Monday, January 7, 2013

2012 - Year in Review

I thought I'd put down some interesting things that happened to me in 2012, so I can remember them when I'm old. I'm surprised what is making the list this year, but it's all interesting stuff.

The good stuff
  • Got married to an amazing Italian supermodel
  • Honeymooned in Santorini, Greece
  • Roller derby roller derby roller derby
  • Was a groomsman for ChickenLittle's wedding in Seattle
  • Traveled to Seattle, Portland, Niagara Falls, and Atlanta, generally with a letter of some sort painted on my chest
  • Discovered Bemidji is an actual place, not some made up city like I thought
  • Shared some awesome food with my new wife - Butcher Block, Saffron, Butcher & the Boar, D-Spot, Pambiche, Bankok Thai Deli, etc.
  • Powered through a two-year ranking process of BBQ rib places in the Twin Cities Metro with HotGirlsBrother and LowVee - Bar-B-Quest!!!!
  • Had a hilariously awesome joint bachelor / bachelorette party at Camp Bar, complete with burlesque show
  • Saw ANOTHER burlesque show to benefit Marriage Equality
  • Shoveled almost no snow at all
  • Put some hilarious ads in the Minnesota RollerGirls bout programs
  • Saw a white-guy rap show featuring Errol Hemm, Milky Way, MC Nobody Cares, and Codependents 
  • Saw some hilariously awful movies in my basement with 50 of my closest friends (Valentine's, Religious, and Dance Party-themed)
  • Ran the .10k Triathlon (took 1st place in the men's relay)
  • Finally went to multiple Minnesota Stars soccer games with Killsbury Doughboy and A-Wow
  • Toured the Surly Brewery here in Minnesota - sponsor of the Minnesota RollerGirls
  • Watched major portions of the 2012 Olympics! Trampoline, Archery, Gymnastics, Pole Vault, Badminton, Tennis, Judo, Soccer (still don't care about swimming or track - the biggest time sucks of the event)
  • Attended the Christian Home School Science Fair at the Har Mar Mall - much smaller than previous years, sadly
  • Attended Bacon Fest at Sontes in Rochester - brilliant!
  • Saw awesome live music: Yanni, Meshuggah, Mastodon, Saltee, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, Earthrise
  • Attended the Celebration of Pi Day Pie party
  • Attended my third Weetacon - blog writer's convention in Green Bay
  • Joined a Twin Cities Poutine Crawl
  • Went to see my first Miesville Mudhens townball game with Killsbury Doughboy and Apocalypse Wow
  • Made some delicious hard cider with TheDoctor
  • Went to L'exi Cuter's birthday skating party and didn't make an ass of myself (correct that, I didn't fall down at the party)
  • Rocked the Minnesota State Fair with D.Rough and my awesome sister and brother-in-law
  • Did the Polar Bear Plunge
  • Went to Meghan and Bryan's wedding in Minneapolis
  • Went to Tiki and Zack Torture's wedding in Wisconsin
  • Went to Meaghan's (Coach's butter-eating cousin) wedding in Illinois
  • Went to Venus and Grant Thightrap's wedding in Minneapolis
  • Went to my cousin Dawn and Kristin's wedding in Iowa
  • Went to a college dance club with D.Rough, my brother, and sister-in-law (I'm officially old now)
  • Was shirtless in a LOT of photobooths
  • Ran the Big Gay Race (an ACTUAL 5K race)
  • Played some new disc golf courses in the area
  • Learned how to put refrigerant in my car
  • Uptown Kickball League!
  • Got rid of my rage-enducing Blackberry Storm2 and replaced it with the new iPhone5
  • Sported some unique (and sometimes anger-inducing) facial hair styles
  • New foods I forced myself to like: pickles, olives, beer, fish
  • Won the "Manliest Quilt in All Creation" at the Weetacon charity raffle
  • Dressed as Wolf from the American Gladiators and D.Rough dressed as Hellga for Halloween
  • Attended the party of the year - D.Rough's mother's annual Special Needer Halloween Party (still have NOT fought the kid that regularly challenges me to battle for D.Rough's hand - I'm not kidding)
  • Finally attended Dranksgiving
  • Went to see WWE Raw live at the Target Center with my wife
  • Had a blast at the Waterpark of America when it was 10 degrees outside
  • Went ice skating for the first time in 25+ years and didn't fall
  • Went to D.Rough's work holiday party and didn't make a complete ass of myself
  • Celebrated D.Rough's birthday at Hunan Garden (aka Human Garden) with 25 of her closest friends, and a few new ones
  • Got to watch M.Giant's band The Question
  • Went to the MCAD art sale
  • Attended quite a few librarian happy hours
  • Had the best New Years Eve on record with D.Rough and some amazing MNRG skaters at the Gay 90's
The not-as-good stuff
  • Started paying back an immense amount of school loan debt
  • Missed the Minneapolis Underground Film Festival
  • Said goodbye to Tex, a wonderfully charming man who shouldn't have been taken
  • Saw the world's second worst film - New Years Eve - with M.Giant
  • Missed the annual canoe trip, for the second year - I'm the worst!
  • Showed up at HB's birthday party an entire day early
  • Absolutely SUCKED at Valentine's Day
  • Saw terrible live music: Ghost, Baroness, and a militant dueling piano bar - ugggh
  • Found out the hard way who doesn't approve of same-sex couples enjoying the same level of happiness that opposite-sex couple do
  • Sweated through an entire week of 95+ degree temperatures without A/C in the house or my car...Then struggled through 3 days of sub zero temperatures without heat in my car before I dropped almost two grand to get it fixed
  • Have neglected to call Gerd's parents and feel terrible about it
  • Missed a TON of good shows: Brontosaurus, Nehemiah, Broken Hope, Alestorm, William Elliot Whitmore, Bible of the Devil, etc.
  • Renewed my Minneapolis Film Society membership and didn't go see a single film at their theater
  • Joined the Minnespolis Scotch Society and then missed every event they had
  • Made my mother cry way too many times this year
  • Missed every Northstar bout this year
  • Looked for 12 months for a new job (I thought this MBA was supposed to pay for itself)
2012 was pretty much a success no matter how you look at it. Lots to plan for in 2013!

2012 was the year of cologne for me - I wore cologne almost every time I left the house. In fact, I participated in a panel where this company would just send me samples of cologne and I gave them feedback. I have been told I have more cologne than any straight man should, so I thought I'd go through it much quicker this year. In doing so, I found three or four more kinds I would like to add to my collection... It may have to wait a little bit though. Other important spending must happen first. I still haven't decided what theme 2013 will be yet. Give me a little while. These take time.

2012 was ALMOST the year of Coach (if it actually WAS, I'd never hear the end of it, so that's why it's *almost* the year of Coach). I saw this guy soooo many times this year it was almost like we don't like 6 hours away. I call that a win. Thanks for being the best friend ever, DJCoachieSmooth.

Looking forward to absolutely blowing out 2013! Just you wait - you'll see...