My 2012

How can I sum up my year now that I'm at the very last day of it? 

Pretty amazing.




With the Lights Out, It's Less Dangerous

My big ticket item in 2012 was my trip to Seattle. The Pacific Northwest has always been alluring to me, but moreso now that it's
been the new pirate food place to be. Forget NY, Miami or Austin. That's where you get the wannabe's, the posers, and the elitists. Portland and Seattle are cranking out some of the State's most creative, kickass chefs who still know how to stay humble.

Without going into a day by day, hour by hour account of my trip, let me just say that the highlight was the EMP (Experience Music Project) which houses a permanent and most complete exhibit of Nirvana. Pike Place was fun, and the coffee was on-point. Funny story: My first morning in Seattle, I got up at 6, dressed, and walked from my hotel down to Pike Place Market. I came at the perfect time because it was still way early and all the tourists haven't arrived yet. I skipped over the first Starbucks, because if there is anything I hate more than commercialism, it's the friggin' tourist trap. I opted for Tully's, which is a regional chain up in Seattle, but looked to be more popular with the locals rather than the green mermaid. 

The menu was similar to Starbucks, as well as the pastry items. I contemplated what I wanted to get. I mean, coffee is coffee, but I wondered if there was something regional there that isn't normally available to a typical NYer. The barista finally asked me if I needed help, and I explained my predicament. He asked what I usually got, and after explaining why I was going to exclude the usual mocha sugary concoctions I normally opted for, I admitted that I usually just wanted a strong espresso. That's when he asked, "Long pull or short pull?" Huh? What does that mean? I knew the pull had to do with the espresso exiting the machine into my cup, but what's the difference in length of pulls? They laughed good naturedly at my deer-in-headlights expression. "I don't even know what that means," I blurted. "I mean, what's a pull? Are you flirting with me? What's it  got to do with coffee?" 

After asking me if I liked my espresso strong, and saying I did, they served up one of the smoothest cups of espresso I've ever had. I had a muffin and two more cups of espresso and a cup of coffee up at the bar, next to the baristas. It was still early, and hardly any people were in there. I spent a good two hours chatting them up and they gave me some great places to check out while I was in town in exchange for me pronouncing some words in "NY talk". 

Seattle had some of the nicest, most genuine people I have ever encountered. They ARE what Brooklyn hipsters TRY to be. And all the engineers and geeks I met in Bellevue were just the cherry on top of the Serendipity Sundae!  I cannot wait until I am a local there. 

 

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Concerts, Concerts, and more Concerts

What can I gush about that I haven't already gone on about in previous posts? Counting Crows is still my favorite after all this time. Keane was a very close second. The Dark Horse was the 90's concert I went to in Virginia with my buddy Margaret. And my newcomer of choice is going to be Grace Potter. She's not really new, but I already have tickets to see her in March, so she's been added to the "must see" list of artists. Yes, the concert experience should be all about the music, but seeing a live show does have a lot to do with the people you go with. Make sure you pick good concert buddies, and all will be right in the world! 

Tickets, Please?

Hello, Kili!

Movie of the year? More like MOVIES of the year. I've seen my share of films this past year, although not as extensive as years passed. I hate to go with the flow on this one, but The Hobbit and Les Misérables are my two top picks. I'm a Tolkien fan by nature so this movie was going to have to have cast Shia LaDouche or a Kuntashian for me to really hate it. But, despite the complaints people have lodged against it, I thoroughly enjoed it....all 3 times I've seen it thus far. How are they going to make it into three movies? They took battle scenes that lasted two sentences in the book and stretched it out to a 20 or 30 minute scene on screen. Just sit back and enjoy it, people. The last shot of the movie was my very favorite...probably of ANY movie in my 34 years of movie watching. Les Misérables was great because it blended the awesomeness of the musical with just enough extra details from the book to keep it fresh. I'm not a huge Hugh Jackman or Russel Crowe fan when it comes to their singing, but the rest of the cast BROUGHT it. If you hate musicals, you will hate this movie. If you loved Les Mis on Broadway, you're going to love this. Period.

Hungry?

New food of 2012? That credit has to go to my buddy Margaret who introduced me to Ethiopian food one of the times I visited her in VA this year.  Stop all your starving Ethiopian jokes RIGHT THERE, buddy! It was a little daunting to try, at first, but once I had the technique of tearing off the pancake and scooping up the bits of various dishes, I was hooked. DELISH!! 

Time to Make the Donuts

No, I am still not in possession of the keys to my own bakery, but I have expanded my culinary career this past year with a side gig writing reviews and evaluating service and food. I've met some fantastic new chefs and kitchen pirates all over this city, as well as some of the one's I visited over the last 12 months. And I've made a handful of creative cakes. I still have a long way to get there, but it's getting there. More than I can say for others.

Culture

I am artsy-fartsy but I have not had as many opportunities to do as much art as I would have liked to this year. That will change. My favorite piece is the "I'm Only Happy When It Rains" piece I made with crayons, and the faux canvas picture I did for my cousin and her husband. I have much more to come in the coming months!

Romance and Ooh La La...

I didn't opt to put a ring on it this year. In fact, I didn't opt to be coupled up with just one person at all. Like a busy little social bee, I fluttered from several different flowers, sometimes staying just an hour or two, or even for a few overnight visits. As much despair as I had when I found myself to be un-coupled a couple of years ago is as much fun I was having in 2012. When all the preconceived plans and expectations of what you thought your life was going to be is tossed, it's fucking liberating. I am never going to settle for less than I deserve EVER again...even if it means I partake in many different flavors of ice cream, instead of just choosing one to go home with. Take that as you will.

Biggest Accomplishment of the Year....**ahem** drumroll, PLEASE!!!!!!!!

I finally got my drivers license!!! Yes, folks! No more illegal supermarket runs for yours truly. It was by the skin of my teeth, but I did tick off my big goal this year and took the test and passed before the year was up. I was already shaken due to the misfortune I had of having a complete douchebag from the DMV on my first go around. But, I drove EXACTLY the way I did the second time, and lo and behold, I passed with FLYING colors. It was really a good feeling. As many people as I let in on my very private struggle, only ONE person bothered to remember the day of my test, and she wished me luck and asked how it went. Kudos to Kim for being an awesome friend on the day I really needed one! I swear, I thought I was going to have a heart attack because I was so anxious and nervous, but I did it. And it was nice to have someone there to pat me on the cyber-shoulder and say "good job". Again, Kim, thank you so much! 

The Futurrrrrrrrrrrrrrre

Well, 2012 isn't even over yet and already I have many new roads ahead of me to pick and choose from. Instead of going down one of them, guns blazing in the air, my heart leading the way down an unlit path; I'm going to learn from all my past mistakes. I'm going to think very hard before I pitch myself down an unknown rabbit hole. (Not that ALL the past trips down various rabbit holes were ALL bad or anything...) I just want to make sure I think about everything and I judge a person's character much better before handing over my trust. I have a lot less time now than I did before to start over from a mistake. 

2013

I can't really look up at the New Year and say there is any definite thing I want for sure. A new/used car is not financially realistic. Zero debt isn't realistic, either. A man? Eh. Been there. Done that. If the right one comes along, we'll see, but it's not my top priority. I'm going to be thirty-fucking-five years old next November. The time for dicking around  has long since passed. I would like my own home. I would like to get the fuck off the East Coast. If I choose the right paths in the beginning of the year, I could be packing a suitcase by the end of it. Here's to hope! Cheers, you fuckers!