January 1, 2010

December, 2009 — Part 12 in a 12-part blog series.

1. "Drastic, mindboggingly expensive policy changes are proposed based on this science, making this potentially the biggest fraud in history. Why isn't the NYT on fire trying to figure everything out and helping us readers see into the controversy?"

2. "Al Gore is trying real hard to be the shepherd."

3. "Look what Meade's got me doing."

4. "10 Reasons Why the Christmas Day Pants Bomber Will Be Blogged Endlessly."

5. Art and terrorism.

6. "It's hard to get by just upon a smile..."

19 comments:

XWL said...

Thanks for the retrospective, it's an interesting use of this blog to keep track of trends or remember the surprises from the past year.

But what I really want to see is a speculative 2010 retrospective.

That'd take some doing.

(obviously, no links, but you could have four or five headlines per month you expect might get written between now and 2011)

XWL said...

Happy New Year!

(by the way, which I should have said at the top of my previous comment)

(even though, I'm a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to the timing of yearly transistions, and feel we should roll back to having a year that starts April 1 in the spring, rather than the first month after the winter solstice)

Ann Althouse said...

For me, it feels as though September 1 should be the beginning of the new year. It's the school year, and I am a teacher.

XWL said...

Like the concept of a decade, the concept of how to define when one year begins and one year ends transcends what the calendar says.

The 90s started on Nov 9, 1989, and ended Sep 11, 2001.

Either Nov 4, 2008 was the beginning of the 10s, or it was a hiccup, and something that has yet to happen will define the next 'decade'.

Ann Althouse said...

I see the Obama campaign, election, and first year as belonging in the narrative that begins with the Bush-Gore confusion. After the puncturing of the hope bubble and the terrorist attacks of 2009, Obama is beginning something new, and the new elections loom.

reader_iam said...

In response to both XWL's and Ann's observations[/ruminations] regarding time and year-starts, I offer for pondering this quotation attributed to John Dos Passos [from 1917]:

Why won't they let a year die without bringing in a new one on the instant, can't they use birth control on time? I want an interregnum. The stupid years patter on with unrelenting feet, never stopping--rising to little monotonous peaks in our imaginations at festivals like New Year's and Easter and Christmas - But, goodness, why need they do it?


Best wishes to you, and to all, for all of your new years, whenever you may start them.

--Warm regards, RIA

Ralph L said...

For me, it feels as though September 1 should be the beginning of the new year. It's the school year, and I am a teacher.
I thought it was because it was the beginning of your first full month as a (re)married woman.

vanderleun said...

Are we done yet? Jaysus Christoid on a crotch! I am forever grateful to a just and merciful Gawd that there are not 13 months in a year!

But wait! We have not yet gone full meta!

Let's go back and have the 12 best comments from each of the twelve months!!!

You could drag this out for...............ever!

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I wanted to meke sure I was there for the finale.. have not read after my last comment last night .. ahora estoy en casa ajena.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

if we are going to take over its time you learn spanish ;)

yo solamente los estoy acomodando.

wv subdu

btw nosotros sabemos que acer con terroristas.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Si les da verguenza el toyo, la cagada de las pascuas en Detroit lean Charles Krauthammer.

ahorita ablo espanol pretendindo no ser parte de este desastre ;)

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

it also does not help i'm not sober ;)

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

la falta de comentarios en este retrospecto de althouse es prueba de la incuriosidad del pasado que es inato americano.

AllenS said...

I just thought of a new sponsor for Tiger Woods... Trojans.

Ann Althouse said...

@Gerard Well, it ain't that one.

Ann Althouse said...

@Ralph Probably why I pictured the wedding belonging in August.

Ann Althouse said...

The lack of comments in this Althouse retrospective is proof of Americans' innate incuriosity about the past.

Translation: We love you Lem.

vanderleun said...

@Ann... how true. But don't forget to flag this entire post for inclusion the best posts of 2010 next year! You can't be too meta!

Pastafarian said...

Althouse -- thanks for putting this up. It's going to take me a while to go through it all, but it will be an interesting way to trace the last year.

It's been such a busy year, without this sort of look backward, I tend to forget everything that happened, both important, and unimportant but interesting. You capture a very high percentage of both at this blog.

Happy New Year, everyone.