PhoneBoy Says

Cold air plus sun plus moisture everywhere equals this.

It's pretty simple really: I need " by myself" time--lots of it. The only time I get that time is after everyone goes to bed.

One reason the holidays are stressful for me is that there are more people around than usual. This year, everyone came over to our house for dinner. That meant more people and it made me feel uncomfortable. Not that these are people I don't know--not that kind of awkward--but I feel weird all the same. When they decided to move the party down to my in-laws down the street and there was a sinkful of dishes that needed to get done, I was happy to stay behind. It was a relief, even if it was a bit of work.

I am not exactly terrified of large groups of people, though there was a time when I was terrified of public speaking. In 7th grade, I tried out to be the MC for the school's talent show. I was one of the MCs for the school talent show in 5th grade, but for some reason I was scared as hell to even audition for the one in 7th grade. I eventually got over that as I was, for a time, a technical trainer.

I think being around people takes a certain kind of energy--an energy that seems to ebb and flow in me. Some days, I tolerate it more than others. When I'm around others, I have to worry about a lot of different things--things that are hard for me to even be conscious of. Or I get too self-conscious and can't enjoy the moment for what it is. Just thinking about it all makes me anxious.

Alone time at night when everyone's in bed is my coping mechanism for dealing with day-to-day interaction with people. It's my time to recharge before I, well, "recharge." Does anyone else feel this way, or am I just messed up? Probably both. ;)

What is one of your addictions?
Submitted by Paperheart.

Food, as evidenced by my increasing waistline. It did shrink there for a while, but it's been tough to listen to all of the conflicting advice about "what is okay to eat and what is not," not to mention temptation on stuff I know I shouldn't eat. I've fallen off the wagon and need to get back on.

What were your top 5 TV shows of 2006?

You know, TV seems like such a silly thing. Controlled by a bunch of dinosaurs who generally don't get it. The networks are starting to wake up a little, but I think it's too late and TV as we know it is going to change. So with that in mind, I will list the top 5 shows--TV or Internet-based--that I like:

• Heroes -- Okay, it's a TV show, but it's really good. I can't wait until it starts up again.
• GeekBrief.Tv -- My wife walked by one night while I was watching it and said "how can you watch this?" Cali Lewis is HOT. And she's talking about gadgets. 'nuff said.
• Battlestar Galatica -- I resisted this one for a while, but decided to climb on board when I saw a freebie on iTunes that summarized the first two seasons worth. Okay, now I'm hooked.
• Ask a Ninja -- This is just hilarious. "I look forward to killing you soon."
• Cranky Geeks -- I have always been a sucker for John C. Dvorak. The panelists he has on are even crankier than he is.

I watch other things, but these are the ones I try not to miss.

A napping girl.

Part of this evenings preparations for Christmas day included cleaning the oven. Since we have a self-cleaning oven, we turned it on to clean and didn't think twice about it. Until the smoke detectors started going off throughout the house.

Obviously, Christmas Eve is not a night you want to unduly wake up your kids. Jaden, of course, woke up, but Alisa was smart and instantly ran to Jaden's room to deal with him while I scurried about trying to figure out the best way to get the "smoke" out of the house. Certainly no visible smoke, but whatever the self-cleaning oven does, the smoke detectors don't like it.

Gracie, despite being sick, manage to sleep through the entire ordeal. I'm not sure if I should be relieved about that or not in general, though in this specific instance I am glad it didn't wake her.

Meanwhile, I now have a headache. Not a piercing heading, but a kind of dull, throbbing headache. Whether it's the fumes from the self-cleaning oven that's causing it, those smoke alarms, or a combination of the two, I have no idea. But I think it's going to be a while before I will be able to sleep.

If it's not your holiday, then have a happy day.

Even though I moved up to Washington State in the late 1990s, my heart has always been in San Francisco. Growing up in the Bay Area in the 1980s when the 49ers grew into a powerhouse team, with plenty of memories of watching Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Brent Jones, Roger Craig, Dwight Clark, Freddie Solomon, and many others, it's hard not to leave my heart there, even though those glory days are long gone.

I don't follow football that closely now that I've got kids and my weekends are busy playing with them. Just as well given the 49ers have been playing like crap for the past several years now. However, I did kind of "perk up" when I heard that the 49ers have a shot--a rather slim one at that--of making the playoffs this year. In short, the Seahawks have to lose their last two games and the 49ers have to win their last two games.

Looking at this weekend's games, Seattle is up against San Diego. San Diego is currently kicking butt and taking names. I would expect hope that the Chargers will hand Seattle their ass on Sunday. I'm pretty sure that the 49ers will beat the Cards. Of course, that's what I want to happen, whether it will or not is a different story. But you can bet I'll be checking in on ESPN via my mobile phone. Next weekend, things look a little more dicey. Seattle is playing Tampa Bay, which is not playing so well this year. San Fran is up against Denver. Denver is also in the playoff hunt. That could be a close game.

I don't hold out a lot of hope that my boys in Red and Gold will pull it out this year. Even if they do make the playoffs, I expect they will get their asses handed to them in the first or second round. The only reason they are in the playoff hunt at all is because Seattle has been sucking big time this year, mostly because they lost both their quarterback and running back at various times of the year.