Here are some gift ideas for the 2008 holiday season:

• Magic Online gift certificates
• Argyle socks in black and navy blue varieties
• Jockey XL white crew neck undershirts
• Brooks Brothers gift certificates
• Bagel slicer

Well all of my TV shows are in full swing. I feel flooded already and some of them just started! I dumped Californication because it’s over the top unbelievable. I was hoping to dump Prison Break this season but darnit it’s good again! Picking up Mad Men was a smart decision. The Unit is the best show on TV pound for pound. Gossip Girl is still my current fav but that’s because I like guilty pleasure shows. Same goes for 90210. One thing is certain - I’m still not over Kelly Taylor!

Finally! I thought it would never end. I’m not a huge fan of summer at all. Rachel and I have been so busy this summer - weekend after weekend. I’m not a huge fan of being busy :) We went to Put-In-Bay on Sunday with Rachel’s parents and sister and had a blast. It was a very busy Labor Day weekend but we had fun.

We saw Genghis at the Woodward’s this weekend and he looks skinny but happy. He’s turned in to quite a hunter - mice, moles and even a rabbit are some of his kills this year. Apparently he was stalking a wild turkey but decided that was a bad idea and didn’t attack. There’s always next year, Genghis.

Rachel and I gave Attila a bath yesterday. We’ve had him for over 7 years I think and we’ve never given him a bath. Well he’s a fat kitty and has trouble reaching his lower back so we finally decided to give him a hand. We closed up the bathroom and readied a few towels and would you believe it he didn’t mind the bath at all! In fact he was purring when we were drying him off. We didn’t get his head wet so I think that may have calmed his nerves. Attila now smells like J&J Baby Shampoo instead of cat poop and greasy fur. Handsome!

We’re off to see Nightwish and Sonata Arctica on Saturday!

Well I got a new iPhone 3G. It’s a really cool device although it lacks two key features: 3G connection sharing (NetShare is not the perfect answer) and a SSH client. Aside from that, it’s really fun. All sorts of time-wasters like Facebook, MySpace, Last.fm and Yelp make it very dangerous to drive in traffic with!

Noel, Matt and I took a mid-July boys weekend to Vegas. The boys gambled and we didn’t get into any trouble. We watched the Silva UFC fight at The Palms. I was very hesitant to even go but it wasn’t long into the event and I became a fan of UFC!

The new Dragonforce album is spectacular. Epic power metal is so awesome!

Rachel and I have seen The Dark Knight twice already. We’ll probably watch Wanted and Hancock this weekend. Dallas season 9 is terrible - I’ve had it for 1.5 weeks and I’m only half-way through it. Noel got his Xbox 360 back and has assured me that there are terrorists to be killed this weekend. The chimney sweeps bent us over for $375 to remove the birds and put a new cap on. Suck.

My first fitness mini-goal last week was to hit 60mi on the elliptical in 7 days. Check. This week’s goal is to hit the gym M,T,Th with 10mi elliptical runs on W,F,Sa for a total of 42mi on the week. Wish me luck!

Someone should create a holiday in the middle of March or April. Waiting over 4 months after MLK day is just too long. The parents are flying in tonight for a weekend visit. They will be put to work in the yard. If they behave, they may earn Lou Malnati’s Pizza.

TV is wrapping up for the (short) year. Only two eps left of The Tudors until Anne Boleyn gets the axe. Gossip Girl went out with a predictable Josh Schwartz ending but that’s not stopping me from eagerly awaiting the next season. That show’s right up my alley - thanks Joe!

I added some links to various Web sites to the Links section of this page. Check em out.

Joe suggested that I watch Gossip Girl so I downloaded the entire season. I’m three episodes in and WOW what an awesome show! I love cheesy soap operas and this is kind of like a cross between Dynasty, Cruel Intentions and The O.C.

Oh, and I’m blogging this from TextMate. As much as I love Vim, well, it just doesn’t work with Wordpress.

Screenshot after the fold

More on Gossip Girl

Aside from the near-freezing temperatures last night, yardwork season has officially begun! This year I’m armed with a brand new lawnmower. Faerie Glen will be in full effect in about a month assuming the roses cooperate!

My buddy Joe was kind enough to link to moonkhan.org from the “Server is temporarily unavailable” page on Digg this afternoon! How fun is that!? Which reminds me … I really should make it a point to visit him out in SF this year. Any excuse for some In-N-Out burgers - animal fries FTW.

Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 is awesome. It’s like a huge collection of bug fixes for the first game with a bunch of new maps and weapons!

Well we’re done with house guests for a while. It’s been a busy couple of weekends! First, the Woodwards were over. Then came St. Patrick’s Day and with it Noel, Stevie Stardust and my cousin Jack. Last weekend was Grandpa, Aunt Lynne and Jennifer.

This weekend I’m going to Michigan for Noel’s bday party on Saturday at the Old Shillelagh in Greektown. Be there or be square.