I've been informed that I must "go blog" because my comments about Superstars of Dance are no longer welcome. (Carrie informed me that I shouldn't have written that.) So, now I must think of a topic. Hmm. How about I write some things I should've predicted for 2008?

1. After a 25 year drought, Philadelphians finally realize that all they need to do to win a championship is to elevate a Billy Penn statue to the top of the Comcast Center
2. After 7 years of Bush raping the economy, devastating the Middle East, committing numerous crimes against humanity, and destroying the environment, the people of America will finally be so desperate for change that even race can't get in the way of a Democratic victory
3. At a loss for new ideas, the networks decide to film anyone they can dancing and call it reality TV
4. Apple will develop products that capture the attention of the American public. Interest will be divided between fanboys and haters
5. Numerous celebrities will die, including one up-and-coming star from a drug overdose
6. Everyone but Gary Bettman and the NHL's marketing firm will realize that Sidney Crosby is not the savior of the NHL
7. The housing market will flatline -- right around the time we put our place on the market
8. Many great things will happen to Philly sports teams but the media elects to only cover the Eagles in depth
9. I will run out of free time to do anything while simultaneously feeling like I do nothing, which will ultimately culminate in a midlife crisis and an unprecedented desire to own a Lexus ES 350
10. A variety of has-been musical acts will reunite in an attempt to make a quick buck and relive youth. Interest will wax and wane but mostly wane.

...And I have no resolutions.

I have plans. Here they are:

1. To say no to freelance (unless it pays incredibly well)
2. To move
3. To cook a minimum of six days a week
4. To start my MA/MBA program
5. To get back into the habit of reading
6. To learn Ruby and Java
7. To exercise at least three times per week
8. To take Lily out more often and get her involved in play groups
9. To start writing again
10. To develop an application for a popular medium (ie. Facebook or the iPhone)
11. To be more patient and stop complaining as much

OK, I guess some of those are resolutions.

1. Blake Schwarzenbach has a new band
2. Lily is sitting up, standing while leaning, and I'm pretty sure she's crawling every time I turn away
3. The Flyers have actually gotten their season on track (3-0-1 in their last 4 games, 7-3-3 in their last 13)
4. I'm nearing the end of a tedious freelance project, have another project waiting in the wings, and the prospect of two more not far off
5. We went to the Marabella's reunion and had an absolute blast
6. We went to the cemetery this weekend. It's been way too long but it was incredibly nice to get to spend some time there and just think about my mom
7. I'm nearing the end of an incredibly long project at work. It'll be nice to start the next project
8. It may be the middle of November but the Phillies are still World. Fucking. Champions.
9. I just got a free cupcake
10. Lily has started sleeping until about 7:45
11. Carrie has a light schedule this week and I'll actually get to hang out with her
12. Finally, I think my Xbox will be back from repair

First, let me start off by saying that Lily and Carrie both got sick this week and I'm coming down with a cold too. So, that all sucked. I think the good outweighed the bad, though. Here's why the past seven days have been so good:

1. The Phillies won the NLDS.
2. I got to play hockey for the first time in about a year.
3. It's Danny's birthday!
4. Someone from Style.com (the same people who make Vogue Magazine) contacted me because they might feature The Brown Bag Club on their site.
5. We had three new showings on our house and came up with a good plan for all of our possible housing scenarios.
6. The house we love just dropped $10k in price, which puts it more comfortably in our budget... as long as someone actually buys our house.
7. I had a day off and got good rest.
8. I had my final dentist appointment and I no longer have a giant cavity in my molar. Also my teeth and gums are both really healthy for the first time in forever.
9. Luca Sbisa has impressed the hell out of everyone and may make the Flyers' roster.
10. I don't have to go into work this weekend anymore.
11. Lily slept until 8:00 a.m. the other day (albeit because she was sick -- but she's better now.)
12. I've made good progress on my concurrent freelance projects and am really happy with the way the designs are turning out.
13. I got ROTD at Yelp, even though I haven't been active on there in a few months.
14. I've been cooking all week and, in turn, eating and feeling better.
15. I got an awesome bottle of Polish vodka from Matt's trip to Poland
16. I got my allergy prescriptions refilled. So, maybe I can start breathing a little better again.
17. Even though I'm unable to attend the short story sharing thing -- Is there an official name yet? -- I have a story idea that I'm really excited about and can't wait to use next month.
18. I submitted feature requests for two apps I use (Coda and Doomi) and the developers liked my suggestions.
19. The NHL season started.
20. The Phillies beat the Dodgers in game 1 of the NLCS!
21. The reporter on Fox keeps calling all the highlights from the Phillies' game a "money shot."

Believe it or not, this is just the short list. Yay, good week! Now, please, someone just buy our place!

5. Rich Gannon
Rich Gannon (class of '83) is one of a few professional athletes who graduated from the Prep, including Jets' linebacker, Victor Hobson. At the Prep, Gannon is frequently recognized as the creator of the school's fight song. His list of accomplishments is much longer than that, though. He helped the Raiders to the Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003, was named the MVP of the NFL in '02, was the Pro Bowl MVP in '00 and '01, and was also elected to the Pro Bowl from '99 - '02. He also holds numerous NFL and Raiders records, including NFL season record for 300+ yard passing games (10 in 2002).


4. Tom Burgoyne
Immediately, you may wonder, "Who is Tom Burgoyne? He's not famous." You may think to yourself that you've never seen him before and that I am already grasping at straws. Well, if you live in Philadelphia and/or watch baseball, you've probably seen Tom Burgoyne on a much more frequent basis than you realize.

You see, Tom Burgoyne (class of '83) has been the Phillie Phanatic since 1994. The 300lb Phanatic is widely recognized as one of the best -- if not the best -- mascots in sports and is also a member of the Mascot Hall of Fame.


3. Phil Martelli
You had to imagine you'd see Phil Martelli (class of '72) on this list. Martelli has been the head coach of the Saint Joseph's University basketball team for the last 13 years. He is the man who put that tiny little Jesuit university on the college basketball map. With multiple coach of the year awards (NCAA, AP, NABC, Naismith College, Chevrolet), Martelli lead the SJU Hawks to an A-10 Tourney Championship in 1997 and 4 A-10 Regular Season Championships. He's also coached eventual NBA players like Jameer Nelson, Delonte West, and Dwayne Jones towards their full professional potential. (Side note: Delonte West recently signed to play in Russia.)


2. Rob McElhenney
You may know him as Mac, the dim-witted, bar-owning, gangster-wannabe schemer from It's Always Sunny but, to some of us, he's just Rob McElhenney (class of '95), the dude who we always seemed to walk by in the hallways in between classes or see in the senior caf at lunch time. To see him go on to create and star in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia was awesome, even though I didn't particularly know him that well.


1. Michael A. Nutter
Michael Nutter (class of '75) is just fucking badass and cool as shit. Seriously, having him as the mayor of Philadelphia makes me happy and gives me so much hope for the city of Philadelphia. You rock, Mayor Nutter!

Honorable Mention: Jason Mulgrew
Arguably the first person from my high school to be considered an internet celebrity, Mulgrew (class of '97) has a blog called "Everything Is Wrong With me." The notoriety he gained from the blog lead his nomination as one of the 50 Hottest Bachelors of 2005 by People Magazine. He's working on a memoir and a possible TV show, runs a pub crawl called Drink Until You Shit, and we used to ride the South Philly bus together from time-to-time.