I don’t know about you, but I am glad to have 2009 as a vague blur in the rear-view mirror.  Sure, there were some bright spots, but I think I am looking forward to making 2010 much more memorable, positive, and overall a palate-cleanser.
I went home for the holidays which was awesome as it was almost always in the 60s as that is just how LA rolls. Larry went with me but had to leave on Christmas Eve as he had a family emergency. So the holiday turned out to be pretty much just like the ones before it, with me hanging out and doing the family stuff. Saw the Polocks on Christmas Eve, saw Harv’s family on Christmas and got to see a pre-birth Mila (and the rest of the MHS crowd) a day or so later. Good times, good times, and all available to see in the MY PICS section.
Now I am back in New York City. As anyone who watches TV knows, NBC is surrounding itself in lots of fun drama. First was the announcement that NBC Universal was getting bought by Comcast. That seems like old news now with the whole Late Wars 2 thing going on. Frankly, I’m on Conan’s side of this. Leno has had his time – it’s time for him to move on. I wish that as a fellow NBC employee that is something I could convey to him, but alas, I have probably no more power than you do to pass along some advice. We really do have a big hole to dig ourselves out of now that we’ve given up on the 10pm Leno Show. I fully admit right here and now – I thought that this had a chance of succeeding. I thought this of course before the Jay Leno Show actually debuted. Once I saw that it was nothing more than ‘The Tonight Show Lite’, then I knew that Jay Leno had basically botched this opportunity to do something truly groundbreaking. I still believe he could have made that 10pm show successful.  Now, we have to scramble to get 5 shows to put on at 10pm. Too bad we gave away Southland to TNT. I think NBC just hates anything that has the glimmer of possibility on it. We keep trudging along though, faithfully ensuring that all 4 hours of the Today show and all 3 nights of the Biggest Loser get broadcast without incident. And we do it good.
As for my 2010 plans? I will be starting the Spring off with a NYC Half Marathon! I put my name in the lottery as you just can’t show up there and run 13.1 miles, you dolt. No no no. You have to have a special T-Shirt and number to run properly. Both Larry & I put our names in – Larry found out first he didn’t get selected and I just didn’t hear anything for a day. Overnight though, I found out I got in. Holy crap! So now I actually have to train! It’s good though. I’ve put on a fair bit of weight over the past two months as I have been L – A – Z – motherfuckin’ – Y. This will light the fire under my ass to get me back to my fightin’ weight of 165 (or less!).
I also made a resolution to be more social. That not only includes staying in touch more, but also working on this damn site some more. My writing hero is Richard Lawson of Gawker.com. He has a way, a style of writing that is so visual, so comfortable, so seemingly effortless that I wish I could ask him all about how he does it. He can write about the Real Housewives of Orange County and it comes across as Shakespeare. <sigh>
Small updates to the site have been occurring. I made an About Me page with stuff about me as well as links to some of my friends’ websites as well as just favorite browsing links. I also started to try transferring some of my old hobiebarnes.com site journal entries into this format. Alas, it is a lot of work. It could be worth it for the pictures capability, but damn, it’s not easy. I may have ot figure out how to put in existing html pages into the site so it’s linkable and available for perusing. That’s a whole lotta my life that’s now gone dark!