Welcome to 2005! Yes, I’ve been slow in posting, but it’s been a funky ’05, thus far.

– Went to SLC to visit my mom. It was possibly the lest enjoyable trip I’ve ever had to my home town. My mom and I were at an impasse for most of the trip, and while we have worked it out since, it wasn’t particularly fun. The only respite was two days of great skiing at Solitude and Park City.

– Watched/heard most of the Condi Rice confirmation hearings. I’m not a fan of Rice for many, may reasons: the pathological lying under oath (i.e. perjury), the refusal to learn anything substantial since she earned her Ph.D. in Soviet studies, the way she kowtows to Bush. The Dems did okay in their questioning, thoug some did better than others. Boxer (D-CA) and Kerry (D-MA) were top-notch throughout, asking probing quesitons, refusing to let Rice spin her story toward GOP talking points, and getting under her skin. Feingold (D-MN), Dodd (D-CT) and Obama (D-IL) were decent, but eventually kissed Rice’s ass and voted for her. And Biden (D-DE) seemed to need Boxer to shift him into gear, though he eventually voted for Rice’s approval.

I was impressed by Lincoln Chaffee (R-RI), who once again displayed positively Democratic tendencies in his questioning. Why the man doesn’t just get it over with and join the Dems is anybody’s guess.

– The DCDSC had its ex officio elections while I was in SLC. Our little reform group didn’t pull off any coup, and actually failed to get many of its picks elected. Frankly, I’m glad. While we came in as a decent-sized group, we are by no means a majority in the DCDSC, and some in our group needed an ego check.

– My ticket group held its draft for tickets to the Washington Nationals. I’ll be attending 11 games, including the home opener on April 14, and 5 of the 10 Mets games at RFK. Should be fun.