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Since this is the last Happy Hour of the year, all of today’s questions relate to your 2008 experiences. I’ve added more questions that usual, but don’t feel compelled to answer everything. Let’s get right to it.
1. What’s the most interesting book or article you read in 2008?
2. What’s the best food you tried for the first time in 2008?
3. What prominent figure’s death upset you the most in 2008?
4. What’s the most unexpected way the economic crisis affected you in 2008?
5. What’s a new hobby you picked up in 2008?
6. When you look back at 2008 five years from now, what will be the first thing that comes to mind? (For me, it’s a three-way tie: the birth of my daughter, the Giants’ Super Bowl win and those four straight days last week when Yahoo! linked to mental_floss stories on their homepage.)
7. And I’ll end this batch of questions the same way I did last year: “Let’s make Week-After-Christmas Resolutions. Something you vow to start doing next Friday, but can give up on January 1st.” What’s yours?
[See previous 'Friday Happy Hour' transcripts.]
Comments (41)
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3 – Tim Russert
4 – My neighbor tried to get me to lease storage space in his garage. Offered me a “deal” — $500/month. I’m good, thanks.
5 – Does the Daily Lunchtime Quiz count?
6 – Probably the election.
7 – I will not shovel. I’m not working that week, we have no reason to leave the house.
posted by chad on 12-19-2008 at 2:43 pm
3. Steve Fossett – that guy was awesome!
5. Target Practice at the gun range, just purchased my first gun. It is amazing how many people are buying them now.
posted by Jennifer on 12-19-2008 at 2:58 pm
1. ‘Hot, Flat & Crowded’ by Tom Friedman.
2. A deep-fried pretzel. Not an everyday delicacy, but delicious.
3. I would say Tim Russert, too. Good choice. That was sad.
4. Least unexpected: I lost my job. Most unexpected (to me, at least): I own a few houses that I rent out. It’s never been easier to fill — I guess there’s more people renting than there has been, because I’m getting lots more inquiries than I used to during the real estate boom.
5. My husband and I joined a bowling league. I’ve looked down on bowling my whole life, but now it’s the highlight of my week.
6. The 123 I bowled last night?
7. I will start listening to audiobooks on the way to work.
posted by Kelly on 12-19-2008 at 3:04 pm
1. Shout out to A.J. Jacobs, I loved “The Year of Living Biblically”. I even told several people at church about it, now the Youth Minister and the Worship Intern are both reading it, the pastor wants to borrow one of their copies when they are done.
2. Sweet and Spicy Pecans! Delicious!
3. The Republican Party.
4. My wife and I are expecting our second child in June. My father works for a company that is having a very rough time. They told employees mid-November that they are forcing everyone to take the last two weeks of the year as vacation (if they don’t have enough it comes from next year’s accrual.) Since my dad already used all of this year’s vacation he will not be able to come see his new grandchild until the first weekend after his birth
5. Being a dad of a toddler. My son was born Nov. ‘07, being a dad of a kid who just lays there is easy.
6. Last week I was able to attend the second to last game at Texas Stadium with my dad. I had never been to a Pro-Football game before, and as a life long Cowboys fan it was a wonderful experience to watch Tony Romo & co. completly dismantle the Super Bowl Champions as the Giants continue their downward spiral that will end when the Gnats loose their first playoff game this year!
7. Is it a cop out to say ‘Checking a 2008 calendar’?
posted by Witty Nickname on 12-19-2008 at 3:05 pm
2. Pig tongue (and bear and wild boar!) in Romania. The tongue was surprisingly tasty!
posted by Tim on 12-19-2008 at 3:06 pm
1. i read a book called “Good in Bed” byt Jennifer Weiner. I absolutely loved it.
2. sugar free vanilla pudding. i now cannot get enough
3. i was pretty bummed when bernie mac died. i thought he was great.
4. it honestly has not yet made any differences in my life. Ask me in a few months. I would be willing to bet my answer will be different.
5. mental flossin
6. i would say what a HORRIBLE season LSU had, Hurrican Gustav killing our home, graduating from college, and losing a good bit of friends i never expected to lose.
7. hmm something to do for a week??? I think im not going to turn my cell phone on that week. technology vacation.
posted by Kaitlyn on 12-19-2008 at 3:07 pm
1) Roger Ebert’s “CelebCult” article
2) Carnitas Tacos at Chipotle
3) Heath Ledger/Sydney Pollack/Paul Newman
4) My school trip to New York was almost canceled.
5) Tumblr-ing
6) The moment I saw Jon Stewart announce the 44th President of the United States.
7) I will not study for finals.
posted by Josh on 12-19-2008 at 3:08 pm
1. Eat, Pray, Love – I’ve had a little spiritual crisis, and this was the perfect book for my birthday!
4. My income has suffered! Being a server, not many people are eating out right now – and tips suck. Tips account for roughly 68% of server’s income, people – tip at least 18%!
5. Insomnia.
6. the election and Obama, my favorite Halloween ever (hello engagement)
7. i will give up the computer. oh, that’s a laugh…
posted by MamaBug on 12-19-2008 at 3:10 pm
1. The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
2. Thai noodles – what was I thinking by passing these up for so long?
3. Heath Ledger – I was never much of a fan, but it really shocked me.
4. I’ve stopped using credit – never thought it would happen!
5. No time for hobbies – I work full time & go to school full time!
6. I spent the whole year in school learning to become a massage therapist (mostly learning what I’ll need to know to pass the National Certification exam)
7. That sounds like a good time frame for a diet! :)
posted by Deb on 12-19-2008 at 3:14 pm
4. Believe it or not, lower gas prices. I’m paying about 1.50 a gallon now, as opposed to 3.00 before.
posted by Case on 12-19-2008 at 3:17 pm
2) Does Kopparberg cider count? It’s not a food, but it’s still my favorite thing from the past year that I’ve ingested.
3) George Carlin
5) Papercraft. I now have all sorts of useless paper figures sitting around.
6) Doing mounds of research for my university. Mounds of it.
7) Not giving a damn at my job. My last day is the 31st, so it seems fitting.
posted by Sarah on 12-19-2008 at 3:19 pm
1 – Mark Haddon’s “A Spot of Bother”
2 – Tres Leches Cake
3 – George Carlin
4 – Becoming slightly conservative in my ways.
5 – Ref/Stats for the roller derby girls here in Dallas
6 – The shattered economy.
7 – Smoking. I know it is horrible and I sorta quit recently, but I fully pledge to quit completely post the arrival of 2009.
posted by Christopher on 12-19-2008 at 3:26 pm
1. Douglas Adam’s books
2. Five Guys Burgers and Fries
3. Bernie Mac
4. gas prices
5. workaholic
6. started my job and college
7. chilling because classes start the 5th and work will pick up
posted by Jessica on 12-19-2008 at 3:28 pm
1. Dave Ramsey’s finanical peace
2. Moose Jerky (homemade)
3.Heath Ledger
4.Gas prices
5.Card making
6. Gastric bypass surgery (4/15/08)
7. um…………
posted by QT314159265 on 12-19-2008 at 3:46 pm
oh yeah…… forgot for # 6 Getting my CPC certifcation this year! Yeah!
posted by qt314159265 on 12-19-2008 at 3:47 pm
1) Anathem – Neal Stephenson
2) We’ve started getting an organic veggie basket every week this year, so I’ve tried a lot of new veggies this year. I’m partial to sauted kohlrabi.
3) Dr. Randy Pausch, Bo Diddley, Harvey Korman
4) Work is cutting back on travel, so I’m getting to spend more time with my family which is nice!
5) Herb gardening and inventing ways to protect herb gardens from dogs.
6) Mother-in-laws bout with cancer
7) Going to work (I’ll be off until the 5th).
posted by Jason! on 12-19-2008 at 3:49 pm
1) I picked up all of Tony Horwitz’s books this year. They are all incredible. But I think “A Voyage Long & Strange” is my favorite.
2) Ethiopian. It was delicious.
3) Tim Russert/ Estelle Getty
4) I did not get the promotion and raise I was promised. It was an across the board hit, no one got one. And, as upset as we all were, we were quite relieved when we showed up to work the next day and noticed a few empty cubicles; at least we weren’t cut.
5) I wouldn’t call it a new hobby but, at 33 years old, I learned how to make cookies from scratch. I had NEVER baked anything from scratch before.
6) Two things I will undoubtedly remember forever are: my wedding last March, and watching the results of the Election on November 4.
7) I should try to give up cussing.
posted by Renis on 12-19-2008 at 4:38 pm
1. “sex, drugs, and cocoa puffs” by Chuck Klosterman, “generation Kill” by Evan Wright, and a few others i cant think of right now (i guess they werent that interesting)
2. Chick Peas…they are delicious
3. Paul Newman (one of my favorite actors of all time)
4. The economic crisis didnt affect me that much because i am already poor.
5. gardening
6. My brothers wedding, trip to vegas, Obama, the White Sox one game “blackout” playoff game (one of the most exciting baseball games i’ve ever been to)
7. “I’ll take up smoking and then give that up” – Bart Simpson
posted by Andy on 12-19-2008 at 4:42 pm
1. The Post American World – Fareed Zakaria
2. Some sort of Japanese pancake at this sake bar on the lower east side. It moved! It was delicious.
3. Deep Throat? Him or Bernie Mac, no Ocean’s 14…
5. Podcasts. Big time, This American Life, Planet Money, The Moth…
6. Proposing to my future wife…aww.
7. Not working. (sigh)
posted by Dane on 12-19-2008 at 4:42 pm
2. jalapenos. I know it’s lame, but I’ve stayed away from them my whole life.
3. Brad Renfro
4. Having to move!
posted by Cherry on 12-19-2008 at 4:55 pm
1. Suite Francaise, Headlong, or Pictures and Tears.
2. Indian food
3. Too busy mourning the loss of a real friend.
4. Cutbacks on weird things around the office – we used to rent orchids and other plants for our office, but in order to save on costs we have fake plants now.
5. Pilates. Gardening. Learning German.
6. Surviving the Tea Fire, the birth of my niece, purchase of a new car.
posted by Andrea on 12-19-2008 at 5:08 pm
1. 12 Elements
3. Heath Ledger. i always liked him, and i never expected it.
4. I am getting married in a month and a half, and the last week of October, we moved to a bigger place, my fiancee lost his job (and is still unemployed), my parents split up and withdrew their half of our wedding budget, and now my fiancee might have to move to another city and visit on the weekends if he doesn’t find a job soon. We can’t afford to get married, but are too invested to call it off.
6. Starting my job at Humana, meeting my fiancee, getting engaged and planning the wedding.
posted by Rebekka on 12-19-2008 at 5:18 pm
1. Collapse by Jared Diamond
2. Chocolate and Biscuits.
3. KURT VONNEGUT!
4. I started my 401k this year. (tear)
5. Debate. I debate for my college now. It is amazing.
6. Obama.
7. Good-will toward the human race.
posted by Nathan on 12-19-2008 at 5:52 pm
1. Probably “20th Century Ghosts” by Joe Hill, though I’m having trouble holding onto that book. I lent it in hardcover to a coworker who got fired and never returned it. Replaced it in paperback then lent it to my brother, and now he has no idea where it is…
2. Bourbon sauce. I’m obsessed with it. Goes on everything IMHO. (Interested? Here’s the recipe: Pour a 14 oz can of condensed milk and 1/4 cup bourbon into a saucepan. Medium/low heat. Whisk constantly. When it’s nice & smooth, add 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Whisk constantly. When sugar has melted take the pot off the heat. Gradually add a stick of butter that’s been cut into chunks. Whisk constantly. When the butter’s all melted in, stir in a dash of vanilla and you’re done. Takes about 5 minutes to make if you have the ingredients ready to go.)
4. Hard to find a new job. Though, then again, didn’t expect to get fired before I quit. (Apparently you aren’t supposed to tell the people at the Worst Job Ever that you are planning to quit as soon as you find a new job. They wait a few weeks and fire you.)
5. I’m counting bourbon sauce as a hobby. Takes the edge off the unemployment.
6. I’ll go with the election. (Everything else is depressing.)
7. Most likely I will listen to “Get Me Through December” by Natalie MacMaster & Alison Krauss in heavy rotation. My personal theme song for the end of this year.(”just get me through December so I can start again”)
posted by steph on 12-19-2008 at 6:15 pm
1. Blue Like Jazz
2. water chestnuts
3. Heath Ledger
4. It hasn’t, we already live on a pretty frugal budget
5. Chainmaille
6. It’s the year I got married!
7. Greet everyone I meet in passing
posted by Liz on 12-19-2008 at 6:23 pm
1: “The Weapon” by Michael Z. Williamson. An amazingly good SF novel.
2: My wife’s recipe for home-made Fish & Chips. She’s British, I’m a Southern Redneck from Georgia. I’d say that the Brits are on to something good here!
3: Bettie Page! I’ve had a crush on her since the 1960s. She’ll be missed by millions of people, me among them.
4: I was able to refinance my home mortgage to lower my payments by $100 a month, which allowed me to buy a new van that had such good gas mileage that I only bought one tank of gas a month versus the one tank a week that I’d been buying for my Toyota Corolla.
5: Steampunk costuming! It’s great fun, plus if I get busy making neat toys & gadgets, I could earn extra cash by selling them on e-bay.
6: Feeling relieved that the stupid election was finally over and done with and I wouldn’t have to hear another political advert until 2012! Too much mud-slinging and too many lies.
7: I resolve to stop thinking of Management as “useless, ignorant, snobbish idiots stricken with debilitating mental illnesses that keep them out of touch with objective reality.” Which ought to be easy to break, because the truth of the matter is that they really *are* useless idiot snobs that think their degree in Business Administration is more important than possessing the common sense needed to keep them from driving the company I work for into bankruptcy.
posted by Dan on 12-19-2008 at 6:24 pm
1. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer (I read the other Twilight novels and they all sucked compared to this one. It’s not great writing, but it was entertaining)
2. Tomatoes – I haven’t eaten one in 30 years (I’m 31) because of a childhood phobia – I wouldn’t call it the best thing, but I’m going to incorporate it into more things now.
3. Heath Ledger & Bettie Page
4. Moving in with my mother-in-law because my husband’s child support payments suck (the kids aren’t even living with her, but we have to pay anyway).
5. Herb gardening, youtube surfing
6. 3 deaths in April (my aunt on my birthday, my husband’s grandma a week later & my exboyfriend involved in a murder-suicide a week after that).
7. Start that diet…sure why not.
posted by Juliana on 12-19-2008 at 7:33 pm
1. (out of the mountains this year?) An article on Mike Rowe and the revival of Discovery Channel (Fast Company Feb 2008) and The American Home Front by Alistair Cooke
2. Kumquat Refrigerator Pie
3. Arthur C. Clarke
5. Learning to machine sew for 1/4th scale doll.
posted by IM on 12-19-2008 at 7:55 pm
1. How to care for your Tarantula. Completely different then what the store told me
2. White Albacore tuna. I had always bought regular tuna, now I can’t go back
3. Heath Ledger, George Carlin, Bernie Mac and Chef
4. I am now the “breadwinner” and my husband is the stay ay home parent.
5. No new hobbies, just less time for my old ones
6. After years of mocking me, hubby had to get glasses (and he looks hot!), role reversal with hubby, and family living with us
7. Start eating solid foods again. I just had 2 impacted wisdom pulled, and by then I should be eating normal again
posted by Lorelei on 12-19-2008 at 9:14 pm
1. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
2. Banh Mi and Iced Vietnamese Coffee with sweetened milk – I went to Vietnam last October and I still couldn’t stop thinking about the crunchy baguettes with veggies and meat inside and then I’ll down these with iced coffee. Heaven!
4. I’m driving more thanks to cheaper gas
5. Papercraft and web trolling
6. Barack Obama’s year!
7. Relax a bit more :)
posted by Leizl on 12-19-2008 at 9:18 pm
1. Love Thy Neighbor: A story of War. Peter Maass. It’s challenging and emotional, but amazing.
2. Spinach dip. Mmmmm.
3. Paul Newman. I watched almost all of his films the week he passed.
4. At every restaurant, the food seems smaller!
5. Chillin’. I seem like I’m always running around. This year, I learned how to just sit and watch TV.
6. Ugh, modern world history 3555. Wow.
posted by Kieran on 12-19-2008 at 9:31 pm
1 • The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins
2 • Stoner pie (a pizza from Gumby’s with pepperoni, french fries, bacon, and mozzarella sticks on it)
3 • Albert Hofmann, he will be dearly missed.
4 • The way that it really didn’t, surprised me.
5 • Psychedelic substances, opening me up to a higher plane of consciousness.
6 • Going out into the world (college frosh) and realizing I fit in better out in the real world.
7 • Anything worth starting now is worth continuing I guess, so I’ll have to pass on that one.
ReCaptcha: House teaches… indeed he does!
posted by Jared on 12-20-2008 at 2:13 am
1. American Gods- by Neil Gaiman. i read a lot of interesting articles (thanks to mental floss and neatorama) so that’s all kind of a blur.
2. ethiopian coffee, not technically a food but tasty none the less- just don’t try it with salt.
3. Bettie Page, and Estelle Getty. though i must say, there were quite a few that i was completely shocked and saddened by.
Bettie and Estelle were women I absolutely adored and admired.
4. i’ve started to go a lot greener (more and more every day) and i’ve ditched my chevy blazer, and bought a tiny toyota yaris instead. i’d be more keen on a hybrid, but after researching enviornmental impact, cost etc. i didn’t feel that they were the best option at the moment.
5. though i dabbled in highschool, i really got into bellydance this year.
6. the year i finally got my head out of my ass, so to speak.
7. i vow to not feel guilty about the massive amounts of baked goods and candy i’ve made/consumed. it’s christmas, dang it.
posted by Em on 12-20-2008 at 3:12 am
#2 – TimTams. If you’ve not been to Australia there’s a good chance you haven’t tried them. They’re probably one of the best cookies that will ever grace the Earth and I’m searching everywhere in Toronto for them (probably to no avail…)
If you ever have the chance to try a TimTam, try it. It will change your life.
posted by Jenny on 12-20-2008 at 11:12 am
1. Pillars of the Earth/World Without End – both by Ken Follett; normally I mainly stick to non-fiction, but these books were really absorbing and also a good escape, since I’ve been reading a lot this year about the economy.
2. Nothing, Unfortunately, I am very conservative with food.
3. George Carlin/Tim Russert/Van Johnson/Majel Barrett Roddenberry. This was a bad year.
4. I always said I would only go back to my old job if either (1) hell froze over or (2) if 4 specific people left (large bank now in HUGE trouble) – 2 of them have now left, the 3rd was significantly demoted and the 4th is looking. Hey, I might actually go back before long-never saw that coming :-)
5. MySpace. I know it took forever.
6. Obama’s election. How the US and the Global Economy Went Completely to Hell in basically three months.
7. Something you vow to start doing next Friday, but can give up on January 1st. What’s yours? Drink half as much beer :-O
posted by carey on 12-20-2008 at 11:35 am
2. Turkish Delight
posted by Sara on 12-20-2008 at 7:40 pm
1. The Sound and the Fury – William Faulkner
4. The fact that it hasn’t really affected me at all. (yet)
posted by Jenny on 12-21-2008 at 3:20 pm
1. I have started to read Boom by Tom Brokaw.
3. Heath Ledger, so unexpected.
4. Really wanted this year to be the year we bought a house, but I guess not.
6. The conception of my unborn child (due March ‘09).
7. I will let my husband be right.
posted by Heather on 12-22-2008 at 12:54 am
1. How I Helped OJ Get Away with Murder
2. Actually a beverage– hard cider.
3. Michael Crichton
4. It didn’t… I got a new job with a big pay raise. While everyone else is penny-pinching this Christmas, I’m going all-out.
5. I tried snowboarding and really liked it, so maybe I’ll pick that up.
6. Getting engaged.
7. I resolve to finish all the books I started but didn’t finish this year: All Creatures Great and Small, The Professor and the Madman, and Anna Karenina.
posted by HLG on 12-22-2008 at 1:46 pm
1. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle – B. Kingsolver
3. George Carlin – I remember him when I was growing up.
4. Cutting coupons and living on a budget for the first time in many years
5. Writing a blog
6. Watching my retirement savings disappear
7. I promise to care about work (until I have to return on the 5th).
posted by Carol on 12-22-2008 at 2:47 pm
3. Brad Renfro
posted by Kelly on 12-23-2008 at 10:43 pm