goodbye oh eight.

As I look forward to putting one hell of a year behind me, I find myself vigorously planning for 2009. And I don't mean that figuratively. I'm actually last-minute scrambling around trying to figure out what glorious beach in Nicaragua I'll be learning to surf at in early January (ideas and surfing tips appreciated, by the way). What this means is that I'm going to go off schedule when it comes to taking care of e-business. That is, instead of whittling away hours in front of the Web ruminating on all the stupid sh*t that somehow passes for routine around these parts, I'll be watching Point Break over and over and over again. Basically, I won't be blogging every single day. Probably. Who knows.

But before I go on a sporadic, probably short-lived break from the blogging non-business, I want to share with you my hellish observations from earlier today.

• The waitstaff at Cafe Asia in Arlington is functionally retarded.
• And I think their red curry has lots of MSG in it.
• Pentagon City is hell hole.
• The sales associates at the Borders out there blow.
• And they're illiterate.
• Best Buy doesn't give out bags for their larger products.
• Linens'n'Things has bags, but will not give you one unless you make a purchase.
• The sales associates also cannot be bribed with a shiny dime to give you a bag.
• I suspect a sales associate at Barnes & Noble at Metro Center lied to me on the phone.
• I thought about stopping by on my way back from Virginia to prove my assumption correct, but thought better of it when my Cafe Asia MSG headache really started to kick in at around 3 p.m.
  

Like I said, "Goodbye, 2008."

But before I really grab this year by the proverbial seat of its badly tailored pants and kick it out of my life for good, I want to pay due diligence to a small subsection of it that didn't suck. This was a good year musically -- a fact I was reminded of by a reader with exceptional musical tastes.

His efforts to put together a list of his Top 25 songs of 2008 inspired me to try to do the same. (Specifically, putting emphasis on the "try" because this was hard...that's what she said...) And if you don't agree with me, don't blame me; blame the MSG. It's still definitely in my head...or I suppose that could be the bottle point five of wine I consumed last night that's coming back to let me know I probably shouldn't have consumed that last .5 liters. But what's a lush girl to do when she has two weeks paid vacation??? Exactly.

Moving on, here's 2008's ultimate (or at least penultimate, as I think my musically astute reader has me beat) playlist in reverse order.* Consider it my aural gift to you. (I said AURAL!)

25. The Killers -- Human
24. Raconteurs -- Salute Your Solution
23. Ghostland Observatory -- Dancing on My Grave
22. Crystal Castles -- Vanished
21. Cut Copy -- Unforgettable Season
20. Kanye West -- Love Lockdown
19. Deerhunter -- Nothing Ever Happened
18. Fleet Foxes -- White Winter Hymnal
17. The Roots -- Criminal
16. Bon Iver -- Flume
15. Portishead -- Nylon Smile
14. Chairlift -- Bruises
13. MGMT -- Weekend Wars
12. Snowden -- Anti-Anti
11. TV On the Radio -- Love Dog
10. Liam Finn -- Second Chance
9. Vampire Weekend -- Oxford Comma
8. Santogold -- You'll Find A Way (Switch and Sinden Remix)
7. Cold War Kids -- Relief
6. Hot Chip -- Out at the Pictures
5. MGMT -- Kids
4. Liam Finn -- Better to Be
3. Foals -- Red Sox Pugie
2. TV on the Radio -- Halfway Home
1. All I Need -- Radiohead