2011. Wow. You really did a number on me. Last night, I spent several hours trying to find a way to summarize the year as a whole, but the more and more I tried to write this blog, I was confounded by the year's lack of coherence, but well, what do I expect, there are a whole mess of days, weeks, and months in there. So, here you go....here are some of the things I remember the most about 2011...
1. All the time I spent with Ashley and Michelle this past year, whether sitting on the front stoop or sitting around my dining room table laughing/crying/drinking/talking, our champagne and absinthe nights at City House and Germantown Cafe, sitting outside on the Mexican beach contemplating on the deal breaker names of our unnamed crushes, night markets, discussions of basil, rosemary, arms like corn on the cob, mozzarella, and pork, becoming known as the headband girls, developing new words (Wooly!), and yes, even stealing red potatoes and attempted pigs.
2. My trip to Memphis with Ashley...and less of a highlight, but something that really impacted the year, having to bid adieu to Ashley as she began a new adventure in Cardiff.
3. The many new friends that I've welcomed into my life this year...particularly, Cassandra, Andrea, and Sam, but also all the wonderful folks I've met while sitting out on my front stoop-- like Red/Mr. Autowash.
4. Getting to spend time with the lovely Carly over our late night phone conversations, our visit to the Top Chef event (particularly eating pork for the first time in several years), successful and attempted Miraculous Miercoles, and our productive trips to Center Hill Lake (even when the hot tub was only lukewarm and it felt more like we were taking a bath together).
5. Saying goodbye to my truck and learning public transportation.
6. Many, many great shows...such as Bright Eyes (with Mom and Kyle), Bright Eyes (with Art and Amada), Archers of Loaf (with Sammy), Wilco (with Erin B.), Flaming Lips (with Ashley), Justin Townes Earle and Jason Isbell (with Michelle), Justin Townes Earle (with mom and Brad), Gillian Welch, Aretha Franklin, and Elvis Costello.
7. My days and nights with Art and Jeremy...building funeral pyres, receiving the best flower bouquets ever, grilling out, drinking Stop n' Stab margaritas, twerking, family dinners, Halloween, the 4th of July, dancing to Mumford and Sons, and even crying to Bright Eyes.
8. The wedding celebration of my best friend Jennie Ann and Derek...every single moment of it, particularly our lovely Edisto evenings and our dinner at Husk.
9. My road trip with a watermelon named Mildred, while visiting great friends at every moment and seeing some of the greatest baseball games of my life.
10. A strange, but life changing, Memorial Day that led to an orange soda, that crazy month of June, headphones, cornbread, and cinderella. It still amazes me that even after six months, the headphones still get to me every single time.
11. A wonderful 4th of July celebration, before my departure to Puerto Rico, that started with a cook-out at Art and Jeremy's and ended with a late night fireworks display in front of my apartment.
12. All those beautiful, beautiful days with Michelle at the ballpark (with the ballplayers), but also our fantastic trip to Atlanta to finally see those Braves fellas.
13. Learning how to twerk at the Labor Day cook-out with some of my favorite people in this world.
14. My spring break and summer in Puerto Rico and sharing it with all those lovely folks that make life worth living....those lovely afternoon conversations with Magaly, "fighting" with Jorell, evenings of turntabling with Egie, late evenings spent in Rio Piedras listening to soul music accompanied by a long early morning walk home, brunches with the family and those crazy 3-eyed masks, and all the marvelous people that have helped me build my career.
15. Planning my first trip to Europe to visit Ashley and present my research in Spain.
16. All those long distance calls, texts, and chats with Amada.
17. The Occupy movement and getting to participate in protest in my own hometown.
18. My trip to NYC to visit with some old friends (Anton, Carlos, Noelia, and Sam) and to present my research for the first time in front of the smartest and coolest activists/colleagues I know.
19. Jawbreaker, Ezra Furman, Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams, and Jaymay.
20. Holiday karaoke with my mom and incredibly competitive monopoly games with my family.
21. Nightswimming and dancing biscuits.
22. Bonfires, lots and lots of bonfires.
23. Fran's Eastside.
24. And because I should highlight my academic accomplishments, I passed my two special area exams, put together a dissertation committee, presented my research at a couple of conferences, got accepted to an international conference, submitted a couple of manuscripts for publication, and have maintained my passion for my research. Though, this year also meant saying goodbye to several incredible mentors as they moved away for other pursuits.
Outside of these highlights, as I'm sure there were many, many more. It was a year of expectations. It was a year of entrenchment. It was a year of bending, instead of breaking. It was a year of being a classic fool at times. It was a year of bad decisions. It was a year that reminded me that sometimes, just sometimes, it is okay to open ourselves up to the possibility, even if it means that in the end we find ourselves broken. Because when that happens, we often realize we have some of the best friends in the world who are standing there beside you to help pick you back up. But more than anything, I've realized this year just how important it is for me to sometimes, just sometimes, relinquish control and let things happen.
Cheers to another year! Abrazos and besitos, mis panas!
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