Stick a fork in this year, it's done

I hope next year is better than this one. It hasn't been the greatest year. Still no full-time work - though I did find a lot more part-time work than I did have, so things have been much better for me than they could've been.

A few things that were pretty good about this year, which I probably will forget since it's been a relatively rough one:

1. The City Paper really likes me. I mean, it really likes me. Which is good, since I really like them too!

2. I managed to make Ethiopian food that would never be eaten in Ethiopia - not by Muslims, not by Jews, and not by Christians. It's because of all the bacon.

3. I got to reconnect with many long-disconnected friends this year - online, over Christmas and in New Orleans.

4. Okay, so we didn't win the World Cup. We didn't even make it to the Round of 8. But at least Spain won for the first time. That and the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco Giants won the Super Bowl and World Series for the first time.

5. My family and friends are still here.

6. Don't Ask Don't Tell is gone and Prop 8 is Unconstitutional!

7. I've branched out into new pursuits (sports and horticulture, for example) and flourished in others (singing, for example). The New Year is likely to be filled with more Broadway, soccer and community gardening than I ever thought it would be this time last year.

8. I went to my first-ever television show taping (It's Academic in high school doesn't count) - Web Soup in LA. Chris Hardwick is a gentleman and a nerd scholar.

9. We finally have a Sonic in town (although the opening was less climactic than I had expected).

10. And finally, this didn't happen last week:

Picture is from the Snowpocalypse that happened in Baltimore this time last year.

Here's to a much better and more prosperous 2011 for all of us, y'all!