76) 2011 Year In Review

2011 has been an amazing year for me. In general, I focus my efforts on balance between my family, my career, my physical health, my artistic expression, while at the same time making sure not to let stress negatively affect my overall well-being. I have been successful in doing this in 2011 and hope to continue in 2012.

Here are a handful of snippets from 2011:

* Feeling a 7.5 earthquake in the mountains of Japan. I was in a small town and when I walked outside to see what happened, no one stirred. The next morning I tried asking the couple who ran the hotel if they felt the earthquake. It took 20 minutes and no matter what I said, I could not get the message across.

* Waking up in the middle of the night unable to move my leg. A collision in a soccer game caused my knee to swell so much. L. reminds me of this night in an attempt to tell me I am too old to play. What she doesn't realize is that I will never be too young to play.

* Watching L. dance around a halloween party with Bruno while wearing a skin-tight Avatar costume.

* Watching a hoard of gigantic, crazy-looking caterpillars devour our peppers.

* Joining the Pen 15 club. Thanks, Erin!

* Making homemade pasta with L. It took 4 hours to make enough for one bowl of pasta.

* Playing guitar with Doss. My 72 series Tele Deluxe sounded so good coming through my VOX AC30. So good, in fact, that I could not really hear anything else that was going on.

* Reading Dugat's Maverick articles throughout the season thinking how awesome it is that he got such a cool gig. And wondering when am I going to see him hosting the post-game highlights.

* Exploring beer. I love IPAs and Stouts and discovered the following list of beers: The Harry Eyeball, Dogfishhead 90 minute IPA, Ten Fidy, Gubna, Yeti Imperial Stout, 400 Lb Monkey, The Gonzo from Flying Dog, Vanilla Porter, Left Hand Milk Stout, Real Ale Coffee Porter, The Hop Wallop...among others.

* Getting in a fight with an Italian woman on a train. She was mad at me because I had a lot of luggage that she felt should not have been in her way.

* Giving Stephen his first electric guitar. May it lead to much bad music!

* Spending a full weekend with Craig watching multiple documentaries.

* Making my crappy helmet out of paper mache.

* Making my first batch of homemade scotch. It tasted so sweet that it was undrinkable. I am on batch #3 and though the scotch has improved (just barely drinkable), it is still not as good as buying a bottle from the liquor store.

* Watching the Mavs win the 2011 NBA Championship!

* Sending air lanterns up into the Dallas Skyline for Lindsy's birthday. My favorite part was watching Lindsy get stressed when the lanterns flew above the freeway or got stuck in a tree.

* Helping my brother through one of his toughest experiences.

* Listening to my mom sing about her red converse shoes.

* Watching Stephen dressed as a 90's, poetic, high-brow Avatar trying to high five a ghostbuster. The ghostbuster stopped and said, "Oh, ok. We can high five if you want."

* Talking on the phone with Tomoko for more than an hour on multiple occasions. We do not speak the same language and much of the call is spent nodding and repeating the same phrase, "Domo for the Pakeji."

* Walking around Pompeii and seeing the ancient city that was destroyed by Vesuvius in 79 ad.

* Eating sushi with L. at Skiji Fish Market

* Watching the Rangers get to their 2nd consecutive World Series.

* Finally met Boo, an English Bulldog with a big heart, a playful left paw and a large bulldog tongue.

* Spending 80 hours a week for consecutive weeks putting together the largest presentation I have had the pleasure of working on. We presented early in 2011 and the account has grown leaps and bounds since. A huge win for our team.

* Slipping inside the Coliseum and falling so hard that the Italian police asked me a dozen times if I was ok and if I was going to press charges.