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
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...
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 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...