Written by Adam Jones
Monday, 05 January 2005

Children are running madly around a sparkler fountain in the driveway down the street. I pause to watch. This will be my last memory of 2004. I take in the laughter, the smoke, the whirling motion of kids up way past their bedtimes. Then I unplug the lights on the upstairs porch (it even has a rocking chair on it, I don't spend near enough time up here...). Once again, for the third year in a row, I will not make it to midnight. Our tradition has evolved (devolved?) from revelry to classic movies and homemade chili. This year's offering, A River Runs Through It, didn't even come to its conclusion; we finished it two nights later. I take one last look at the clock.

Written by Adam Jones
Friday, 17 December 2004

"Yes dear" proves very valuable to those with spouses. Shorthand for "I'm willing to concede the point if I will be allowed to finish my coffee in peace," the prudent use of "yes dear" continues to prevent arguments great and small in the married world. This morning, I successfully avoided the assertion that, by tradition and necessity, all children must be photographed with Santa on an annual basis from infancy until they simply cease believing that the pudgy and hirsute actor at Barton Creek Mall is actually the same remarkable athlete who, pushing an easy three bills, shimmies down the chimney and deposits the latest offerings from the American amusement and entertainment complex.