Kickin’ the new year off with a sweet mixtape. My New Year = New Party mix tape features a bunch of remixes of some of my ’08 favs, as well as some new music that I’ve been crushing over this last week. Let me know what you think.

Excuses?  Nah, I don’t have any of those for you.  But I’m happy to share what I’ve been up to.  My offline life has been hectic and consuming recently.  There were a couple weekends when I was carting my two little kids all over the place.  A long weekend in Tahoe and a 4 day trip to Boston to visit with family.  Those were pretty taxing.  Especially flying cross country to Boston and back in a 4 day span with a 2 year old and a 2 month old.  That was simply excruciating. 

Then there’s baseball.  My  beloved Red Sox are in the playoffs. October baseball and the Red Sox have always been pretty consuming.  F

And when I’m not tuned into the playoffs, I’ve been tuned into the presidential debate season.  Let me tell you, there’s a lot of unintentional comedy in these things.  But the best news on that front, is the outlook is looking good for our guy.  Think he’s going to win and I’m spending less time considering moves to Vancouver or Amsterdam.

Oh, and I even managed to take in some live music this past weekend at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park.  Got to see one of my favorite artists – Iron and Wine.  I would strongly recommend that everyone give them a listen.  Here’s a little taste…

But still…you deserve more attention from your proud parents then you’re getting.  We know you’re still a little toddler, so big terms like “Editorial Processes” and “Content Calendars” don’t mean a whole lot to you right now, but they will.  And after reading this post at Smashing Magazine, there’s whole bunch of stuff I want to add to you so you’ll grow up to be big and strong. 

Federal government fees are crippling music recommendation and streaming service Pandora to the point that it may have to shut down.  This would be a major loss to the Internet as well anyone who likes music – basically everybody. Justin Dorfman offers some ideas on what we can do to save it.  Please give his post a read and take action.