

YEAR: 2017 AGE: Turned 47 on Nov. 6 LOCATION: SLC, Ramona Avenue JAZZ'S RECORD: 51-31 SONGS I LIKED: "Feel It Still" by Portugal the Man; "Thunder" by Imagine Dragons TV SHOWS I WATCHED: "The Man in the High Castle"; "The Handmaid's Tale" MOVIES I SAW: "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"; "Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2" For 1997, I didn't write about our wedding day . Such a post could have approached 10,000 words, and I've already written some of this series way too long. Maybe I will recap the day Lori and I married eventually, but it wasn't a priority for this slog of posts. In 2017, 20 years passed since our wedding. On Aug. 2, I was hoping to recapture a bit of the magic. My grand idea was to take Lori to the hotel where our reception was, go to the hall where we all gathered, queue up "Mad About You" by Anita Baker, and dance our first song again.  I called up the hotel and talked to an a...

YEAR: 2016 AGE: Turned 46 on Nov. 6 LOCATION: SLC, Ramona Avenue CUBS' RECORD: 103-58 SONGS I LIKED: "Cake by the Ocean" by DNCE; "Can't Feel My Face" by The Weeknd; "A dventure of a Lifetime" by Coldplay TV SHOWS I WATCHED: "This Is Us"; "Stranger Things"; "Designated Survivor" MOVIES I SAW: "Captain America: Civil War"; "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice"; "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story"; "Finding Dory" CONCERT I EXPERIENCED: Violent Femmes Over the course of a lifetime, everyone experiences years that aren't as great as the others. Or maybe, they have years with wild swings from positive to negative, over and over. We don't necessarily wish those years never happened, but instead, wish that maybe the bad times weren't so dominantly bad. I went through such a year in 2016. To start 2016, work was stressing me out, resulting in the worst insomnia of my lif...

YEAR: 2015 AGE: Turned 45 on Nov. 6 LOCATION: SLC, Ramona Avenue SONGS I LIKED: "Shut Up and Dance" by Walk the Moon; "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson with Bruno Mars; "Riptide" by Vance Joy TV SHOWS I WATCHED: "Life in Pieces"; "The Muppets"; "The Flash" MOVIES I SAW: "Jurassic World"; "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" My fascination with board games back to before I knew how to play them. I couldn't understand the mechanics behind games such as Clue, Masterpiece, or Monopoly, but I would still play with the components as a preschooler. I also learned how to play Chess when I was 5. I wasn't a prodigy by any means, but still, I was 5 ... After we moved to Rascher, My neighbor George and I played board games often. We had elaborate house rules for Monopoly, but also frequently played Pay Day, Gambler, Life, Risk, Connect Four, Stratego, Kismet, and Trivial Pursuit. Other favorites from my youth in...

YEAR: 2014 AGE: Turned 44 on Nov. 6 LOCATION: SLC, Ramona Avenue CUBS' RECORD: 73-89 SONGS I LIKED: "The Walker" by Fitz and the Tantrums; "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift; " Ain't It Fun" by Paramore; "Tacky" by Weird Al Yankovic TV SHOWS I WATCHED: "The Wil Wheaton Project"; "Gotham" MOVIES I SAW: "The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies"; "How to Train Your Dragon 2" CONCERT I EXPERIENCED: Steely Dan Kerry Wood pitched for the Chicago Cubs for many years. In 1998, he famously struck out 20 batters in a game as a rookie. Injuries plagued his career, and he never turned into the Hall of Fame pitcher many thought he would be. The Cubs eventually turned him into a closer, and then he played for a few other teams before returning to Chicago to close out his career. Wood announced his retirement effective after one last game in 2012. The Cubs brought him into game in relief, he struck out one ba...

YEAR: 2013 AGE: Turned 43 on Nov. 6 LOCATION: SLC, Ramona Avenue CUBS' RECORD: 66-96 SONGS I LIKED: "Some Nights" by Fun.; "King and Lionheart" by Of Monsters and Men; "Safe and Sound" by Capital Cities; "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke; "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk; "Royals" by Lorde TV SHOWS I WATCHED: "Arrested Development"; "How I Met Your Mother" MOVIES I SAW: "Oz the Great and Powerful"; "42"; "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" CONCERTS I EXPERIENCED: Michael Franti; Old Crow Medicine Show I've written about vacations over the past week, but I feel I must write about a 2013 trip when we took the boys to the most magical place on Earth. Disneyland? No, and we already had taken the boys there in 2010. Our destination for this vacation was a few hours north ... Vegas, baby! Salt Lake City schools used to schedule a five-day fall break (which included two ...

YEAR: 2012 AGE: Turned 42 on Nov. 6 LOCATION: SLC, Ramona Avenue CUBS' RECORD: 61-101 SONGS I LIKED: "Good Time" by Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen; "Ho Hey" by the Lumineers; "Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men; "Tongue Tied" by Grouplove; " TV SHOWS I WATCHED: "New Girl"; "Parks and Recreation" MOVIES I SAW: "The Avengers"; "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" CONCERT I EXPERIENCED: Maroon 5 VIDEO GAME I PLAYED: Skylanders Reminiscing about Halloween could have been a topic for any year after the boys were born -- and perhaps even a few from my own childhood. I'm picking 2012 because it was perhaps one of the last when I took both boys trick-or-treating. Michael would go with his friends within a couple years, and even Ben last year went on his own, despite what made trick-or-treating with Dad so great. I got them so much candy. We never wandered too far from our house, but I always h...

YEAR: 2011 AGE: Turned 41 on Nov. 6 LOCATION: SLC, Ramona Ave. CUBS' RECORD: 71-91 SONGS I LIKED: "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele; "Lonely Boy" by the Black Keys; "Walk" by Foo Fighters; "Saints of Los Angeles" by Motley Crue; "1983" by Neon Trees MOVIES I SAW: "Kung Fu Panda 2"; "Cars 2"; "Tron: Legacy" TV SHOWS I WATCHED: "Modern Family"; "Off the Map"; "Terra Nova"; "The League" CONCERTS I EXPERIENCED: Michael Franti; Psychedelic Furs; Earth, Wind & Fire In my last post , I described my bewilderment at how fast time has seemingly been the last decade, starting in 2010. Today's installment doesn't cover the fleeting nature of time, but rather, how one segment of time can exemplify the concept of awesome. That sounds like a bloated statement, but I don't know how else to explain 2011 . Every year as a parent has been great. Although perso...

YEAR: 2010 AGE: Turned 40 on Nov. 6 LOCATION: SLC, Ramona Avenue CUBS' RECORD: 75-87 SONGS I LIKED: "Howlin' for You" by the Black Keys; "Month of May" by Arcade Fire; "Little Lion Man" by Mumford and Sons; "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To" by Weezer MOVIES I SAW: "How to Train Your Dragon"; "Toy Story 3"; "Despicable Me" TV SHOWS I WATCHED: "Friday Night Lights"; "Wipeout"; "30 Rock"; "Damages" CONCERTS I EXPERIENCED: Michael Franti; Possessed by Paul James VIDEO GAMES I PLAYED: Lego Star Wars; Guitar Hero World Tour; Mario Kart Wii This year, as more people used Zoom to work from home, "Zoom" became a verb in the vernacular. Generation Z is increasingly being referred to as "zoomers." And of course, "Zoom" was a classic kids' show in the 1970s, shoes and socks optional. In 2010, "zoom" to...

YEAR: 2009 AGE: Turned 39 on Nov. 6 LOCATION: SLC, Ramona Avenue CUBS' RECORD: 83-78 SONGS I LIKED: "I Gotta Feeling" by Black Eyed Peas; "Sometime Around Midnight" by The Airborne Toxic Event MOVIES I SAW: "The Blind Side"; "Up"; "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" TV SHOWS I WATCHED: "The Mentalist"; "Big Bang Theory"; "The Biggest Loser"; "Flash Forward" VIDEO GAMES I PLAYED: Final Fantasy Tactics 2; Mario vs. Donkey Kong I ran cross country and track in high school. I wasn't that good at running, but it was a good sport -- it kept me in shape and combined a bit of solitude (and music when I ran on my own) with exercise. Over they years, I've tried to maintain a regular running routine like I did in high school. I last a few weeks or a few months and fall off the wagon.  Early in 2009, I did something bold -- I committed to run a leg (actually, three legs) of the Wasatch Back...