Monday Morning Rant

I'm not here to talk about the past. Whatever happened this weekend, however awesome it was (and yes, it was amazing), will not be told here. You got the story about how I tried to blow myself up, and that should be good for now. If you need any accounts of my weekend, or want to know my thoughts on anything I did (amazing or stupid), you'll have to track me down and ask.

This rant is about the future. More specifically, this rant is about a post I plan to write in the future, my annual Year in Review.

First, I want to rant about my personal year. It was ok, but my god, it was a roller coaster ride. After ringing in the New Year in style in Vegas (I'm going back this year, so if you are interested in joining me for the most insane New Year's of your life, let me know), we had a bit of a horror story in getting home. The story is posted elsewhere in this blog, but needless to say, we almost flipped the car over due to a man sized pothole and died. Amazing. And thus has been my year. I almost died over the 4th of July holiday from some restaurant sneaking walnuts into my pesto sauce (you can find that amazing story elsewhere in my blog too). July 3rd did not exist for me. And then, of course, I almost blew myself up this past weekend. However, I also did get to go to the MLB All Star Game (which was something on my life's to do list, and I thoroughly enjoyed it). I went to a Billy Joel concert, and he rocked the house, hardcore. I went to 6 different weddings. Some were more fun than others (I really enjoyed Tony's and Tom's...Rebecca's wasn't really my scene). The Ab Feed was great as always (it is gorgeous on the Sonoma Coast). Pantheonpalooza was fun. I mean, I did some cool shit this year, but it was always followed by some near death experience.

So, what does this tell me about my life? Honestly, I'm not too sure. Maybe I've been underestimating this whole "higher powers" thing. I've been a declared "agnostic" for a while now. And while I have never ruled out the possibility of a God, I never automatically bought into the idea either. Maybe these are warning shots from a God who is pissed off that I'm not worshiping him. But I doubt it. From what I hear, God wants us all to be good, spiritual people. And I fully believe myself to be a good, and spiritual person. You don't need organized religion to be spiritual. You just need a desire to learn about the world and be open to everything around you. I've read a little bit into the teachings of Buddah and Lao Tzu, I've got some reading from Confucious sitting on my desk at home. I've studied various Western Religions, and been to more different types of religious services than I care to list here. And, despite their differences, I believe the core message to be the same, be a good person. I can do that without the political mumbo jumbo of most organized religions.

So, if it's not God beating down my door, what could have caused the randomness of this year? Honestly, I have no idea. But, I know that I'm pretty much ready for a more normal year in which my mortality is never in question.

Looking ahead to 2008, I'm hoping it is a better year that this one. And, honestly, it's already shaping up to be pretty ok. Bubba, Kent and I have decided to take random little trips throughout the year. I have downloaded DING from Southwest, and we're just gonna go wherever we can get the best deal. Like today I got an offer for 49 bucks each way to and from Portland. We aren't planning on traveling now (we already have the Vegas trip on the books), but it would be deals like that we look into snagging. 89 bucks each way to Tampa Bay. How awesome would that be to just randomly fly somewhere and spend a weekend there? Awesome, right? If you care to partake in this randomness, let me know, and I'll keep you posted of the airfare deals I find.

Other than that, I'm not too sure what 2008 holds for me. But, I doubt it would be worse than 2007. And, besides, when I'm around, it's always a good time. And hopefully yall want to partake in the random adventures of Pat Quinn as much as I do.

I'll be keeping ya posted!


Oh, and on a personal plea for help note: For my year in review, I always count off the top 10 news stories, sports stories, events, etc from the last year. I'll handle my personal top 10, but if anyone has any news events or sports events than should be included in my list, post a comment and let me know. Also, this year I'll be opening up my Year in Review to everyone who wants to add in a list. I'd rather not duplicate lists (i.e. no two world events lists). But if you want to add in a Best _____ of 2007 or Worst ____ of 2007 list, shoot them my way.

Look forward to a Monday Morning Rant every monday from here on out. I'm going to do my best to keep yall entertained.