New Year's Day (almost)

Well, only a few minutes before we turn the page on 2004. It was a pretty good year, car troubles notwithstanding. The best part of the year was adding Lily to the family, without a doubt.

I'm still shocked by the devastation left by the tsunami in South Asia. Death toll is up over 120,000 and possibly as high as 150,000. Amazon is helping collect donations to the Red Cross relief effort; according to the site, they've already pulled in over $10 million. I still have a fair amount of family in India, but fortunately, no one was in the hard-hit areas.

Rest in peace, Jerry Orbach. Everyone remembers him as Lennie Briscoe on "Law and Order," but he made his name earlier as a song-and-dance guy. Hannah knows him as Lumiere (the singing candle) in "Beauty and the Beast."

It's safe to say this guy was the most overexposed human of 2004. Let's hope we see less of him in the new year.