Happiness is not the absence of problems but the ability to deal with them.

The thing I love about this one is how being "happy" is an active responsibility. Lord knows I've had my issues with the world. Usually when things are bad, I'm the one to blame in some way - not all the time, but most of the time.

1. I think these are my quick-hit thoughts for the close of 2009:

A. Becoming a Husband & Dad in the last decade were the absolute highlights.

B. 2009 was not my favorite year. I've never before been more happier for a year & decade to come to a close.

C. This past decade was an absolute roller coaster. I'd prefer some gentle wave action this coming decade.

D. My friend, Bill Butler, is now living the life that everyone wishes they could live. Granted, pre-Hopetown wasn't great - but he's past that now. Salud my friend!

E. Companies...listen to me...the customer is now in charge of the transaction. Learn it, live it. We can buy from wherever we want, whenever we want. If it's good, we might tell someone. If it's bad we'll tell everyone. If you go the social route take the good with the bad.

F. I am so tired of selective friendship. We're either friends or we aren't. Most people confuse friends with being an acquaintance. If you're in Tucumcari, NM locked up for some crazy reason and you're my friend - the phone will hit the floor before the call is done - period. I'm on my way.

2. I think my Internet prediction for 2010 is the decline of Facebook. I don't know, I think it's peaked here in the USA. My friend, Scott Gordon, said it best, "When my Grandma asks me about Facebook, I start looking for the next thing."

3. I think I'd present these thoughts to you:

A. Football should be year round.

B. MLB plays WAY too many games. Same with the NHL.

C. Life in 140 characters...we'll have to see where this goes. I'm @cgallent if you're interested.

D. I love tech, but I am very concerned about my step-son's inter-personal skills. He's not learning to talk to people - they're all texting. We'll have to wait and see where this goes, too.

4. I think it's a very long shot, but Q1 2010 is going to be a record quarter. I think a lot of people have been waiting to close out, write off and purge '09 and are going to start fresh in 2010 - with a bang.

5. I think as much as I've had my differences with the news media, it's not going to change. Extremists on both sides are going monopolize the conversations. Thank God there's sports talk!

6. I think this is what I liked about 2009:

A. I think 2009 taught us all that a job is not an entitlement. And, that's a good thing.

B. "The Hangover" - what a great movie.

C. Thank goodness for savings accounts and a good financial planner! Regardless of your income level, you can get good financial advice - take it.

D. Radio on TV works. "Mike & Mike in the Morning" on ESPN2 and Dan Patrick are the best. I don't have Direct TV, but from what I hear Dan and the Danette's put on a solid TV show on the 101. I listen to them most every day on the radio.

E. Kindergarten rocks. I love seeing the world through the eyes of my 6 year old son. It's the best cure for a bad day, grumpiness or anything else. Dylan, you better stay that way.

F. The turnaround of Vince Young was something to behold - it happened right in front of my eyes. It's as American as it can get. Everyone, including me, thought his NFL days were over - but he overcame, learned and changed. That's a lesson for us all. There are times when our talents will be equalized, that's when the work begins.

G. Any LEGO game on the Xbox360 - great family fun! Still waiting to play Lego Rockband, though.

H. Best kid story - Dylan is 5 and sitting in preschool and they're asked to go around the circle and sing their favorite song. So, it comes around to Dylan, and what does he sing..."Back in Black" - yeah, the AC/DC song. Needless to say we got a note home. But, I lifted the rock horns in the air and was a proud Dad that day.

I. Best cookbook I read in 2009, it's a tie - John Besh's "My New Orleans: The Cookbook" and "My Last Supper: 50 Great Chefs and Their Final Meals" (it was published in '07, but I just found it a few months ago - great stuff).

7. I think this is what I didn't like about 2009:

A. All things financial.

B. Bailouts.

C. The fraternity that is comprised of chief executives in the finance world. Once you're in, you're in. You really have to screw up to be black balled from this fraternity. Hey, just a medium-sized screw up will net you $20 million.

D. Boards of Directors of Homeowner Associations. Get a life people.

8. I think this is what I am looking forward to in 2010:

A. The passion bucket filling back up. I can feel it coming.

B. Getting back to being proactive rather than reactive.

C. Toes in the sand.

D. Advancing - professionally, personally, intellectually, musically. 2009 really felt like a bad detour - time to get back on the road.

9. The three best shows on TV right now are Three Sheets, Spectacle and Pawn Stars.

10. I think these are my non-year-end thoughts of the New Year:

A. To my musician friends...here's an observation: those musicians who are treating their fans like customers are winning. Those who are treating them like fans are gone.

B. Websites relied on the merger of the sales, marketing & IT departments. Social media is the merger of the PR and customer service departments. Ad people need to stay out of the social media thing - you don't belong.

C. Rest in peace, Mac.

D. Caffeine Free Diet Sun Drop is the best diet drink on the planet.

E. What happened to hobbies? People...go out and find one. Facebook is not a hobby.

F. Sudoku - damn you! I hope everything they say about stimulating your brain cells is correct. This is supposed to be good for you, right?

G. There's nothing more precious than a little boy waiting on the first snow fall of the year.

I'll close with my all-time favorite toast from one of my favorite literary characters, Travis McGee, "Here's to life, love and happiness; and time to enjoy them all!" Happy New Year everyone. <clink>

One quick note...I do not buy brand name desktop computers - period. I hate them. The guys at Ovation Systems her in Nashville have been building my desktops for about 5 years now and they are fantastic. You don't get all of that preloaded junk and you can get exactly what you want and usually save some cash.

So, I called them on Thursday to drop the computer off. They called me back and told me the damage - bad hard drive and power supply. They changed them out for me and told me there was a small chance that I'd have to reformat the drive and reinstall Windows. But, I was back up on Friday and could get in and backup everything without any problems.

A few months ago I took one of my desktops in to one of the big box stores and had them figure out what was wrong. It took a few days before they could look at it and the usual rigmarole. I kept waiting for the upsell on upgrades enhancements, etc. It was very much like taking my car into the dealer. They can amazingly find all kinds of things wrong and then tell you your fetzer valve needs replacing and you'll reluctantly go that route.

The moral of the story is you must have two "guys" now - a computer "guy" and a car "guy". Both have to be reputable and out of the way just a little bit. And, here's a dead giveaway when working with either - they'll give you your bad parts back when you're done. It's that little extra thing that keeps you trusting them for the long haul.

Well, back to loading the mounds of software to get my desktop back in working order. Good thing is how fast your system is on a fresh load of Windows whatever you're running.

There's been one thing about this whole situation that I just haven't been able to put my hands around. It was really bugging me. But, it popped in the ol' noggin this morning on the way to the bus stop with my son.

Let me preface this thought with a few words. First, there are a few things in today's business climate that separate the good companies from the bad. Who are the companies we love today? Southwest Airlines, Google, Twitter, Zappos, and many others. What is it that make those companies great? They're transparent. They let their customers see who they really are and it facilitates trust.

This is what I'm getting at with the Titans. There is no transparency over there at Baptist Sports Park. The Titans are becoming like Microsoft. There's all of the hype, you can't see behind the curtain and boom...out pops the NFL equivalent of Windows ME.

I've been a huge supporter of Coach Fisher. But, it just feels like the message and the messenger have lost their luster. A little more transparency will go a LONG way with the fans...I mean your customers.

I am distracted with setting fire to people wearing Crocs, learning to speak Japanese, just generally being the life of the party to anyone unfortunate to cross my path, my day is filled with fluorescent light from midday to whenever. I am not complaining though. I need a nap.

I probably I will write something that makes sense soon. Seriously! I will write more to certain yous; but it might not be you in particular who I write to...

Franklin is also the place where most of the Tennessee Titans live and many of the music and other celebrities as well - Sheryl Crow, Keith and Nicole, etc... In fact, just last night we ran into Ashley Judd at the grocery store. This has been happening more and more and it's really kind of cool to watch. Our little Publix is a popular spot - you never know who you'll run into there. Even Santa Claus stopped by Publix last July while he was on summer vacation - really, my 5 year old Dylan got his card.

There's an unwritten rule that you have to learn about living here and it's this - this is home, leave them alone. People in Nashville don't tolerate others being rude to our more well known residents. It's not cool to go up to someone at dinner, while they're out or while they're with their families. They aren't on stage or on TV while they're home so we try and let them lead as normal a life as possible.

It's not uncommon to be standing in line with someone famous or sitting next to them at dinner or at a bar or a party. It happens all the time. You just have to remember that they're people, too. Just be nice, say hi and if they're interested (just like anyone else), they'll strike up a conversation. The best lesson I learned a long time ago is not to talk about their business at all. Based on my experience, they're dying to be treated normally.

Anyway, I really have no idea what I'm trying to say here other than it's pretty cool living in Franklin. Watch CMT sometime and you'll see a lot of our town.