Goodbye 2009!

Here is to 2010, hopefully it will be a better year. 2009 wasn't a very good year for me. I had a couple of personal issues to deal with, another rib injury, a bout with the Swine Flu, car problems and I could go on and on.

On the writing side things went pretty good. I moved up to clout 9 on Associated Content. I started writing a little on Bukisa. I was also named as a Business and Finance Contributor on Associated Content. Not bad stuff at all...

I also became very involved with a non-profit group called Hope Alive. It is a transitional shelter for woman and children in Frederick County, Maryland. The experience has kept me both busy and has been very rewarding. I plan to be even more involved with them in 2010.

I hope to ski more in 2010. A lot of 2010 is up in the air as I have decisions to make. However, I hope to have more positives in 2010 than I had in 2009.

Football Wrap Up

Ironic as always my Fantasy Football team had the biggest win of the week. They would have beat any of the other teams by a good margin. That is all great except it is a week to late. Losing last week means I play the final week coming up only for fifth place. Even though I did better this regular season than last I will not finish 3rd like I did last year. Oh well! Those are the breaks.

The bowls are wrapping up, which means my final college rankings will be coming out soon. I should have it up shortly after the National Championship Game. Already teams are getting knocked out of the rankings and some are working their way in. It should be fun to see where the pieces fall.

I submitted 3 articles today. Two are pending review so I am not sure when they will be published. Oh well I will keep you posted...

Reached a milepost

I haven't pimped an article in a while here. Don't worry I am not going to pimp one today. Those of you who read my articles, I thank you. I moved up to clout 9 today on associate Content. It is a nice accomplishment and it does mean a few more pennies for me.

I'm not complaining. My writing has a long way to go before I can give up the day job. I know that and you know that. On the other hand it does provide enough to buy something extra or to pay a bill for a month. It is a real way to make some money on the Internet and is something which is not a scam.

I've accomplished a few things with my writing. Hopefully, I will accomplish a few more. Hopefully, I will write something which interests you.

Skiing Again

The good news is I'm skiing again. I went skiing today. The snow was pretty good, tin in some spots. We have had a lot of rain the last few days which has washed away much of the natural snow. It was nice to get back on the slopes and race again. It was nice to catch up with some old friends I haven't seen since March and some I haven't seen since July. Friends make it a little bit more fun. I also got my first crash of the season out of the way. So, I am a little banged up but I will brush it off and be back on the slopes soon.

George Michael Died on Christmas Eve

No, not the singer from Wham! George Michael was a local sportscaster in the Washington, DC area for years. He was known nationally for his Sportsmachine show. He was one of the greatest sportscasters in the Washington area. The Sportsmachine was a highlight, sports entertainment show. The shows heyday was pre-ESPN. George Michael would have the best highlights from the big sports and the smaller sports. He would throw in car race wrecks, rodeo high lights, you name it he found the spots viewers wanted to watch. He would also do features on athletes, things that have gone by the wayside now. Now we live in an era of highlights on demand on ESPN Sportcenter or FSN. However, they all can say thank you to George for what he did. George Michael died at the age of 70 from cancer. A sad day to go on Christmas Eve but we can celebrate what he did as sports fans.

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas. I hope you were able to spend it with friends, family and love ones. If you have plenty, I hope you thought about the ones who don't. I hope the thoughts of the homeless, the hungry passed through your mind. I also hope you remember the fire fighters, the police, and the military who might not have been home due to duty. I hope you remembered their families. If your Christian I hope you reflected on the true meaning of Christmas. If your religion is something different I wish you the best for your winter holiday, your love ones and I hope you were able to think about the ones mentioned above. Blessings to all..

Any Given Sunday..

Just like any football teams, fantasy football teams, like high school, college, or pro teams can fall to lower teams. My team was the top seed in the league. In the first week of the playoffs, my team fell to the 8th seed. It was close, but a loss is still a loss..bummer. Oh, well I can go for 5th place.

Well I submitted my interview, I also submitted a cd review. Now, I am waiting. Wow, it has been a week. Patience is a virtue I know. I just would like a decision, yes or no. Or maybe it needs this or that. Something..anyone. Instead I wait, like an impatient child waits to open their Christmas gifts.

Oh well I did get a lot of writing done last week...

Snow!

We have well over a foot of snow on the ground and it is still coming down. Not only is it the biggest December snow fall ever around..it may be closer to two feet.

My daughter said the understatement of the day "Daddy there is snow" ..really, I would have never thought that. Hee, hee...oh well we were able to get groceries..water, toilet paper, and milk. There was a limit on the milk yesterday, you could only buy two. I only needed one.

It should be interesting to see how much snow we end up with..

Ready for Some Country

Well I have broken out of my writer's block and I have written a lot of articles this week. I really want to finish out the month strong and close out 2009 on a good note writing wise. Things are going well write now in my writing world and I would like to keep that momentum!

Lately, I have been writing a bunch about country music. Mostly because those were the assignments available. On Associated Content I mostly write assignments.

The first one was "10 Must Have Country Albums" and I put down some of my favorite legends of country music. Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Loretta Lynn and more. Then from legends I went to 2009.

I wrote one about the top country albums of 2009 and one about top country songs of 2009. A lot of different artists were included from Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, and Taylor Swift just to name a few. It was fun to write a little about country!

Will have more published soon so stay tuned...

Did my first interview!

I interview the artist I mentioned on Monday's blog. I will give more information when it is published. It was fun and he was a great guy to interview. I had been struggling to write of late. I appear to be getting out of that funk. I sent out the interview and I completed two more articles today.

I know it is supposed to be a vacation. However, I had a meeting on Tuesday and tomorrow. I was supposed to have a dinner to go to today but it was cancelled closed to the last minute. Plus my parents came up. So, it isn't like I was going anywhere for the week. Oh well, it is use it or lose it time. So, I might as well use it and get some writing done.

Well that was a quick update. More to come soon...

Things are looking up!

Things are looking up! Well at least in my writing world. I have my first ever interview scheduled for this week. I am excited about this because it is with a local musician who has won a Grammy award.

I would be writing more but I have been suffering with a bad case of writer's block. Hopefully, I will break out of that soon. I have a bunch of new articles on tap. I am also re-working a website which will be about my writing.

There are also some small things there and if they work out that will be great!

Well this is just a quick update!

First Snow

We had are first snow storm of the winter today. We got 2-4 inches where it got past the trees.
Not a big storm but definitely measurable and it does count. I was thinking it wouldn't get cold enough for it to stick until tonight, however I was wrong.

It is a pretty snow and happened on a day I didn't have to go anywhere. It is getting close to the Holidays so hopefully it will put people in the holiday mood. My stepson was supposed to march in a parade today. However, that parade was cancelled so my wife got to sleep in, he got to play on the computer, and I got to snuggle with my daughter. It's pretty cool she likes to watch football with me so I can't complain.

Weekly Football Update

Wow, the New Orleans Saints showed they were for real last night on Monday Night Football. My fantasy football team rallied back to win their match up. I had four players involved in Monday Night Football. Drew Brees and Colston won it for me. The New England defense and Tom Brady didn't help me. However, most weeks they do so I won't complain a win is a win. I am now 9-3 and in first place all by myself. However, this week I have a match up with the #2 team which beat me in week two.

Down a level in college football there are some very important games this week. The Obvious is Saturdays SEC Championship between the Florida Gators and Alabama Crimson Tide in Atlanta. The winner of this match up most likely will play in the National Championship Game. Thursday's match up between Oregon and Oregon State is important as well. The winner will play Ohio State in the Rose Ball. See all the big game match ups and my latest rankings here.

More to come so stay tuned...