This week, I became the longest-serving employee of the Hesperia Star, just edging out former editor Peter Day’s record. I’ve now been at the Star for eight years and four months. But that’s it: At lunchtime today, I gave my two-week notice to my supervisors at the Daily Press.
It’s been a pleasure covering Hesperia and the Victor Valley for the last eight years. I believe that, on the whole, I’ve done a good job and that the community might be at least a bit better off for my having been here. And that’s a good thing, since it’s home to my in-laws and it was home for me, my wife and our son as well. I’ve worked hard to make sure the commuters who make up the bulk of Hesperia’s working adults can know what their local governments — which have more immediate and profound impacts on them than their representatives in either Sacramento or Washington typically do — are up to while they’re traveling back and forth on the I-15. I’ve covered all but one of the Hesperia service personnel who’ve lost their lives as a result of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. I even, accidentally, got a homeless man off the street, with a new home, a new job and a new shot at getting things right.
But eight years is a long time to be on a single beat. Although there’s certainly been a benefit to having personal knowledge of politicians’ previous incarnations or the history of long-running stories like the Ranchero Road Underpass, the Hesperia casino project or the California Charter Academy audit and subsequent indictments, there’s also a danger of falling into habits when it comes to looking at given issues. It’s time for fresh eyes on Hesperia.
And it’s also time for new challenges for me. I will be moving to another Southern California newspaper, where I’ll be responsible for the coverage of 16 school districts, a major change from the hyper-focused coverage I’ve done since 2004. Truthfully, the challenge is a little scary, but that’s a good thing, too: I’ll be a better reporter as a result of being forced to grow and develop new muscles.
(I won’t be disappearing from the Victor Valley entirely, though: Last year, the Hesperia Star office came in 3rd place in People’s Choice at two chili cook offs, two weekends in a row. I think we’ve finally cracked the code, and I’ll be back to try and improve on that ranking. Look for us cooking up a big pot of chili at a cook off near you, this October.)
This seems like a paltry list to some (like a teacher I know who seems to read this many a month), but this marks the most books that I’ve read since James was born in 2007. Granted, several books on this list are real softballs. The goal is to read more still in 2012.
OK, I haven’t listened to an “iPod,” per se, for years now, but that’s how this started back with the 2005 list, so I’m not changing it now! (Also available: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.)
1. “Finally Moving” – Pretty Lights
2. “Sex with an X” – The Vaselines
3. “Machine Gun Blues” – Social Distortion
4. “Waterfall” – The Fresh & Onlys
5. “Moneygrabber” – Fitz & The Tantrums
6. “Ten-Twenty-Ten” – Generationals
7. “Resolution” – Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3
8. “Be Your Bro” – Those Darlins
9. “Hard Lesson” – The Burned
10. “The Youth Die Young” – Mad Rad
11. “Girls FM” – Happy Birthday
12. “Damn These Vampires” – The Mountain Goats
13. “Forget That You’re Young” – The Ravenoettes
14. “Street Fighting Man” – The Rolling Stones
15. “How Soon is Now?” – The Smiths
16. “Ace of Spades” – Eli “Paperboy” Reed
17. “Gunfight Epiphany (Theme from Terriers)” – Robert Duncan
18. “The Coming Days” – Hello Echo
19. “It’s a Long Way to the Top” – Lucinda Williams
20. “Blackout Baby” – My Goodness
21. “California (Hustle and Flow)” – Social Distortion
22. “Over the Ocean (iTunes session)” – Best Coast
23. “48 Roses” – Mariachi El Bronx
24. “Rollerblades” – Eliza Doolittle
25. “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” – The Rolling Stones
26. “Fluorescent Adolescent” – Arctic Monkeys
27. “When I’m With You” – Best Coast
28. “Coming Down” – Dum Dum Girls
29. “Mayhem” – Imelda May
30. “Paint It Black” – The Rolling Stones
31. “Cinderella” – The Sonics
32. “Knee Deep (feat. Jimmy Buffett)” – Zac Brown Band
33. “Dream On” – Aerosmith
34. “Sun Was High (So Was I)” – Best Coast
35. “Bad Vibrations” – The Black Angels
36. “Don’t Stop the Music” – Easy Star All-Stars
37. “Sympathy for the Devil” – The Rolling Stones
38. “Marathon” – Tennis
39. “Screws Get Loose” – Those Darlins
40. “Pumped Up Kicks” – Foster the People
41. “Psycho” – Imelda May
42. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” – Jake Shimabukuro
43. “Matador” – Maria Taylor
44. “One Day” – Sharon Van Etten
45. “My Body” – Young the Giant
46. “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair” – Arctic Monkeys
47. “Tainted Love” – Imelda May
48. “Revolution Girls” – Mariachi El Bronx
49. “Cuddly Toy” – Roachford
50. “Midnight Rambler (Live)” – The Rolling Stones
51. “Rocket Queen (iTunes Session)” – Slash
52. “Under Cover of Darkness” – The Strokes
53. “Like the Wheel” – The Tallest Man on Earth
54. “Rumour Has It” – Adele
55. “The Beat Goes On” – Beady Eye
56. “Birth of Serpents” – The Mountain Goats
57. “I Learned the Hard Way” – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
58. “Fall to Pieces (iTunes Session)” – Slash
59. “Rock ‘N’ Roll is Free” – Ben Harper
60. “Summer Mood” – Best Coast
61. “Johnny Got a Boom Boom” – Imelda May
62. “Redemption Song” – Playing for Change
63. “Oh My Heart” – R.E.M.
64. “Old Number Seven” – The Devil Makes Three
65. “Ritual Union” – Little Dragon
66. “Hotel California” – The Moog Cookbook
67. “The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie” – Red Hot Chili Peppers
68. “Play with Fire” – The Rolling Stone
69. “Back from Cali (iTunes Session)” – Slash
70. “Simple Love Song” – Anuhea
71. “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” – Bauhaus
72. “JB-Still the Man (feat. Rev. Al Sharpton)” – Bootsy Collins
73. “Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)” – Concrete Blonde
74. “Hard Times” – Gillian Welch
75. “Big Wave” – Jenny and Johnny
76. “Banana Republics (Live)” – Jimmy Buffett
77. “So Long & Thanks for All the Fish” – Jody Talbot
78. “Whole Lotta Love” – The Moog Cookbook
79. “Honky Tonk Women” – The Rolling Stone
80. “Sucker Train Blues (iTunes Session)” – Slash
81. “Red Light Love” – Those Darlins
82. “Werewolves of London” – Warren Zevon
83. “Where the Boat Leaves From” – Zac Brown Band
84. “So Long” – Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward
85. “Beggar in the Morning” – The Barr Brothers
86. “Hey Ladies” – Beastie Boys
87. “Hey Yea” – Booker T.
88. “Spectacular Girl” – The Eels
89. “Cryin’ Shame” – Ferocious Few
90. “Cowboy in the Jungle” – Jimmy Buffett
91. “Re: Your Brains” – Jonathan Coulton
92. “Easy” – Liz Phair
93. “I Would Die 4 U” – Mariachi El Bronx
94. “More than a Feeling” – The Moog Cookbook
95. “Ruby Tuesday” – The Rolling Stone
96. “Communication Breakdown (iTunes Session)” – Slash
97. “Take Your Medicine” – Cloud Cult
98. “Young Americans” – David Bowie
99. “Friend of the Devil” – The Grateful Dead
100. “I Hate People” – Jemina Pearl & Iggy Pop
Before I totally blow up my iPhone with the iOS 5 update (said demolition is already underway, as I forgot to take screenshots of all my apps before iTunes decided to start uninstalling a bunch of them, oops), here’s the list of what I’m subscribing to. It’s unlikely that this list will get zapped, but never bet against disaster when patching, I always say.
You can find all of these podcasts in the usual places. A list of obscurities, this is not.
(more…)
by Christie Golden
by Terry Pratchett
by Max Brooks
by John Varley
by J.K. Rowling
by Tim Powers
by Carl Hiaasen
by John Varley
by Carl Hiaasen
by Terry Pratchett
by Terry Pratchett
by Mignon Fogarty
