2011 was a pretty chill and mostly uneventful year. (Well, aside from finding out we’ve got a son on the way in 2012. That’s pretty big.)

I actually don’t have much in the way of commentary to share, so let’s just get into the series of lists that do a surprisingly good job of capturing the year at a glance.

2012 will be the year I finally get done most of the stuff I vowed to do in 2009.

The Year, By Month

January

• The year starts.

February

• F you, Mozy. Hi there, Crashplan!
• Found a five-year-old item in the fridge that read “use within 30 days of opening.”
• Returned a library item I’d renewed 23 times and had checked out for ten months.
• Huyen found a dog, had to have her scanned (collar, not tagged, but microchipped). She lived about six houses down.

March

• My parents’ cat stayed with us for a month.
• Trip to NY for Pint show, visit to 5 Pointz, hang with bro-in-law, etc..
• Rasine’s unsuccessful soccer camp.
• Reading Sesame Street with Rasine sparked a conversation about punk music.
• New dishwasher gaskets!

April

• Italian zombies night at Dave’s.
• Rasine cut her hair.
• Wrote my first full-length album review in years.
• Won the ex.fm contest.
• Bought my first smartphone. Entered 2007.

May

• Goats walked on car.
• Rasine finishes preschool (& recital).
• Started a new blog.
• Relaunched laze.net with a new look for the first time in eight years.
• Woke up with a tick in my back, plucked it, left the head in, had to take a trip to the doc.
• Another pair of dogs found and returned home. The owners never said thanks.
• The world didn’t end.

June

• NYC with fam & Huyen’s fam.
• Saw the Miss New York contestants on the Staten Island Ferry.

July

• Returned to the abandoned snack shack and Dixontown Road house.
• Guy I know is on Hoarders.

August

• 13 years.
• The Great Hard Drive Drop of 2011.
• One Sentence turns five.
• Matt’s wedding.
• Earthquake in VA.

September

• Tenth anniversary.
• Another non-event jury duty.
• Rasine turns five. B-day party at the Tally Ho movie theatre days before their 80th anniversary.
• We find out that baby #2 is on the way.

October

• Tenth anniversary trip to Woodstock.
• Pulled over for a dead headlight (I got away without a ticket).
• I turn 36.
• The Fly/Dawn of the Dead.
• Rasine as Tin Woodman for Halloween.
• Snow!
• Hurt my knee running.
• New projects.
• MOMs in Herndon opens.
• The world still doesn’t end.

November

• Sold a DVD on Amazon for $25.
• Nene’s wedding.
• Rasine snuck Halloween candy. As a result, so did Shepp.
• Election Day 2011.

December

• Visit from the in-laws.
• The best holiday in recent memory.

Favorite Teas of the Year

This year I had the opportunity to try a lot of new teas, like some Hawaii-Grown White Tea that I bought directly from the farmer. Or some Royal Purple Tea from Kenya (their “Moonlight White” was also a very nice surprise). I also tried the best Japanese Gyokuro that I’ve ever had this year. Plus, I rediscovered some old classics, like Bi Luo Chun, Wenshan Baozhong Formosa oolong, and a good Da Hong Pao Wuyi oolong.

TV Shows from the Past That I Discovered This year and Liked

• 10 Items or Less
• Party Down
• Shaun the Sheep
• The Bill Cosby Show

RIP

Based solely on the folks I RIP’ed on Twitter. People I knew personally in bold. Dates are when I tweeted, not the actual death date.

• 1/24: Jack LaLane
• 2/27: Lana Cokos
• 3/4: Steve Glaspey
• 3/7: Mike DeStefano
• 5/28: Gil Scott Heron
• 6/2: Geronimo Pratt
• 7/12: Sherwood Schwartz
• 7/25: Amy Winehouse
• 10/5: Steve Jobs
• 11/9: Heavy D
• 11/9: David Hess
• 12/16: Christopher Hitchens
• 12/17: Cesaria Evoria
• 12/26: Sam Rivers

Books I Finished Reading

In order finished.

• The Myth of Multitasking: How “Doing It All” Gets Nothing Done by Dave Crenshaw
• Zombie Spaceship Wasteland: A Book by Patton Oswalt by Patton Oswalt (audiobook version)
• Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen by Shunryu Suzuki
• The Mindful Child: How to Help Your Kid Manage Stress and Become Happier, Kinder, and More Compassionate by Susan K Greenland
• The Vegan Revolution… with Zombies by David Agranoff
• A Confession by Leo Tolstoy
• Edible Secrets: A Food Tour of Classified US History by Michael Hoerger
• Where the Hell Am I?: Trips I Have Survived by Ken Levine
• A Widow’s Story: A Memoir by Joyce Carol Oates
• 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth (And Other Useful Guides) by Matthew Inman
• Fuzzy Logic Get Fuzzy 2 by Darby Conley
• 1975 and the Changes to Come by Arnold Barach
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (with Rasine)
• I Found This Funny: My Favorite Pieces of Humor and Some That May Not Be Funny At All by Judd Apatow
• Beware Dangerism! (Kindle Single) by Gever Tulley
• Land of the Lost Souls: My Life on the Streets by Cadillac Man
• Unincorporated Persons in the Late Honda Dynasty: Poems by Tony Hoagland
• Free-Range Chickens by Simon Rich
• Vegan Pregnancy Survival Guide by Sayward Rebhal
• Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary by David Sedaris
• The Five by Robert McCammon
• Nothing Is Hidden: Essays on Zen Master Dogen’s Instructions for the Cook by Shohaku Okumura
• The Issue At Hand: Essays On Buddhist Mindfulness Practice by Gil Fronsdal
• Mile 81 (Kindle Single) by Stephen King

Total number of books finished: 24 (one more than 2010)

Long/challenging books: 8

Books in progress at the end of the year: 3 (plus the second book of Oz with Rasine)

Movies I Watched and Re-watched

In order watched.

• Last House on the Left (2009), The (2009)
• I Think We’re Alone Now (2008)
• High and Low (11/26/1963 (USA))
• Dave Chapelle’s Block Party (2005)
• Still Bill (2009)
• Coca-Cola Kid, The (1985)
• Coraline (2009)
• In the Footsteps of M. Hulot (1989)
• Idiocracy (2006)
• Bed & Board (1970)
• Horrible (1981)
• Autism: The Musical (2007)
• Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)
• Happy Feet (2006)
• Parking Lot Movie, The (2010)
• Toy Story 3 (2010)
• Piranha (2010)
• Hell of the Living Dead (1980)
• Stripes (1981)
• Zombie (8/25/1979)
• Happy Birthday to Me (1981)
• Toy Story 3 (2010)
• True Story of WrestleMania: Vol. 1, The (2010)
• Scream 4 (2011)
• C.H.O.M.P.S. (1979)
• Into the Pit (2009)
• Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo (2010)
• Babies (2010)
• Bridesmaids (2011)
• How to Die in Oregon (2011)
• Season of the Witch (1972)
• Darwin’s Nightmare (2004)
• Martian Chronicles, The (1980)
• Dreams (1990)
• Madagascar (2005)
• Menace II Soceity (1993)
• Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956)
• Illusionist, The (2010)
• Jerk, The (1979)
• Disturbia (2007)
• 127 Hours (2010)
• Made in U.S.A (1966)
• April Fool’s Day (1986)
• Winnie the Pooh (2011)
• Synecdoche, New York (2008)
• Wizard of Oz, The (1939)
• Femme Mariée, Une (1964)
• Critters (1986)
• L’Ann&´e dernière à Marienbad (1961)
• Phantasm IV: Oblivion (1998)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (7/15/2011)
• I Saw the Devil (2010)
• Protagonist (2007)
• Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
• Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
• 13 Assassins (2010)
• The House of the Devil (2009)
• Bad Sleep Well, The (1960)
• Across 110th Street (1972)
• If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front (2011)
• Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (2011)
• Fox and the Hound, The (1981)
• Conquest (1983)
• Ossuary and Other Tales, The (1964)
• TrollHunter (2010)
• Beat Street (1984)
• Back to the Future Part II (1989)
• Tony Takitani (2004)
• Dawn of the Dead (1978)
• Fly, The (1986)
• Boogeyman, The (1980)
• Mutants (2009)
• Twelve and Holding (2005)
• Halloween H20 (1998)
• Funhouse, The (1981)
• Big (1988)
• National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (12/1/1989)
• Trick ‘r Treat (2008)
• I Am Comic (2010)
• Comedians of Comedy, The (2005)
• Machete Maidens Unleashed! (2010)
• Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, The (2011)
• Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (1977)
• Muppet Family Christmas (uncut), A (1987)
• Super 8 (2011)

Average year: 1994

Average rating: 3.39
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