2012 in Review

Here's a bit of what I've done over the past year.  It's been a great ride, and I can't wait to see what 2013 brings.  Have a good one, everybody! 

Passed the P2 test in Krav Maga, which means I have the skills to only whimper slightly as I run away from a threat. 

Went on JoCo Cruise Crazy 2 with my friend Angela.  Met some great folks and had an awesome time in Curaçao,   Aruba, and the Bahamas.  In about 5 weeks, we depart on JoCo Cruise Crazy 3.  :^)

Enjoyed numerous bike rides around my city and the surrounding area.  This is a photo of the Mississippi River in St. Paul. 

Spent ridiculous amounts of time mastering the art of the self portrait in Philadelphia and sometimes New Jersey. This is in Avalon, NJ. 

Rode in my fifth MS 150 bike ride.  This is me wondering what I have gotten myself into before departing on the first day.  Indeed, what I had gotten myself into was the most excruciating ride I've ever taken, as the 2nd day featured 20 mph headwinds and 90º heat. But I made it!

Visited Milwaukee with Jay to witness a member of the I Will Never Wed Again club break his solemn vow in favor of another.  To a mighty fine lady, I must add. 

Accompanied my parents on one week of their trip from Forked River, NJ to Bayfield, WI.  I was there for the St. Clair River through Lake Huron,  from Detroit, MI to Mackinac Island. 

Visited Mackinac Island for the first time, enjoying a tour of the island courtesy of our rented bikes. 

Took Jay to visit the sights of Southern MN, including the most epic SPAM museum as well as Mystery Cave. 

Picked my parents up at the end of their trip in Bayfield, my first visit to the area since 2003.   It was warm enough to go for a swim in Lake Superior, a nice treat!

Vacationed in Okoboji with my family for the 30th time.  The sunsets were as stunning as always. 

Made a second trip to the craziness that is Dragon*Con over Labor Day weekend, where the best part is waiting in line with your friends.  I've already bought my pass for next year. :^)

Continued the indoctrination into MN tradition by introducing Jay to Lefse, which is, by the way, absolutely awesome with Biscoff Spread.

Sydney turned 11 this year, and is totally cool with that, as he is with everything.

And, last but not least, people can finally stop making fun of my iMac G5, for I have finally acquired the latest and greatest.  Wow, there have been a lot of advances in the past 7.5 years.  :^)

[School] 60% Done!

On Monday, I got off a plane from Philadelphia and took the final exam for Ceramic Processing, sick.  I was a little concerned, having spent the weekend before the final curled up on a couch on the east coast watching as much Netflix as the hours in the day would permit and drinking copious amounts of tea. 

I took the test in 37 minutes, which could either have been a really good or a really bad thing.  We were allowed 3 hours, though his tests typically ran short.  

Final grades were posted this afternoon: A.  Yay!!!!  I may have looked a bit like "Success Kid" when I saw the grade.  So now I only have 4 classes left.  Phew. 

Thanksgiving, you're great and all, but Christmas is the best holiday of all time. 

 Because I'm lame and don't chop down my very own Christmas tree, Saturday after Thanksgiving is officially time to erect and decorate my pile of fake pine needles. Most of my ornaments were bought while traveling. I find the Christmas tree a much more manageable place to keep souvenirs than, well, everywhere else. But by far my favorite ornaments are those that have been handmade.  

These are just a few of them: The snowman ball and quilted heart made by my sister, the sequin Santa and wooden angel made by me, and the möbius strip Christmas card that my friend Andrew made a few years ago. 

In which we're all 4-year olds

Did you get your sticker? I did! I'll do a great many things for a sticker, including participating in the democratic process. Just one of the reasons that I prefer to vote in person, but, and this might come as a shock, not the biggest.  I admit I get a little Leslie Knope about voting.  There's something really exciting about showing up, waiting in line, and filling out your ballot in a sketchily constructed little plastic box.  The smell of democracy is in the air.  Mmmm.

And also the smugness of getting to walk around with a sticker all day that basically announces what a good person you are. 

So it goes.

It's interesting to see places that I've been destroyed. Natural disasters are so massive in scale that often I can only think of them in the abstract, but when I can look at photos that I've taken and compare them to photos that I'm seeing in the news from Hurricane Sandy, it all becomes very real.

In the grand scheme of things, every landscape is temporary. Some are more temporary than others.  I'm glad that I was able to experience a few years of the previous iteration of the barrier islands of New Jersey.  I'm certain there will be rebuilding, but not everything should be rebuilt, nor will it.  It will be the same as it was before and yet it won't.  Life will go on, eventually, as it always does.  This time with a more recent reminder that this land is just on loan to us.  Enjoy it, bask in it, soak it in.  It's not forever.    

I love having seasons

This time of year is my favorite. Or at least it will be until I post a beautiful photo of snow falling and pronounce that time of year to be my favorite.  They're all my favorites. 

Now that I've received my new-to-me-again 18-105mm lens, hopefully there will be another beautiful day of fall left to photograph before the leaves all fall off and give way to snow. 

Marian Call in Ardmore, PA

We had the opportunity to go see Marian Call this past weekend.  I missed her when she was in Minneapolis this summer, but was going to be in Philadelphia the weekend that she performed in Ardmore.  Happy coincidence!  If you ever get the chance, Milkboy is a great venue.  Very cozy, good acoustics, and pretty coffee (I didn't taste any, but it sure looked good).  We got there early enough to nab some of the comfy chairs next to the stage.  

I saw Marian once before and she was phenomenal. JoCo Cruise Crazy 2 was the first time that I'd heard any of her music, and I became a die-hard fan in an instant.  She brings such an intense, organic energy to her music that it's nigh impossible to resist being drawn in.  Her albums are fantastic, but don't even begin to do her justice.  If you have the opportunity to see her perform live, I highly encourage you to do so. I mean, a concert with a typewriter?  How can you say no?! 

So that was awesome.  

All the pretty places I've been...

And nothing measures up to the North Shore in autumn, not to be confused with all of the other places that claim to have a North Shore.  The one in Minnesota is the real North Shore.   This photo isn't mine, though I wish it were-- my parents recently returned from a camping trip there.  Nothing can compare to hiking through crisp fall air to a vista like this. Maybe it's like your first Doctor: you never forget the first place that showed you how beautiful and vast and awesome the world is. 

 Well, that and sitting by a campfire with gloves on in September. Because you're a Minnesotan and that's how things are done around here.  

This is a post.

Hey, look!  A shiny man holding a teddy bear!

Because. Just because.