TLA Year in Review: When everything changed in 2010

I'm not even going to make excuses this time around - every year I do a review of the past 12 months on this here blog, so why quit now? I always get a little kick out of digging through the archives to see what the hell I was going on about this time. Hopefully it's somewhat enjoyable for you, too? Maybe there's something interesting that you missed...maybe I'll throw in something new...maybe it will make you want to claw your eyes out? I don't even know. Here we go!

JANUARY

Hah, look at that! The first post of the year was all about me quitting my day job. Which I totally did! And though the year has since been filled with some very extreme financial lows, mental hurdles, and general Hard Times, I wouldn't take back the decision for the world. I have learned so much, been able to do more than I ever would have still chained to a desk, and managed to eke out a basic living by writing and making music. That is, simply put, amazing. And hey, I have health insurance now! And I've moved up from a 40 oz. of Pabst to a 40 oz. of Miller High Life. It's the champagne of beers! I'M RICH, BITCH!

We also kicked off "Chapel," the web series I've been working on all year and which just released part one of its season finale the other day. For a show that runs on Facebook and the Dollar Store, that's pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.

This post gleefully announcing the arrival of high speed rail just makes me sad now, though.

FEBRUARY

I helped throw the second annual Fire Ball masquerade party at the High Noon Saloon (number three is coming Jan. 29!), and that was cool. I started to learn just how glamorous being a freelance writer is. And how much not being insured can suck.

MARCH

We filmed the second (two-part) "Chapel" episode of the season in a very cold, very awesome underground skate park. My pontificating over at Emily's Post got itself a perma-link (and now, several months later, I'm about due for a landing page and link to the RSS feed, which does exist!). And my band, Little Red Wolf, officially began the process of recording our first album. Also for some reason I decided to torture myself a live-blog a viewing of "Twilight: New Moon." Never again.

APRIL

Apparently I was busy going outside and getting some sunshine or some junk, because there's just one lonely post from that month. About going outside and getting some sunshine.

MAY

 I spent some quality time feeling sorry for myself, and then attempted to get my band into Lilith Fair (it didn't work out).

JUNE

Took a great/terrible trip to perform at something called Freakshow-a-Go-Go in Seattle and got my ass robbed while I was at it. Well, got my bag robbed...my ass is fine, thank you.

JULY

Took a much needed, theft-free vacation to Rock Island with a handful of good friends and had myself a merry time living off-grid for a week. And then I got my hands on some mixing equipment and put together my first DJ mix in ages - which was super fun and damn I miss doing that.

AUGUST

What's summer without a gay pride rally? NOTHING I'll tell you. Of course, me being me, I couldn't just let it pass without criticizing someone for something.

SEPTEMBER

Still had hope that Russ Feingold would hold onto his Senate seat. Hold on, need to sob for a minute.......OK, back. Little Red Wolf released an EP!

OCTOBER

Pretty pictures and my own It Gets Better tale. I didn't blog about it, but Halloween weekend was absolutely spectacular. Little Red Wolf played as an all-'80s girl pop cover band one night (aka The Lisa Frank Unicorn Experience, and I got to be Pat Benatar for an evening), then as ourselves the next night for the Neil Gaiman/American Gods convention at the House on the Rock. I KNOW, RIGHT?!

Also I wrote this vignette about something I witnessed while writing in a coffee shop downtown. Will be attempting more such shorts, both fic and non-fic, in the new year.

NOVEMBER

I got a little bit older; wiser still up for debate. Live-blogged the mid-term elections and probably drank myself into oblivion over the results. I don't remember. Talked about my love-hate relationship with Oklahoma. And I made you a mixtape! You can still download it for free.

DECEMBER

Everything happened in December. It's still happening now, for a few more days, at least. First, I release my favorite music of the year mixtape. Little Red Wolf released our debut, full-length album! I'm still riding high on that one, as I'm genuinely psyched with how the record turned out. So far, too, been hearing nothing but good things about it from other people. Not just my family!

We had ourselves a very snowed in but totally awesome CD release party to celebrate, and then one of the band members left on a round-the-world vacation for three months and the rest of us are still kind of in mourning about it. Mixed emotions! You can help me feel better by purchasing the CD, though.

I went to the capitol and had a Life Event which I will tell you more about next year. And the nation finally repealed Don't Ask Don't Tell. Truly, not a bad month.

Bring it on, 2011!

No sassy cheerleaders, though. I'm genuinely excited to see what the new year brings. The band is planning to do some touring, I'll continue to work on my novel and maybe actually even finish it, the play I'm currently rehearsing for will go up in late January...good things. And I am grateful, always.