Yes, this is “late” by most standards, but in our defense we had a lot of tough choices to make from last year. Some choices were so tough that we had a number of ties and double entries.  One category had to be completely eliminated due to an inability for some of us to make a decision (When I asked Kevin for his favorite book from 2009, he replied “books are for nerds”).

I think it’s fair to say that everyone here really enjoyed The Hangover, Star Trek and UP! (along with most of the world) as they were under consideration on all of our lists. Angie and I just got around to seeing The Departed late last year, and while I loved it, I couldn’t pick it as a best of 2009 since it was released in 2006.

Better Off Ted and Modern Family appeared on more than one list as close seconds for favorite TV show. While Super Mario Bros. Wii and Wii Sports Resort were definite favorite video games, particularly for Matt and Angie.  Although KevinMLD has become one of the top players in world in iGems, I hear he’s still playing the free version of the game.

Let us know what your Best of 2009 lists look like (especially if you’ve read any good books), and feel free to offer suggestions of good stuff you’re finding in 2010.

After looking at our visitor logs over the last year, I feel I have to do something about a group of states that never visit. You know who you are…well, you really don’t know who you are, do you…

Nebraska, when we flew over you last week the pilot said there would be turbulence. At least your air space is mildly exciting. We descended to avoid it, so I may have been closer to you than ever before.

While I’ve never been on the ground in Nebraska, driving through was once described to me as a being on a ribbon of concrete with nothing on either side, and a dip around Omaha.

I know Nebraska has big college sports teams, but I know little to nothing about college sports. There are just so many conferences with seemingly no organization, featuring teams I could never possibly be interested in…like Nebraska. It also doesn’t help that you’re triple land-locked, and have a Republican River (in the interest of equal time, I wouldn’t visit Jackass Flats, AZ either).

And really, Worms, Nebraska? How exactly does a town get such a name?

I do love Abe Lincoln though, so I’ll give you respect for that. Illinois gets more though because a state motto trumps a capital any day.  So Nebraskans, put off your Arbor Day planning, drink the Kool-Aid, and pay us a visit.

Image courtesy of Greenwich Mean Time.com.
Worms image by Aggtastic.

Other states that never stop by: Utah, Maine

So there’s this guy I follow on Twitter, named Robert Lee Brewer. He’s a poet, and often posts with hash tags like #poettues and such. I like this guy a lot, and read his blog when I have time. Inspired by a post he made here, I’ve decided to take up the reins of a Poem A Day challenge.

Yep, that’s one poem a day, for the entire year. 365 poems in all.

I have to write one for tonight, the 25th of January, but guess what, MLD-watchers? I’m on track so far.

***

Just as a background, I used to be a performance poet, a “spoken word artist” as it were. I was no Alvin Lau, but I was not bad at delivering my poetry out loud. I’ve only had a few poems published, put together one or two chapbooks that are now long gone, but I’ve written poetry pretty consistently since I was about 14 years old.

You don’t wanna read those old poems. Trust me on that. Once I tried to catalog my written output of poetry, and at 18 years old, I had already written over 400 poems.

I’m 31 now. I cringe to think about it.

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There have been other 365 projects floating around the internet for years. Same notion; do a thing, at least once a day, for a year straight. In fact, Angie and PTB have one going right now, too. You might have already visited. If not, please do. Angie’s skills behind a lens are second to none. Second to NONE, yo. PTB… has an iPhone that takes pictures, too!

So, 365 poems. About the amount of poems I wrote between the ages of 14 and 18. Stay tuned at my regular blog to see the new poems as they get written/uploaded.

If I fail, I’ll be sure to mention it here, but if I make it to December 31, 2010, and have done all 365? You better BELIEVE I’m celebratin’.

After looking at our visitor logs over the last year, I feel I have to do something about a group of states that never visit. You know who you are…well, you really don’t know who you are, do you…

Disclaimer: Before I begin, you should know that we did have a visitor from Utah just last week. However, I had already begun my “research” and wasn’t going to allow this lone visitor to take an installment away from me. Instead they were moved to the top of the list despite being eighth alphabetically.  Also, Angie explained to me that Utah spelled backward is “sneeze” while falling asleep last night.

I’ve never visited the state of Utah, because I’ve never really had a reason to. I have every intention of visiting all 50 states before I’m done, but to date Utah has not been prioritized. Maybe this is why Utahns don’t visit MLD. Are they not visiting us because Jerry Sloan’s Jazz are neither bad nor good enough this season to be worthy of note? Sure they smashed the Sixers already this season, but so have 20 other teams.

Outside of the NBA, the only time Utah even comes to mind is when I’m listening to the The Dwarves or Angie’s watching Big Love. I suppose Point Break might bring it to mind, and I recall Utah Saints being popular in the raver community circa 1992, but how often does any of that come up?

Utah, I know you have towns with great names like Dirty Devil River and Cactus Rat Mine, but outside of Salt Lake City there’s just a whole lot of peoplelessness.  So I beckon you, people of the mountain, don’t let that low population density keep us apart. Put down your snowboarding video games and waste your time on us.  We can even talk about Roseanne Barr and James Woods if you like.

Image courtesy of Greenwich Mean Time.com.

Other states that never stop by: Nebraska, Maine

Our first post was one year ago today.  It’s been a fun adventure so far, and I know we’re all excited about the year to come.  At the six month mark, I took a moment to recap our history and now seems like a good time to do it again.  We’ve had incredible support from readers, hundreds of comments, thousands of visits, and great feedback. We’ve made some changes to the site layout (mostly to your right) in recent weeks to make things easier to find. Thank you to everyone that has taken a moment to look in at what we have to say.

It’s always interesting to see what draws people in and more importantly where they’re drawn in from.  We get hits from all over the world, and it’s the coolest thing to me.  However, I can’t help but notice that some of our very own United States have neglected to stop in. What could possibly be keeping people from the these states from visiting MLD?

Over the next few weeks, I’ve decided to reach out to these areas and see if I can generate any interest from the locals.  Even if I only end up creating a magnet for search engines, I’ll be satisfied.  In the meantime, enjoy this collage.