Hey all.
This is actually the Xmas brag letter I sent around this year, with a few substitutions and deletions to protect the unguilty. As can be seen, there is quite a bit of political content. One of the family accused me of being addicted to politics. Guilty.
Its long. Prepare yourselves.
2008 has been fer gosh sakes and also a busy time for the our little family. At times we’ve been higher than a sniper in a Piper Cub chasing down exhausted timber wolves, at other times we’ve been lower than an ex-brother in law taking down elk without tags (and I don’t care what the investigators said), you betcha!
In January, that gosh darn elitist Hollywood writer’s strike meant that the Golden Globes were cancelled. This meant that Deepfish was once again shut out unfairly for his sterling performance as a thespian. (See also 1991 – Freak Trade). His continuing role as the harried but loveable French teacher in Sit the Heck Down and Shut the &%$# Up has won rave reviews from stress counselors, rehab intake workers, teacher’s union officers and bartenders across the province.
In other developments, Deepfish allowed as how he might have a snoring problem. Deepfishwife succeeded in hitting two full octaves over high C singing Glory Alleluia.
Tragedy struck in February. Deepfish was in his New England Patriots armchair, in his New England Patriots jersey, sitting in the prescribed New England Patriots manner for influencing the outcome of New England Patriots games (arms, legs, fingers and toes and eyes crossed), drinking the prescribed New England Patriots beverage (Sam Adams, if you have to ask), when the unthinkable happened.
He momentarily lost concentration when the fire rescue guy stepped in front of the TV as the house burned down around him.
The New England Patriots lost. Mike takes full responsibility.
The only saving grace was it wasn’t our house.
In March a Zogby Poll found 67% of Americans viewed traditional media as "Out of Touch". In related news, Thom Friedman and David Broder were seen nightclubbing and getting the hang of this crazy new disco thing.
Not so "out of touch", and - unfortunately so for him - was Eliot Spitzer of New York. Deepfish - along with every other married man in the neighbourhood- claims never to have ever even heard of the guy.
So there.
(Glad That’s Settled Part 1)
In April the US Senate passed a Housing Relief Bill to help homeowners on the brink of foreclosure, the Senate approves, 84 to 12, a measure that gives a $7,000 tax credit to people who buy foreclosed houses, provides $150 million to counsel home buyers, and allocates $4 billion to localities that purchase foreclosed buildings. The bill, which would cost about $15 billion over 10 years, is criticized for also giving tax breaks to home builders, automakers, airlines, and other industries.
We start mucking out the backyard pond only to discover that all six of the Koi mysteriously survived the winter. As Hanna and Leah will list for you... with names and dates... at the drop of a hat... Our house is the place where fish go to die. Our toilet water is a swirling goldfish abattoir. Fish see us coming at the pet shop and impale themselves on the plastic weeds.
It must have been something in the benign neglect and ignorance this year.
In more legislative news... in May, Congress passes a law Banning Bias Based on Genes .
Don’t know how to feel about this. I have some really good friends who wear Buffalo and Lee, but we’re a Levis original 501 button fly family. We have our standards.
(Glad That’s Settled Part 2)
The California Supreme Court rules in favor of Gay marriage (May 15):
Also in May: Deepfish starts regularly taking local transit to work. Relief is palpable on all major arteries (Deepfish's and Ontario’s).
In June we were all pretty busy. Our home stay students were packed off for the season, and we got six girls (and two moms) visiting from Korea for the summer. This large house can make one solitary man seem very outnumbered.
Hanna and Leah finished out the school year with pretty good marks. It was Leah’s first year in French Immersion (pretty soon she’ll be speaking better French than her French Teacher Dad). Hanna breezed through the EQAO Exam (Technical Name: Colossal Waste of Time Test). Deepfishwife continued to score top marks in her Interior Design classes, and Deepfish perused two or three professional journals in his off time.
Also in June...
(Draw No Conclusions and Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtains Part 1)
The U.S. Army faults itself in a 700-page study called "On Point II: Transition to the New Campaign," the Army says that while it was capable of toppling Saddam Hussein, it was not equipped to rebuild Iraq into a functional country.
And
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report states that President Bush and his staff repeatedly overstated evidence that Saddam Hussein possessed nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and misled the public about ties between Iraq and al-Qaeda.
In July Hanna and Leah and our houseguests took golf lessons. Leah is more of a Park, (Se Ri), while Hanna seems to share her Dad’s attitude to golf – "a long walk wasted". Deepfishwife had her hands full managing a really crowded household, and Deepfish tried his darnedest to keep out of sight.
(Glad That’s Settled Part 3)
Bush Lifts Ban on Offshore Drilling (July 14): President Bush signed a series of executive orders that placed a moratorium on drilling for gas and oil 3 to 200 miles off the U.S. coastline. The first President Bush signed an executive order in 1990 prohibiting such drilling. The move, however, is largely symbolic since a similar Congressional moratorium remains in effect.
In August we had a great family trip back to Montreal. We took a Korean Bus Tour of Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec and the Thousand Islands. Deepfish got every answer on the bus trivia contests wrong. Hanna, Leah and their cousins Sara, Do Hyun and In Ha had a great time together. When we got back the family had a happy week of sharing Rota Virus and getting comfortable with modern plumbing conveniences.
Also in August - The Democratic National Convention opened in Denver (Aug. 25). Nothing to see here.
Move along.
In September we all returned to school. Deepfish got his very own classroom (complete with door!) and started almost getting used to getting up at 5:00 every morning to catch the bus. The kids are great though. Deepfishwife started a course in window design and treatments, so none of our very many windows was safe. Hanna and Leah discovered that they can call all their friends on the telephone... even the ones they just said goodbye to a school... even the ones who just finished calling them.
Curse you Alexander Graham Bell!
Deepfish's older brother turned 50. Deepfish thinks he might try that some day.
"She Who Must be Adored" Lillian Christine Christie Whitfield was born on September 25. This makes Deepfish a Great Uncle, in title as well as fact. But Deepfishwife is at pains to remind Deepfishthat that does not necessarily make her a Great Aunt. Major and repeated hilarity from calling kid sister"Granny" ensued.
(Glad That’s Settled Part 3)
Canadian Prime Minister Calls for Early Elections (Sept. 7): Stephen Harper requested that Parliament be dissolved and sets national elections for Oct. 14. He hoped to win enough votes to hold a majority in Parliament.
In October Deepfish really started feeling his age... and the length of the commute to and from Malton every day... so he started the cumbersome bureaucratic process of getting a transfer closer to home for medical reasons. At the present pace we should get word on a new posting by the next passing of Halley’s Comet.
(Glad That’s Settled Part 4)
California Votes to Outlaw Same-Sex Marriage (Nov. 4): Voters narrowly pass a ballot measure, Proposition 8, that overturns the May 15, 2008, California Supreme Court decision that said same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. Many supporters of same-sex marriage blame the results of the vote on an expensive campaign by the Mormon church, which opposes gay marriage
Also in November, the United States made history by electing the first Harvard man in a generation as President. Outbreaks of competence are expected shortly.
Deepfish got new glasses, which was nice in itself, and also got a clearer reading of his many, many, many prescriptions. It turns out that there is a load of difference between "one pill every nine days" and "nine pills a day". Who’d a thunk it?
In December we got a glimmer of hope, something to look forward to...
Canada's Prime Minister Shuts Down Parliament (Dec. 4): Just seven weeks into his second term, Stephen Harper, in an attempt to stall a no-confidence vote, suspends Parliament until January 26, 2009. The move follows the formation of an alliance of three opposition parties, the centrist Liberals, the socialist New Democrats (NDP), and the separatist Bloc Québécois, which will have enough seats to oust Harper's Conservative Party.
Deepfish had his 49 th and Hanna had her ninth birthday on the 5th (and Hello to you Joan M and Marcel jr. and Elizabeth Bauersfeldt, wherever you are!) and we all battened down for another winter.
Next summer we hope to travel to Korea and maybe Japan to visit friends and family. Whatever the year brings for us and you we wish us all happiness and hope.
In all seriousness now. This year we have gained and lost friends and family. Why should this year be any different? Change comes for the living, but hope abides. Some of our loved ones may have been removed from change and the circles we move in, but they are not truly absent. Deepfishwife's master and Deepfish's master both teach that this life we see is not all there is. The new friends we make and the new family we are given are true proof that life does go on, here and elsewhere.
Deepfish, Deepfishwife Hanna and Leah