the terrible twos

Happy birthday, blog! It's been two years since I started this rambling, incoherent screed for the benefit of the 3 people who read it (that includes you, dad). So in the spirit of last year's summation let's briefly take stock of the past year.

Month with the most entries: July. A composing vacation and a trip to the east coast are to blame for this.

Single entry with the most pictures: Greece - part 2 (a grand total of 34). A week in the Mediterranean produces an s-load of photos? Imagine that.

Best meal: the steak and rhubarb crisp I had at La Rana Bistro in Decorah, Iowa. This was the last steak I had before I went vegetarian in August. Although, I may have subsequently "celebrated" election night with a nice juicy steak and a cold beer at a local establishment where I may or may not have witnessed a drug sting by undercover cops yelling with their guns drawn. (I was going to write a blog entry about this but couldn't--for the life of me--figure out how to make it seem funny. Our waiter actually hid behind me. It was a bit of a nail-biter.)

Most verbose: my diatribe about Laura Ingalls Wilder and musical theater. Re-reading this today makes me think I may have woken up on the wrong side of the bed that day.

Most useless: This one's a tie between my critique of Jean Claude Van Damme's Bloodsport and the time Google alerted me about a children's photo contest in Des Moines that I was apparently a participant in.

Proudest moment: running an Olympic triathlon!

Personal favorite: Lee Greenwood's new job

Shows enjoyed:
Death Cab for Cutie at the Orpheum
Dave Matthews Band at Busch Stadium
Matisyahu at the MN Zoo
Hamluke at the Lowry Lab
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers at the Target Center
Hedwig & The Angry Inch at the Jungle Theater
The Juliet Letters at the Southern Theater
Little House on the Prairie at the Guthrie
Rufus Wainwright at the State Theater
Ben Folds at the Myth
Savion Glover at Orchestra Hall
The Making of Americans at the Walker
AC/DC at the Xcel Center
MASS at Orchestra Hall
Bobby McFerrin/Cantus at Orchestra Hall
Mötley Crüe at the Xcel Center
Fleetwood Mac at the Xcel Center
The Adventures of Pinnochio at the Ordway
Britney Spears at the Target Center
Death Cab for Cutie at Roy Wilkins Auditorium

Trips taken:
Greece
Boston
Decorah
Saint Louis
Madison

Pieces premiered:
Passages
To Sing You to Sleep

Hmm, that doesn't seem like very many but, hey, I took a much longer hiatus this year. There's some sweet stuff coming down the pipeline in the next 2 weeks (including 2 premieres in as many weeks and packing up and moving north). Add to that the pieces I wrote/did research for in both French and Urdu and all the opera work I did this summer and I feel pretty good about it. Happy 2nd birthday, blog!