Foremost, I’d like to give a shout out to my Triumvirate: Mom & Dad, Romi Lassally and Shannon Hawes. Since I ventured out on my own two years ago, you guys have been my greatest cheerleaders. Your contributions and patience have made everything I dream of a reality. Beyond keeping me gainfully employed and sane as the traditional news industry collapses, you encourage me to make my own path - and actually walk down it, even when I’m frightened by the roadblocks and critters that might lay ahead.

Professionally, I am always indebted to Arianna Huffington, Greg Mitchell, Ted Johnson, Teresa Valdez Klein, Blaise Nutter, Brett Spackman and Christopher Pappas. Same goes for my USC kiddos who worked as research assistants this year: Jill Feinberg, Jessica Balady and Eddie Carden.

Of course, the year could not have been great without: Megan Rollins, Edana Walker, Lizzy Blackney, Calysta Watson, Emma Lowry, Yosi Sergant, Louann Brizendine, Sahara Damore, Lauren Watson, Brie Jacobson, Caroline Heldman & her wonderful Occidental kids, Karen North & Annenberg, Jean McCormick, Chip Schulte & Beach Cities Volleyball Club, Melissa Velasco, Nora Fitzgerald, Rich Wisz, Jesse Gomez, Kate Hahn, Julie Radecki, John O’Loughlin, John Lavine & the Medill School of Journalism, my various Tribune peeps (esp Katie & Aamer, Aleks & Marc), Hilary Leewong, Max Bernstein, Kristin Finan, Nate Moore, Brian Dockstader, and my oldest but dearest Sarah Soon-to-be-Carroll. *Note: If I forgot you, I still love you.

2008 was a wild time, ranging from the Democratic Convention to my high school reunions. I worked through a major heartbreak. I found the perfect neighborhood (Highland Park) for me in Los Angeles (just in time to book it out of town for awhile!). I took risks and made big decisions. I made some lasting memories with my pals. It’s going down in the books on the plus side, and I’m ready to take 2009 to the next level!

It could be easy to be down over these holidays. So many of my friends have been laid off, and I am heartbroken over some of the stories of struggle submitted by Romi’s and my readers at True Mom Confessions. Still, last year I took a chance on this vague, yet inspiring notion of ‘hope.’ It worked out when it seemed impossible. Real life wound up being better than our most aspirational dreams.

Our country and we as individuals are about to go through the painful process of renewal, but I am determined to see possibility.

I am happy to spend the holidays with my family before I leave for my 6-week east coast hiatus in Manhattan and DC. Having moved across the country a couple of times already, I feel the weight of these impending big decisions about moving permanently draining some of my energy. (I didn’t even tweet ONCE today!) Fortunately, I’ve also learned that great leaps of faith in life are often rewarded with unexpected adventures and friendships. I am tenuously excited, and I REALLY need to start packing so my wonderful subletter can move on in.

But first: Scarlett O’Hara and I are going to sit up a bit longer for Santa and savor the remnants of the bold year we just completed.

Moving onto the next administration, why exactly did Obama pick Rick Warren and was there any merit to it? Does this make Obama a bigot, as a Time writer put it? Uh, probably not, but Maegan makes a convincing argument for listening to Obama, and letting this play out. Melissa Etheridge hasn’t steered us wrong yet!

Finally, Ted, Teresa, and Maegan all offer their Angels & Scrooges for 2008. It was a hugely exciting year, with a historic election, a changing media landscape, and a ridiculous amount of fascinating characters. Who was a great light in this country of ours, and who deserves a big pile of clean coal for Christmas? Who deserves to be seen, heard, and spoken of, and who deserves a disk jockey position in Antarctica? Special guest appearances by Cheney, the Big Three, House Republicans, Chris Hughes, and Greg Mortensen (look him up, friends)! - Blaise Nutter, Producer

Listen here or use the blue Blog Talk Radio player to the right >>.

Per my new blogging philosophy, I’ve been hard at work on some broader things. (I like practicing Slow Journalism again. It feels therapeutic.) Presently I’m preparing for a sojourn to the east coast in January and February to work out some deets for my upcoming book project and rub shoulders with other members of the elite gotcha media at the Inauguration festivities (to which I’ll undoubtedly wear my standard-issue blogger pajamas). I’m also writing a personal essay about post-identity politics during my experience on the campaign trail, as well as a look back at lessons learned in the year that has passed since I went investigating the haphazard nature of one of my favorite subjects, the Iowa Caucus.

If you miss me terribly, send an email and be sure to detail your take on how Hillary Clinton running our State Dept is change we can believe in. That will definitely get a rise out of me. Toodles.

(Oh, and don’t miss Ted’s exclusive review of “Frost Nixon” and interview with Ron Howard on Wilshire & Washington tomorrow morning.)

You know it’s the day after Thanksgiving when you watch this trailer and think, “I can’t wait to see this!”

My friend Jason Pollock talks about his documentary, “The Youngest Candidate,” on CNN International, assuring the rest of the world that enthusiastic young Americans are ready to work toward diplomatic, peaceful relations abroad. Good job, JP!

If any of you wondered why I disappeared right after the election, a time one might suppose I’d have a lot to say, there are two reasons.

Foremost, on Nov. 5 I hopped immediately on a plane to San Francisco for the Web 2.0 Summit, where I spent several days with world tech and media leaders discussing the future role of the internet in society. Incidentally, the Palace Hotel, where the event was hosted, had a very shoddy wireless connection, and every time I went to write something I was thwarted!! (Next year they are moving to the Westin, thank goodness.)

My absence extends beyond that, however. I’ve been reflecting on the nature of the blogsophere and what role I can play in it, given the sea of voices we are all flooded with daily. It seems that too much of blog world is about instantaneous commentary and aggregation. While I enjoy aggregating articles and videos for those with a similar perspective to consider, it’s not 1) something I can’t do more quickly and efficiently on Twitter, or 2) particularly thoughtful. That’s not to say blogs aren’t useful for news in that regard, and were I to ever rejoin the (gasp!) MSM or a more prominent blog, I’d be happy to re-engage in such a capacity. But I intend to slow down a bit going forward and make more incisive contributions to our dialogue about media, politics, technology and the role our millennial generation leaders will play in the exciting four years ahead of us. 

On the plane I finally had a chance to read the November issue of Wired, and encountered Paul Boutin’s proclamation that blogs are dead. That’s obviously not true over at HuffPost or TechCrunch, but for smaller publishers looking to make a profession or viable source of ancillary revenue they may just be a stimulating, time-consuming hobby. (This was a predominant belief at the Summit as well, particularly given the oversaturated market of start-up ad networks.) Since I write on sites with much larger audiences, I’m going to dedicate more energy to them, and use this as a place to aggregate my work for those who are interested. And, of course, the very exciting photo gallery. 

So, if you want to know what I’m reading and thinking about on a daily basis (surely I have a few stalkers out there!), I encourage you to sign up for my Twitter feed.

For the full story, go here.

“With this on my mind, I began engaging a number of friends and colleagues on a subject that weighs on my thoughts constantly: Is what happened to classified advertising happening to editorial content, and if it is, are we building the skill sets we’ll need when an aggregator and revenue power house like Google jumps into the market and becomes a primary generator of original content?

What will the rules about ethics and transparency be in such a scenario, and in the meantime - as reporting beats are routinely eliminated - are we all really just becoming opining, mini-aggregators? (For the record: Decidedly I am, my MSM friends are not.)

‘I don’t think anyone in journalism today feels really good about their futures, whether they work at a small market paper or even if they’ve embraced new media,’ says my 25-year-old friend who has worked for a major national daily and is now a content producer for a top political news site. ‘Everyone jokes, covering up real fears about how we’ll all be laid off from old-school papers and about how professional online news won’t actually take off like we hope it will.’” |   Read more here.

Rachel Sklar writes on HuffPost today that the McCain camp should have dispatched his daughter on her own to use her blog as a vehicle to connect with younger voters much sooner. I agree. Although I can see how criticisms of her privileged lifestyle (surrounded by five designer suitcases waiting for the Straight Talk Express to pick her up) would be a layup, she still seems like a fun girl who is truly making an effort to listen to Americans and process their circumstances. It’s certainly way more fun than their other, essentially non-existent millennial-targeted online presence.