Changes

So, I had to shave off my beard for my new job this week. I am sad to see it go - I actually assumed I would just have it for the duration, until it went gray and I ended up looking like a douche James Brolin. Better yet, an asshole Kris Kristofferson. I started the beard around the same time as the Ron Artest Melee - I have really had it that long.

I knew I would have to have some fun when shaving it off, so here is the debacle in pictures:


I didn't trim the beard for about a month or so beforehand, because this was the last hurrah! I wanted to see how long it could get, see if I would qualify to be a member of the Fleet Foxes or anything.

Here was the first trim - mutton chops and a goatee. Not too drastically different, but a little tool-like.

Here is what I would look like with just a goatee. Not too bad, but nothing special.

Es muy bueno. Fantastic stuff. I had this for a while before I decided to get rid of it. Just an A+ though. I don't know how anyone took me seriously. (Yes, I did cut my neck shaving!)

Thank you to the Sanchezes for the hot water and the sink. Sorry I did this though.

The final product. I went from a 33 year old hippie to a 20-something corporate tool in just a few hours. I will be getting carded a whole lot more now.

I miss the beard.

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Here is an update on Carrie - she really has gotten a little bigger since the holidays:
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I am ready for work tomorrow!

Please note how we need a new camera.
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One more random photo here - taken the day we found out that we were having a Maisy and not a Stephen:

Note the awesome beard. Man I miss that thing!

2009: Songs of the Year

Yes, this is belated, and it is my New Years resolution to use social media more. So here is my list of 2009 songs that I liked that no one else probably will. Note: some of these are off 2008 albums, but I will defend them being on my 2009 list when necessary.

Here are the top twenty five:

25. Chairlift - Bruises - This is a song from a commercial for iPod or something, but I kind of like it, and I have a crush on the lead singer chick. Also, they are from Brooklyn, as are a surprising number of bands on this list.
24. Bat For Lashes - Daniel - Just now getting into this song. Pretty good stuff, and I felt like I should include it.
23. MGMT - Kids - OK, the video starts off weird, so just fast forward. But then the video itself is disturbing somewhat, so just know that recently they auctioned off the monster props for this video. I think one of the kids in this group went to White Station.
22. Matt & Kim - Lessons Learned - Also known as the video where they get nekkid in Times Square. It is pretty harmless watered down punk, but it is fun. Also from Brooklyn.
21. Vampire Weekend - Cousins - I just recently had to come to terms with the fact that I like Vampire Weekend. It seems like I would hate them if I met them in person, but I like the music. Just the opposite of the Groban.
20. Mastodon - Divinations - These guys are metal but they just kick ass. Drew Magary loves these guys too, and so does Pitchfork. We are all in agreement.
19. Silversun Pickups - There's No Secrets This Year - I haven't made my way through this album like I have with Carnavas, but this was one that I listened to a lot this year.
18. Matt & Kim - Daylight - These guys again. I want to be couple friends with them.
17. The Sounds - No One Sleeps While I'm Awake - I am surprised this song wasn't bigger. Hot lead singer chick, very catchy pop song.
16. Chromeo - Night By Night - Good God I love this song. Feels like disco. I have loved these guys since I heard their song about washing your hands on Yo Gabba Gabba.
15. Silversun Pickups - Panic Switch - The best song off the album for me so far. The Lazy Eye of this album. But then again, over time, Lazy Eye wasn't my favorite off the last album anymore, so who knows how I will feel about the rest of the album when I really get into it.
14. Muse - Uprising - Someone on a message board once put "If it's not Muse it's crap!" I do like Muse and this song kicks ass, but the rest of the album is surprisingly weak.
13. Fleet Foxes - Your Protector - This was the year we really got into Fleet Foxes, as you will soon figure out. This song was never a single and I didn't listen to it a lot at first, but it is now one of my favorites off an album of a bunch of favorites.
12. Flosstradamus - Big Bills - This song isn't even on an album, just on the Green Label sound website. I love it - again, the chick from Chairlift, and another Brooklyn group.
11. Fleet Foxes - Blue Ridge Mountains - The second song that the Fleet Foxes did on SNL - fell in love right away. This is Carrie's favorite by them.
10. Phoenix - 1901 - Another song from a commercial. I am just starting to get into this CD, but this song was everywhere last year. Good stuff.
9. Noisettes - Never Forget You - One of these songs that Mom would like. Has a 50s/60s feel. We actually played the video for Mom, and the first thing she says is, "what's wrong with her hair?"
8. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero - Just another great song by these guys. Hopefully it is one of the songs on this list that you already know well. Not that I am putting obscure songs on here for the sake of doing so, but there is just so much music available now on the internet. I love reading other people's lists of songs of the year because there is always one or two on there at least that I don't know and end up liking.
7. Mastodon - Oblivion - Seriously, these guys kick ass. Plus, it is metal that is really high quality in terms of the music and not just a bunch of power chords and screaming.
6. Santogold - Lights Out - Another here that is a 2008 song. But I don't care - the video didn't get airplay until this last year, and I just really like Santogold.
5. MGMT - Time To Pretend - Another 2008 song, but it was on 89X's top songs of 2009, so there is my precedent. Just a great song, it really is. Plus, White Station!
4. Animal Collective - My Girls - OK, Pitchfork's song of the year, which everyone made fun of. Hell, they even had it at #9 for the decade! I know it is techno-ish and all, but now that I know I am going to have a girl, the lyrics seem poignant, which seems rare for a dance indie hipster song, but I love it.
3. Company of Thieves - Oscar Wilde - OK, no one has ever heard of this song probably. The rest of the CD is iffy at best, and I don't know if these guys will ever make it. However, this is just a great song, well written. The chick can wail, and is cute in an ugly sort of way. I can't describe it. I have it ranked too high because it is the type of song that would win songwriting competitions. I just really wish the rest of the album was on par with it. Plus, this really is possibly the greatest video of all time.
2. Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks - Really, one of my favorite songs ever. When Grizzly Bear played at Michigan Theater, we went around town looking for them and didn't find them. This song was played on an episode of How I Met Your Mother this year. Another Brooklyn band.
1. Fleet Foxes - Mykonos - Every once in a while, you hear a song that you remember where you were the first time you heard it. This was of course the first song they did on SNL, and I just remember being speechless. Just a moment of thinking, I liked these guys already but this might be one of the best songs I have ever heard. It is emotional, moving, eerily beautiful. The things that these guys do with their voices and harmonies reminds me of the Beach Boys almost - like their voices are a string section playing together perfectly. I can't describe it obviously. This makes my short list of favorite songs ever.

There it is. I sure put off writing this for some reason! Probably the new job and the wife being pregnant and all. 2009 was a suck ass year for me, but the music was pretty solid. I hope the music is just as awesome in 2010, but I hope the rest of it all goes a little better!

New Ultrasound Pic

OK, so, there have been better pictures posted online before, but this is an ultrasound pic that has been scanned into a PDF and then converted into an image, so it isn't pristine or anything.

You can see the baby's head on the left, with her body going off to the right. Pretty self explanatory.

However, if you zoom in a little on the picture, then look just slightly up and to the right from center, and so help me there is a face! It is kind of creepy. Carrie thinks it looks like John Kerry. I think it is just the evil monster that was living in Carrie's uterus to begin with. We are both right.