Gotta Say It Was A Good Year

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. A blog post every 6 months does not a blog make. Hey, what can I say? it’s been a busy year. And by a busy year I mean, well, I’m lazy.

Rather than be long winded (per usual), I am going to try to be as brief as possible in my summary of 2010. We all know how good I am at that AND we have a FULL year to cover, but here goes:

2010 – The Good

The girl.

Leeci is the bomb. And for the first time in my life with someone that didn't smell like gym socks, she is my roommate. I feel so fortunate. Here is a shot of us as roller girls from the movie ‘Whip It’ on Halloween. Leeci is spot on as Ellen Page’s character Bliss Cavendar. I regretfully admit that I look like a pretty convincing 'Iron Maven'.....except for the beard.
The job.

Dude, my job at The Refinery is pretty choice. Cool owners/peeps, access to Hollywood premieres (ok it was Due Date which was just ok, but Zach Gafinakilis and I pretty much hung out all night at the after-party), a great team, and all the ham sandwiches I can eat. I mean, what else does one need?
The return of the FAMADBP.

After a 3 year strike/hiatus (WTF?! Seriously?!), the FAMADBP came back with vigilant force for its’ 9th Installment held at the official headquarters in Lawrence, KS. Although numbers were lower than prior years, those in attendance rocked out with their c*cks out, heavy metal-style. RKelly and newcomer Stacy beat out the formidable team of MCA & Lisa for the best team score. More importantly, old KU chum Tommy Field swept the Tim Danker Personna Transformation Award ™ AND Founder’s awards (a first!) with his ridiculous see-through mesh top/leather vest. Still makes me vomit a little in my mouth every time I see this photo.

The trips.

Norway, a country full of………….. supermodels, hair salons, amazing architecture (opera house in Oslo), clean streets, free bikes (Oslo), delicious cardamom pastries, hot dogs with onion crunchies wrapped in lefse, great parks with amazing statues (Vieland Park), tons of 7-11s, expensive prison-cell hostels, Peppe’s & Dolly Dimples pizza chains, beautiful -and I mean freakin’ beautiful- fjords, lush green fields/mountains, 15 mile long tunnels & one lane treacherous highways, dolphins just hangin’ in the fjords, epic & extremely testing hikes (Bessengen Ridge), freezing white water raft rides, interesting food festivals (Bergen: pig’s head, lefse galore, whale meat, cardamom cinnamon rolls), coffee drinkers (det Lille kaffekompaniet in Bergen), paragliding beauty in Voss…..and $17 value meals at McDonald’s. Seriously. WTF?! If you just won the lottery, I totally recommend Norway. If not, I suggest going to Minnesota. Or Canada or something.

Grand Tetons. I had never backpacked before this trip and wasn’t sure that lugging 65 pounds on my back for 4 straight hours uphill was my idea of ‘a good time’. But it was definitely worth it in the end as our campsite was sweet, the hikes luscious, the vistas breathtaking & the water, well, it was giardia filled. I guess that last part sucked.

And weekends in Seattle, Healdsburg, Tahoe & LA all made it a year to remember. Although LA hardly counts as a weekend 'away' anymore.....

The Shows.

Belle & Sebastian at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Yeah, their new album is pretty boring, but it’s always fun seeing Stuart Murdoch pop up and down amidst a bunch of rotting corpses.

Wow, The Treasure Island Musical Festival was EPIC this year. The Sea & Cake, Superchunk, Belle & Sebastian, Broken Social Scene made me feel like I was at a 1997 Indie All-Stars show. But it was Brooklyn’s finest, The National, that totally upstaged them all. Amazing stage presence and performance and one of my contenders for band of the year.

None of the shows I attended in 2010 though, top the Eddie Money Christmas Show at the ‘world famous’ Razzzzzz Room in SF. KDogg, LDub, Leeci & I joined 87 other brave souls for a sold-out, intimate death-defying (he is 64 years old) performance. I seriously have not laughed as hard as I did at this show since KDogg and I watched the Money Man shake it up in Vegas at Benton Jameson Smith’s 30th BDay celebration 8 years ago. He has still f*cking got it.

And Phoenix, Grizzly Bear at The Hollywood Bowl, Conan O' Brien, the Due Date Premiere at Mann's Chinese Theatre. Pretty tubular.

2010 – The Lowlights

The elbow.

Yeah, contrary to popular belief, breaking your elbow sucks a**. I'd like to punch the architect who designed the curbs in downtown San Francisco. With my right arm of course. The non-permanently damaged one!

The air travel.

Ok, so my job has one sucky element. I spent exactly 14.137 full days either on a plane, in transit to a plane, waiting for a plane or flying a plane. That’s 2 full weeks of my year. Ugh. The upside is that my Scrabble and Angry Birds skills improved dramatically.

Thy stomach overtaken.

Not once, not twice, but THRICE I got food poisoning or giardia (see Grand Tetons above) or something. Maybe I should stop getting bottled water from Tijuana shipped in every week.

Overall, highlights 27, lowlights 3. Winner: highlights.