Let me say this, quickly: you have not seen fireworks until you've seen fireworks done by Walt Disney World. The best, by far, are in EPCOT in the lagoon in the center of the World Showcase. Every night at 9pm, magic truly does happen. If you have not seen it, I suggest you make the journey. It is moving, and the New Year's Eve show did not disappoint. So far, it's the best New Year's celebration I have been a part of. I felt a new energy, a new hope, come to the surface as the clock counted down from ten to one. Finally, a new beginning.
Hope is a beautiful thing, and from that moment on, I knew 2011 would be a year to remember.
The winter was harder than usual, with record breaking snowfall. Toward the end of January, On a Sunday afternoon, I was playing on my laptop in my mother's dining room, and I decided to look into buying a house. I don't know what drove me to that decision, but in my typical fashion, I made a quick decision with little thought about it, and never looked back. I sent an email to a mortgage broker, and after looking at five or six properties, I put in an offer. Six weeks from the start of my search, I signed mortgage paperwork. From now on I will no longer beware the ides of March. :-)
Sitting alone in the house, in the dark, shortly after I signed all the paperwork, I felt peace deep down in my soul for the first time in my memory. That may sound odd, but I've always been a restless soul, always ready to jump and move onto the next adventure, the next chapter. Here, I feel settled, like nothing is chasing me, biting at my heels. It's a lovely feeling, to know you can stop running.
It wasn't long before I was moving my stuff in, replacing doors, planting grass and making my mark on my little corner of the world. The picture below is taken of the first thing I hung in my kitchen. I was quite proud, that day.
In April, I saw Third Eye Blind in Hampton. This was the first of many concerts I would attend this year. I hung around for a while after the show and met the guys out behind the venue. Got pictures with them all, they signed my ticket, and I left relatively satisfied with the whole experience.
Spring, and the month of May came and went. I visited Florida for a time, around Memorial Day. This is the first year in a long time that I haven't cultivated a garden - instead, I spent a lot of time and money on home improvements. I planted two apple trees, a peach tree and an apricot tree. As the summer went on, I found a lot of existing flowering trees and plants in the yard ... it really was a thing of beauty in full bloom.
Summer was very busy for me, as it always is, between work, family and now the house. I watched some fireworks on the fourth of July, thought about my grandfather, as I always do, and wondered if he'd be proud of me now. For the first time, I think he would.
I started developing some out of the ordinary friendships this summer. One with a woman named Annie who has come to be a very dear friend to me. We met through Assembly. She and I have had some interesting conversations, and I'm sure there are more to come in the future.
Another one, in particular, with a rather mysterious man has come to mean a lot to me, despite my early reservations. We've talked about a lot of things, some things I'm afraid to open up to people in my real life about. We have common musical tastes, and apparently want the same foods at the same time, or so he tells me. ;-) Regardless, we've been there for each other almost by accident a lot this year, and my life would be less without him in it.
I turned 30 in August. I dreaded it for a long, long time. I thought I hadn't accomplished enough in my life, hadn't achieved what I should have achieved ... then the day came, I spent it at the lake with my best friend and her family, and I realized, my life is just as it should be and I have nothing to worry about. I have no obligation to anyone but myself, and that, my friends, is a beautiful thing.
This picture is of the full moon rising over Crystal Lake on my birthday. It was my favorite gift, this year.
September came in like a hurricane. I was still going through the process of unpacking, redoing rooms, painting, and being a part of life in general. I saw Incubus and Young The Giant on the 9th, and the The Foo Fighters and Rise Against on the 25th. Then, one night, in hot, balmy weather, I was sitting on my porch with a few candles lit, and just started writing. A few hours later, I had pages and pages of material ... lo and behold, I started writing a novel. That night, I slept better than I had in years - it was as if the story was inside me all along, fighting to get out. I've never had an experience like that, but the story continues and it's almost as if it's writing itself. It's quite an amazing thing.
October, as I often say, is my favorite month. Fall is when I am in my element, and Halloween is my Christmas. I reveled in the autumn weather this year, and threw the best party I've had yet. I was approached last week by people telling me they can't wait for next year's party. That, to me, feels like success :-)
November is when the mad dash, for me, really started.
On the 14th I went to Cambridge to see Dessa perform in a nightclub. I was sitting on the side of the stage, there were maybe 150 people there. What an incredible experience.
On the 18th I flew to Florida again for a much needed break. Did an early Thanksgiving with the family, and went to the beach for the weekend. I think I realized, sitting on the beach in the dark, listening to the waves, that Florida needs to be my second home. I love the ocean - it calls to me on a deep, deep level. I could have slept all night, laying on the sand, staring at the stars. I even signaled some UFOs with my lighter for a while.
The next morning, James took this picture at sunrise. One of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Owen, like me, loves the ocean.
Flew back and the Holiday rush commenced. I generally can't stand Christmas. I've lost a lot of my holiday spirit over the years; people, in general are always so miserable and it just drains all of my energy every day. Somehow, this year, though, things were determined to be different.
I went to New York City on December 6th to visit with a dear friend and to see 30 Seconds To Mars perform a record breaking show at the Hammerstein Ballroom on the 7th. They called it MARS 300, and received a Guinness World Record for performing the most shows in promotion of a single album. Got there early and met Karen, the epic Shannon fan of twitter fame. She's as cool in person as she is online. We got super close to the stage and it was an excellent show. Life changing for many people, from what I could see. She and I met up again the next day, we had Guinness and a late lunch at an Irish pub near Penn Station. We were both a little less shy this day, it seemed, and the conversation was a lot more real; it felt like the beginning of a lovely friendship.
Kevin Cadogan had long since announced that he and Arion Salazar had reunited at the DMV, of all places, and had been jamming. Around this time, they announced on The Chorus that they would be taping a concert for a television show on Dec. 19th. Call me crazy, call me impulsive - I decided I had to go. Two of my heroes, long lost to the music they created together, were having a reunion - how could I NOT go? I talked to my brother about it, and we made it happen. For that, I will be forever grateful.
The show was threatened by a C&D letter, and some were worried it wouldn't happen for a while, but Kevin & his lawyers came through. Kevin noticed I was flying quite a ways and gave me a couple of VIP tickets the day before my flight left ... I was super excited about the show already, as you know if you follow my facebook or twitter accounts. I'm pretty sure I didn't shut up about the show for a solid three weeks. Then to be a "VIP" - well, that was just the bees knees. :-)
I flew to California for the first time in my life on the 18th. Had an awful experience getting the rental car and settled into the "hotel," but once I got some sleep, the next day held a lot of promise. I woke up bright eyed at seven a.m. (still being on East Coast time) and decided to make use of the beautiful sunshine. I got into my rental car, turned on the GPS, and headed west toward the coast. Once again, the ocean was calling me. I ended up driving along highway 92 toward Half Moon Bay state park. The drive was so beautiful through the mountains and the beach was stunning. I can now say I've been in the ocean on both coasts.
After spending a few hours there, I drove down route 1 for a while and beheld the beauty that is California's coastline. I eventually headed back toward San Jose and drove through a redwood forest. My God, those trees are enormous ... so much more incredible in person. And the views from the road up high on the cliffs ... they made Mt. Washington look like an anthill. Just gorgeous.
Making my way back to the hotel for a nap, I had Garbage blasting on the radio. I felt like I was back in the 90s again. I miss that decade. "I'm only happy when it rains .... "
Ate some dinner, charged my phone, and after a quick nap made my way to the Bellarmine College campus. Met up with an old Assembly acquaintance there, and gave him my other VIP pass. It was nice to share the wealth with someone I knew would appreciate it. I'd never met Jon in person before, but we'd talked quite a bit and he was an awesome person to spend the concert with.
Before the doors opened, there were at least 150 people lined up outside. The producer came out and started lining us up by category ... he said "anyone with VIP tickets, meaning friends of the band, line up here ... " yeah I felt pretty fucking badass being called to that line, and Jon was beside himself. We were called into the theater first, and since I flew all the way from NH, I got asked to sit up on stage first. Jon came with me, and we sat right next to where Arion would be playing. We weren't more than 6 feet from him the whole show. Hearing the music played by them ... I can't describe it. It was the way it was supposed to sound. The magic was back. The best part was seeing them both so blatantly happy - joy was written all over their faces, and was definitely the theme of the night. Arion kept looking over at me and smiling, and John Stephens had great energy. What a night.
Jon, myself and a few others hung out after the show and met the producer and a lot of the staff, and the guys came out and chilled with us for a bit. They signed Jon & I's setlists, and made a few jokes ... all in all I had a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget.
Needless to say, I got no sleep that night. My heart was pounding with adrenaline and sheer joy - and I had a six am flight the next day. Coming back to NH, I was sad that it was all over, but Kevin kept putting things up about me on his Facebook & Twitter and Arion talked about me on his Chorus post about the show ... it was like someone upstairs wanted me to know that yes, it really did happen, and I should be happy for the holidays this year. The whole thing was a Christmas miracle, I'm convinced.
Now I'm sitting here, on New Years Eve, watching Pearl Jam 20, making a wish at 11:11, and hoping that 2012 will shatter the records this year made.
Blessings to all of you, and Happy New Year. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being a part of my 2011, and I hope you continue to stick around til the end of the world. ;-)
Cheers!! Now, where's the bubbly ...
