Brent's List of Books He Read in 2010

1. The Awakening - Kate Chopin - This is about a lady who realizes her life is lousy and drowns herself in Mexico.  It's about self-loathing, and I like that.
2. O Pioneers!  Willa Cather - This book was a real disappointment.  It skipped over all the hardship pioneers stories, and turned into a story about love or something.  I don't remember. 
3. Sean Payton Book - Sean Payton did not try very hard on this book.
4. Drew Brees Book - Drew Brees tried maybe a little too hard on this book. 
5. Jeff Duncan Book - This was the best of the Saints Superbowl Books - which isn't saying much. 
6. Grapes of Wrath - America was not a very nice place in the 30's.  Hardship and dirt.  It was all hardship and dirt.
7. The Boy Detective Fails - Chuck's favorite book - or one of them.  It's a pretty cute Encyclopedia Brown style mystery, except EB is grown up.  And his life is very sad.
8. Huckleberry Finn - It's been a while since I finished this, and I honestly can't remember if this was better than I thought it would be or worse. I think I thought it was silly.
9. The Falling Man - I have almost no memory of this book.  It's kind of about 9/11, and it's a novel. 
10. Zeitoun - Best book I read this year.  1930's America was a walk in the park compared to New Orleans, Post-Katrina.
11. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  I am reading this now.  I have no idea why.  It's not even going that fast.  And the girl with the dragon tattoo is barely in it.  The majority of the story is about this douchebag cheeseball journalist.

de facto 2010 new years resolutions

Here's what my new year's resolutions should have been for 2010.

1. Spend a lot of money. I don't know what happened with this, but I am supposedly making more money than I ever have before, yet my bank account continually creeps lower and lower. I'm tempted to put all the blame on my having to pay for my anti-depressants this year (rather than getting samples), but that's probably wishful thinking.

2. Put a lot of work into projects that end up going nowhere. This mostly applies to work, where time after time, a proposal that I have been assigned to and have worked on just kind of gets dropped.

3. Gain weight. See recent holiday pictures.

4. Ignore stated 2010 new years resolutions. I believe my goals for the new year were to do something creative once a month, kiss a woman, and ride my bike more. 0 for three.

Okay, those are the big ones. I'll add more if I think of them.

Brent's 50 Favorite Songs of 2010

There a slew of repeats here, which either means that I didn't do a very good job listening to a wide variety of music (I feel like I did), or that there just wasn't that much good stuff (I feel like there wasn't).  I limited my picks to music actually owned by me.  Which is why that B.O.B. song about airplanes didn't make it.  I love that song.  Why can't we act like airplanes are shooting stars, people?  I could really use a wish right now.

1. Rill Rill - Sleigh Bells - Treats




2. All Delighted People - Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People EP




3. Taxi Cab - Vampire Weekend - Contra



4. Fuck You - Cee Lo Green - The Lady Killer



5. To Old Friends and New - Titus Andronicus - The Monitor



6. Dark Fantasy - Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy



7. Bloodbuzz Ohio - The National - High Violet



8. The Ghost Who Walks - Karen Elson - Karen Elson



9. The Mermaid Parade - Phosphorescent - Here's to Taking It Easy



10. Infinity Guitars - Sleigh Bells - Treats



11. You Wanted A Hit - LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening



12. It - Dr. Dog - Shame Shame

13. Excuses - The Morning Benders - Big Echo



14. Everlasting Light - The Black Keys - Brothers



15. Half Light II (No Celebration) - The Arcade Fire - The Suburbs



16. Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks - The National - High Violet



17. Tell 'Em - Sleigh Bells - Treats



18. These Days - The Black Keys - Brothers



19. Soundtrack To The End - Communist Daughter - Soundtrack To The End



20. John the Determinist - Jeremy Messersmith - The Reluctant Graveyard



21. Obscene Queen Bee - Flashy Python - Skin and Bones


22. Heaven Can Wait - Charlotte Gainsbourg - IRM



23. I Remember - Yeasayer - Odd Blood



24. I Didn’t See It Coming - Belle & Sebastian - Write About Love



25. Theme from "Cheers" - Titus Andronicus - The Monitor



26. Queen Black Acid - Menomena - Mines



27. Crash Years - The New Pornographers - Together



28. Riot Rhythm - Sleigh Bells - Treats



29. What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had to Go This Way) - Wolf Parade - Expo 86



30. Runaway - The National - High Violet

31. Shame, Shame - Dr. Dog - Shame Shame



32. Sinister Kid - The Black Keys - Brothers

33. Valkyrie In The Roller Disco - The New Pornographers - Together

34. Mornin' Time - Woods - At Echo Lake

35. We Don't Want Your Body - Stars - The Five Ghosts

36. Run the Heart - Sleigh Bells - Treats

37. Not The Kid - Communist Daughter - Soundtrack To The End

38. Slippery When Wet - The Acorn - No Ghost

39. Wasted Hours - The Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

40. Le Chat Du Café Des Artistes - Charlotte Gainsbourg - IRM

41. Write About Love - Belle & Sebastian - Write About Love

42. Never Give You Up - The Black Keys - Brothers

43. Moves - The New Pornographers - Together

44. Giving Up The Gun - Vampire Weekend - Contra

45. Long Way Home - Mates Of State - Crushes

46. In the Sun - She & Him - Volume Two

47. It's Hard to Be Humble (When You're from Alabama) - Phosphorescent - Here's to Taking It Easy

48. Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk - The New Pornographers - Together

49. Taos - Menomena - Mines

50. Let the Record Go - The Mynabirds - What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood

I don't get it.

So here's my topic sentence for this blog post: everybody says that Doctor Strangelove, Hard Day's Night, and Annie Hall are good movies, but they could not be more wrong.

I watched all three of these movies for the first time this year and was not impressed by any of them. All three were on the Time Magazine list of best movies and for the life of me, I can't imagine why. Of the three, I suppose Annie Hall has the strongest argument. It has a perspective, that at the time was probably fairly unique. It's just not very funny. I think maybe Hard Day's Night is on there just because people really like the Beatles, especially in their youthful, insouciant years. The movie seems to just be like an episode of the monkees tv show, a program that, incidentally, I have never in fact seen. And finally Doctor Strangelove, as mentioned before on this blog, that movie is just straight up for assholes.

In 2011, my hope is to be less disillusioned. Oh and I just ched the Time list again and Annie Hall isn't on there. That's a good sign.

Just so I don't forget....

I want to make sure I get this down somewhere.  It was the funniest thing I heard all year.  Around Thanksgiving, Chelsey asked Chuck how the cooking was going over at his house.  He and my dad had been preparing for Thanksgiving most of the day, and Chuck's house has a very small kitchen. 

Chuck thought about it, and said something to the effect of:

 "Well, you know me and dad, we're just two big old bears trying to stay out eachother's way."

I realize this wont sound funny for anyone that wasn't there, but it was hilarious at the time. 

Wreck of the Brentmond Fitzkoster

So in order to control an over-the-top perspiration problem, I have given up coffee.  The days that followed this decision have been marked with an amazing headache, the sensitivity of a little Koster boy, and the dumbness of a dumb stupid dummy.  I just spent two hours trying to write something that should have taken me 45 minutes.  This is mostly due to the wombat attacking the inside of my skull, but it's also due to the fact that I can barely put two words together that make any kind of sense at all. 

I had no idea I was this addicted to coffee.  But because I'm so spacy, I'm not entirely convinced that it's all due to the coffee.  I have also failed to bring a breakfast with me to work each day this week.  And I have noticed that eating kind of makes this headache go away, but I don't have it together enough to check this hypothesis, because I never seem to have any food with me. 

I also seem to be nursing a tiny little addiction to Alka-Seltzer Cold Medicine, which is another reason I can't say this is all caffeine related.  I drink a glass of it before I go to be each night, even though I barely have a cold at this point.  But I keep doing so, because in my daze-filled existence, it seems like the thing to do.  Like if I don't, I might not get a good sleep.  And I need a good sleep, because I feel so out of it.  And so on.

This could be the beginning of the end. 

I have also been super-sensitive at work.  I have essentially convinced myself that everyone I work with hates me, but that's okay, because I hate them too, and even though no one is saying anything about this shared hatred, it's there.  Believe me.  It's there.  I also hate the guy who edited my last story for my sportswriting job.  He told me that my "lede" didn't make any sense.  Well guess what, Dickface?  I didn't know "lede" was spelled that way.  I reread it, it was a shitty lede.  But I'm a little fucked up right now, so maybe you could be a little more....(you see where this is going.)

Fuck you coffee.  Fuck you, and you fucking face.

Christmas 2010

So as part of the yearly clusterfuck that is our holiday planning, Nancy evidently had a conversation with our Aunt Jeannie about the fact that our grandma was going to be alone this year for christmas. This "alone" assessment was reflective of the facts that Brent and Chelsey will be going to Kearney, NE and that Nance and Jerr may be going to Dallas for Christmas. What am I doing you ask? Funny thing. I'm staying here so that Helen Frances won't be "alone" for Christmas.

The "alone" comment could have been just a poor choice of words on either my grandma's or aunt jeannie's part; however, it does kind of make me wonder why I'm sticking around, rather than doing whatever the hell I want for Christmas (visiting Wendy and family).

Brent thought this would make a good blog. I was worried that I didn't know how to write-it without coming off self pitying. So when you read this, try not to picture me really whiney about it, but rather really mad and tough.

I'm in the Internet! On a plane!

So I am on my way to visit my friends in Atlanta, and Google Chrome has generously made the wifi free on all Air Tran flights as a holiday gesture.  How nice.  Sadly, I don't have much to do on the internet, and the signal is not strong enough to stream off of netflix, but who gives a fuck?  I'm on the internet.  I could bring up porn right now if I wanted.  This is great.

This is as good a time as any for me to give some holiday updates.

1. Chelsey completed her capstone yesterday and passed with flying colors.  This means she will actually graduate with her masters on December 17th.  I am so proud of her.  As someone who would rather swallow a bucket of toilet bowl cleaner than go back to school, I am amazed that anyone goes back.  And seeing how difficult this has been at times for Chelsey, I could not be more happy for her - for for us and all the big-time money we are going to start seeing flow into the Kosterpelding bank accounts.
2. I'm almost done with Grapes of Wrath, and I can tell it's not going to end in a very uplifting place.  Things just seem to be getting worse and worse.  Today they had to leave the place with the hot water to make a go at some peach orchard.  This can't be good.  After this I move on to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which I assume to be less taxing on my soul.
3. I have acquired presents for almost everyone on my list.  But at what expense?  I'll tell you what expense: the expense of Chelsey and my xmas cards.  We are WAY behind.  And I wanted to print up cute ones off the internet this year, but we haven't taken any pictures yet.  Dammit.
4. I have launched a new workout regment called "Brent goes to work early and works out in the new Goodwill gym, then showers, then puts on work clothes."  We are working on a shorter name.  I like this new plan because I end up being the first person in the building from time to time, which means I get to turn off the alarm.  That makes me feel important.  I also like it because no one else is around, and I don't have to worrry about accidentally farting when I work out.  The biggest drawback is that I keep forgetting to bring a change of socks and underwear.  Lots of free balling it and wearing no socks around the workplace. 

Oh - it looks like I have to get off.  Free airplane internet is the greatest!