The Jack Noodle Journal

Hey ya hey ya. We are finishing off 2009 at the coast. Oh yes right on the banks of the great Pacific Ocean. They wouldn’t call that being on the banks though would they? We’re at the beach.

I have a bit of a cold. Of course. Perfect timing. I have a sore throat. I’ve been taking dayquil all day so I’m a bit out of it.

It was sunny down at the beach yesterday. Today it is overcast and rainy.

I’ve written several posts in this here journal while at the beach. I usually handwrite it in a notebook and then transcribing it to the internet once I get home. This time around though I’m typing it out in real time using my cellphone. Yeah, I’m sure there’s some magic lost in not using my actual handwriting in a physical notebook.

I should go back and read some of my old beach posts. I think for the most part I write about how I want to move to the beach.

This is the first coastal trip we have taken where I think that G Noodle finally gets that he is at the beach and is aware of his surroundings. It has been fun watching him as he marvels at the majesty of the ocean. He’s got the running on the beach down and he enjoys playing in the sand.

I know I’m not the first guy to say this but seeing the beach through the wonder of a child’s eye again is an amazing thing.

We’re going to the Oregon Coast Aquarium tomorrow. That should be fun.

Pretty awesome way to end the year!

I saw an awesome movie the other day.

“Beautiful Losers”

I laughed.

I cried.

I got angry.

I yearned.

It was so good.

You should all watch “Beautiful Losers” today.

I have got to do something. I am rotting.

Yes, yes. Happy birthday to me. Wah wah…

Yeah, what about it?

I think I remember saying I finally felt like an adult last year.

I had a lovely birthday dinner at my mom’s house last night. While there, or maybe on the way home, I was figuring out how old I was when my mom was 37. I’m not crazy enough to discuss my mother’s age here in a public forum (mothers don’t care for discussions of their age). Let’s just say that folks my parent’s age were 37 when I was in the age range of 14 to 17.

I have pretty clear memories of my parents, aunts and uncles, family and friends of family when I was that old. Gosh, am I one of them now? I guess so. They were so grown up then. They seemed to be at a more adult stage of life than I feel like I am at now. They seemed to have more grown up concerns.

Maybe they weren’t grown up then. Maybe they still felt like stupid teenagers then and were good at hiding it from my 15 year old eyes.

I suppose I am doing alright for a 37 year old. Perhaps I am at the level of concern of a 20 something still. A mature 20 something though.

I’ve got some grown up plans and schemes in the works for next year.

Should I rent the show Thirty Something from Netflix before I turn 40? Is it on instant view? Were those actors really in their thirties when that show was on air? They seemed so much older then.

Welcome to your late 30s Noodle!

Ma and Pa, aunts and uncles, if it makes you feel any better, I still think of you all as 37 year olds.

I have to go now. My 20 month old is getting angry at me for typing on my phone and not paying attention to him.

My lovely and talented mother, the author Mary Vine, has released her second novel, “A Place to Land”.
I haven’t read it yet, but I am sure it is magnificent.

We are very proud of her. Getting one book published, let alone two, is quite the feat.

Now we’ll be working on selling the movie rights.

Buy multiple copies of her book right here. It makes a perfect stocking stuffer.

Okay. Here it is. I completed my end of year music mix disc. I’m calling it “The Multnomah County Library 2009 Mix”. Yes most of these albums can be acquired at your local library.

1. “No Line On The Horizon” by U2 from “No Line On The Horizon”
2. “My People” by the Presets from “Apocalypso”
3. “Building A Wall” by Pet Shop Boys from the album “Yes”
4 “Teflon” by The Mars Volta from “Octahedron”
5. “16th & Valencia Roxy Music” by Devendra Banhart from “What Will We Be”
6. “The Rake’s Song” by The Decemberists from “The Hazards Of Love”
7. “My Girls” by Animal Collective from the album “Merriweather Post Pavilion”
8. “People Got A Lotta Nerve” by Neko Case from “Middle Cyclone”
9. “West End Blues” by Louis Armstrong from the CD set “The Essential Louis Armstrong”
10. “Summer Song” by YACHT from “See Mystery Lights”
11. “Party All The Time” by Black Eyed Peas from “The E.N.D.”
12. “Bull Black Nova” by Wilco from “Wilco (The Album)”
13. “15″ by Marilyn Manson from the album “The High End Of Low”
14. “Treat Me Like Your Mother” by The Dead Weather from “Horehound”

Hey check this out. If you are hooked up with iTunes you can buy my 2009 Music Picks right here! That’s kind of cool I guess.

It’s a pretty good mix. I have been listening to it a bit much and may be wearing it out.

This year I am calling it my music picks instead of album picks. I think that these songs represent the music I enjoyed this year not necessarily the albums they were attached to. Does that make any sense? This is not a best of list. This is a list of songs from the albums I listened to most this year. I will be checking other sites for their best ofs lists. Maybe some of my selections made those lists? I’m not sure what the best this year was. I’m feeling a little out of the music loop. Maybe the loop is so big now that everyone is in the loop with whatever they like. Maybe there is no loop.

My favorite album of the year might have been YACHT’s “See Mystery Lights”. I don’t want to commit to it though. I have worn it out with too many listens.

Hmmm… I did listen to the Black Eyed Peas over and over again in 2009 as well.

I found out that song number 2 on the list “My People” by the Presets was released last year and not this year, so technically it shouldn’t be on a 2009 mix. By the time I found out though it was ensconced into the list.

Other 2008 albums made it into heavy rotation this year. Stuff like Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter III” has in my headphones quite a bit.

Oh yeah, and of course number 9 “West End Blues” by Louis Armstrong was released a long time ago (1928?), but it’s on my 2009 list to represent the month or so where I listened to nothing but jazz. Oh what a lovely tune.

So there’s the list kids. Do with it what you will.