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December 2009
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Dennis Jansen

December 31st, 2009

2009

I was going to do a grand “year in review” post, but it’s unnecessary. An outline of spring semester is here, the summer summary is here, and the outline of fall semester is here.

This was the year of surprises. Here are 10 unexpected things that happened this year, in no particular order…

  1. Moved out of the fraternity house into my first apartment.
  2. Bought a car.
  3. Adopted Harley-Scalia, a 100-pound bullmastiff rescue, who had heartworm.
  4. Got shot, and studied for property in the ER.
  5. Went to Bemidji.
  6. Had a viable tort claim against the law school.
  7. Got a job via twitter.
  8. Dated (one, two, three).
  9. Lived on the set of Grand Theft Auto, including shootings, semi-paralyzed mothers, crackheads, and police drama.
  10. Passed Tax Law.

I’m quieter, tired, but still smirking.

December 31st, 2009

Top 40 Songs of 2009

According to me.

  1. Lasso” – Phoenix
  2. Covergirl” – Rupaul
  3. Nobody Seems to Care” – 16 Bit Lolitas feat. Jennifer Horne
  4. Look back at me” – Trina
  5. The Fear” – Lily Allen
  6. Hotel Room Service” – Pitbull
  7. Love Game” – Lady Gaga
  8. Drop it Low” –  Ester Dean ft. Chris Brown
  9. Bulletproof” – La Roux
  10. Diva”  – Beyonce
  11. Shots!” –  LMFAO ft. Lil Jon
  12. Death (Crystal Castles Remix)” – White Lies
  13. My Body” – Hadise
  14. 1901” – Phoenix
  15. Patrick 122” – Mr. Oizo
  16. “Video Phone” – Beyonce
  17. “Lisztomania” – Phoenix
  18. “Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga
  19. “Turning me on” – Keri Hilson
  20. “Get Over Here”  – Rasmus Faber
  21. “Wow” – Kylie Minogue
  22. “As Above So Below (JUSTICE Remix)” – Klaxons
  23. “Big Fun (Simian Mobile Disco Remix)” – Inner City
  24. “That’s Right” – Ciara feat. Lil Jon
  25. “Stay on the outside” – Whitey/Phones
  26. “Endorphinmachine” – Erobique
  27. “Hush; Hush” – Nicole Scherzinger (aka Pussy Cat Dolls)
  28. “Ambling Alp” – Yeasayer
  29. “Move My Body (Boys Noize Remix)” – Tiga
  30. “Stanky Legg” – GS Boyz
  31. “Bottle Pop” – Nicole Scherzinger (aka Pussy Cat Dolls)
  32. “Halle Berry” –  Hurricane Chris
  33. “Pop Champagne” – Jim Jones & Ron Browz ft. Juelz Santana
  34. “Bus Stop Bitties” – RJD2
  35. “Done with you” – Whitest Boy Alive
  36. “Work” – Ciara
  37. “Juicy Like a Peach” – Rasheeda
  38. “Brighter Days (Joyfull Family Remix)” – Dajae
  39. “Agyness Deyn” – Larry Tee
  40. “Looking Good/Feeling Gorgeous” – RuPaul

See also: The top 70 songs of 2008.

Superlatives:
Band of the Year: Phoenix

Study song of the year: “Nobodyseems to care” – 16 Bit Lolitas
Best Lyrics: “The Fear” – Lily Allen
Best Video: “Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga

Best Remix: “Death (Crystal Castles Remix)” – White Lies

And finally, Hottest Mess of the Year: “She Wolf” – Shakira.

December 31st, 2009

Private bible

Every time someone asks me about my New Year’s resolutions, I think about this Brenda Ueland quote:

“When you will, make a resolution, set your jaw, you are expressing an imaginative fear that you won’t do the thing.

If you knew you would do the thing, you would smile happily and set about it.

“And this fear (since the imagination is always creative) comes about presently and you slide down into the complete slump of several weeks or years – the very thing you dreaded and set your jaw against.”

Damn straight.

I prefer keeping a private bible: a little list of goals, and a few quotes. It keeps me mindful and focused, and works.

One of my goals1 is to write here more often. There were few substantive posts last semester because I was either studying, or working, or in a state of irritation2 or pettiness.

So, the goal, or resolution, or whatever-you-want-to-call-it is to live a life that I can blog about. This means I need to develop a better immunity to life’s daily annoyances2 and be as positive as possible without parroting Wavey.

We’ll see how I do.


1 Lest I say resolutions
2 The things that I was preoccupied with were not blog fodder – subjects impolite to write about and things that I suspect I don’t want to remember, ie, being annoyed at the boyfriend for not calling, insanely loud girl at work and her liquid leggings, off topic guy in class, etc.