This is a long one. Read at your own risk. You've been warned.
Another year done and a new one ready to start. Don Miller has said he loves new mornings, new days, new weeks, and new years because they mark a starting over. I like that. The Bible says God's mercies are new every morning, which is awesome. I like to look at new years as new starts. January 1st is a good time to refocus and move forward. This year it's a time to build off all the good that has happened in the last 6 months.
In reflecting 2011 it's sad that other then seeing Godspeed You Black Emperor at 930 Club I don't really remember anything that happened before I went to Disney World. Which means the first 5 months of 2011 were pretty boring. How sad.
So I went to Disney World. Disney World is awesome! If you don't think Disney World is awesome than you need awesome lessons. Disney was fun. New Toy Story ride is slick! Toy Story Rides at the Disney Theme Parks is sweet, even if I do suck at interactive shooting games (and they both are). Here is my beef with Disney World...
Some people, like myself, might be overgrown children and collect toys (just saying). I was looking forward to grabbing some action figures of some of my favorite Disney and Pixar films. But alas there were no such toys at Disney World. There were these, kind of, neat collectable figures that they were selling and I picked up a couple but I had brought a nice chunk of cash to blow on toys (Yes, I understand how old I am). I did get a killer, and large, coffee cup and new Winnie The Pooh but the lack of action figures forced me to spend my afternoons on Ebay.
Can we talk about some firsts? Of course we can! It's my blog and we can talk about whatever my little heart desires!
So I've lived in the DC area my whole life. This isn't news. But there are things that one would just assume that I have experienced in my life because I've been here. But that's not the way it works. So Fourth of July.... Kind of hate July the 4th. It's not because I don't appreciate my freedom and it's not because I'm anti-American, I just think it's an over hyped holiday. It's hot as nuts outside and fireworks aren't that great. And yet I'm expected the sit out in the heat, sweat, and watch fireworks for 20 minutes? No spank you! I will stay inside my air-conditioned house, enjoy a cold beer from fridge, and watch a movie about blowing stuff up (because what's more American than that?).
So obviously, given the nature of my rant, you've probably figured out that in my life I have never been downtown to the Mall to watch the fireworks. It's never happened. Ok... It might have happened when I was super young but I don't think that really counts. One of my goals for 2011 was to be more social. No seriously, it was. Stop laughing. All done now? Ok. Like I said... Be more social. So some friends of mine met across the river in Virginia to watch the fireworks. And I went. It was hot, I was sweaty, and it was awesome! The fireworks were actually pretty damn spectacular. Met a lot of awesome people and just had a fun time. This will be happening again for sure!
I'm going to jump ahead several months since we're talking about firsts. I had never been ice-skating outdoors. This mostly happened because of my ignorance that such a thing could be done in DC. Not ok. But a couple weeks ago with put that on the done and done list. Went to the Sculpture Garden, strapped on a pair of skates and went around in circles for two hours. One of my favorites nights of the year (but more on that at a later time).
I guess I can't talk about 2011 without talking about the end of an era, the end of a solid couple years run, the end of a relationship that I struggled with for it's final fleeting months as the end was forced upon me. I of course am talking about my relationship with hair gel (What did you think I was talking about?). The fine folks at Garnier decided that the audience of one that was buying the hair gel that I used religiously was not enough to keep the product on the shelves. Naturally, I did what any self-respecting person would do. I went to every store in the area and bought every bottle of hair gel I could find. And then the day came... No more gel on the shelves... No more gel at home. How was I going to maintain the rock star chic (yep) hairstyle I had perfected and worn for years? One can't just change gels like that. But there was time for the 12 stages of grief as I had to head off to Berlin. So I packed and took what the Hair Cuttery recommended as the best alternative (uh, negative) and used that until I had run dry. My bitterness towards Garnier would not last long as I made the switch to a pomade that they make. Pomade is more rock and roll anyway. Right?
I bought a suit and learned how to tie a tie. Yep.
In the done and done category we can add drove across the country. It wasn't the extensive road trip I would've liked it to be but I still did it. California to Maryland in 3 days. I did get to see my buddy Wil which, although way to short, was AWESOME! There's still a ton of things I need to see and another road trip across the country is for sure in order at some point but I'm glad I can say that I did this. Although spending 3 days driving by yourself will make one go a little crazy. I'm 100% convinced this was the catalyst to the end of my introverted self.
I went dancing. A lot. At one point it was up to 7 weeks in a row. Sad when that awesome streak ended. Looking forward to more dancing in 2012. And there's sure to be more of it!
I did go through a break-up this year. Hindsight is everything but even after it had happened I could see that the relationship needed to end so God could start something awesome in me and move into the places He wanted. Life has been better and God has been doing a lot of awesome things in my life. It's been exciting and if things needed to end with her so God could get me where I am now, than thank God that they ended. I know that sounds harsh... But I couldn't be where I am now without things happening the way they did.
This summer's God Anthology series at church was one of the greatest sermon series I've ever heard. Challenging each and every week. A 9 part series that brought my world crashing down every week as God was working and revealing Himself in new ways to me. Each week was a different challenge and the processing of what God was revealing was different each and every week. I chronicled my thoughts through that series pretty well already so you'll just have to go trawling through past posts if you want my insights on that series.
The ending of that series with the God Anthology live album recording concert was amazing. Great time of worship that was super needed in my life. As someone who plays at church every week, those moments when I get to just worship are nice. One of the highlights of the year for sure.
One of the dreams I've had for many years is to have sort of arts based community thing... That's about as detailed as I can ever get. I've had the name Something Beautiful for years but never really got anything going. The dream has burned strong at moments in my life and has been pretty dead and missing at other points. After a conversation with a girl who was struggling with finding acceptance as an artist I decided it was time to stop dreaming and start acting. So I put on an arts and music gallery. It was small, poorly organized (shocker), and not completely what I had envisioned. It was also a huge success! Everything has to start somewhere and actually, finally, doing something instead of talking about it felt good. Everyone involved had a great time and most importantly it was a step taken.
I run this music blog. No big deal. I'm a music nerd. It's a lifelong obsession. So review records and have a podcast. It's something I started... Well because I wanted to. So I've run this jimmy jam for 2 and half years now. But this year my traffic started to increase. This first half of the year I was getting a ton of hits. While the hits have leveled off, it's still more people hitting my blog up than I thought would ever happen. Plus I got to interview Hands (who released my favorite album of the year), was asked my The Make to help promote their brand new single, and have started working with Blood and Ink Records doing reviews for them. That's pretty freaking cool if you ask me. Nerd Win!
Berlin was the highlight of my year. A couple weeks after my cross-country drive; I got on a plane with a dozen of my new best friends. I think I went into the trip expecting it to be awesome and things to change in my life but I don't think I really expected to build such great relationships that have carried over. Group hugs (that may or may not weird other people out), lots of dancing, and general uncomfortable conversations have been a staple in my life since Berlin, and I wouldn't trade it for anything! I love the people I went with. It was an awesome trip (also well chronicled on this blog).
Was that it? Did I cover everything? I'm not sure. I feel like something is missing... Oh well. I think you get the idea. 2011 was kind of awesome! So 2012... Bring It! Let's Rock!
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