In February, I lost one of the loves of my life in a freak car accident, and felt emotionally set adrift for the majority of the year. In April, I left the corporate grind, completely and dramatically, and packed up the entirety of my life for the second time in 8 months to move an hour west to the middle of a field…and I worked. REALLY worked, for the first time in a long time. In July I then lost my grandmother–the grounding, sane foundation of the otherwise insane maternal side of my family. The world continued to send its reminder: nothing is promised but the fact that it all will end. Live now, not later.

I reconnected with running and finally figured out why workouts in the gym never felt like enough: it’s the outdoors, stupid. (I did not renew my gym membership.) I read the entire Harry Potter series, frantically planted kale on the back of a transplanter at 8:15 at night, tried $300 caviar, and deepened my love affair with the art of beer and cooking. I vowed, when the farming season was over, to not take a job that prevents being outside at least 4 days of the week. This has been possibly the most important improvement in my life so far.

I’ve learned an incredible amount about vegetables, physicality, wine, cheese, personal customer service and business structure from some incredibly unlikely places. I’ve been constantly reminded of the Apache Relay lyric, “Home is not places, it is love.” So here’s to 2012, making all this knowledge and change work together, and never forgetting to live. What. A Fucking. Year.

1. Firsts this Year:

• There’s 800,000 of these, easily. Living in a house with snakes?
• Driving multiple F-150s
• Crashing a golf cart through a creek (repeatedly)
• Harvesting garlic, turnips, kale, rhubarb, chard, lettuces, potatoes, beans, beets, everything
• Finding a grasshopper, blister beetle, ticks, johnson grass, rocks, a small potato etc. in my pants
• Launching watermelons off the back of a truck to watch them explode on the ground
• Logging 10+ hour days of work without once seeing a computer screen
• Being paid and consulted as a beverage expert

2. Song for 2011
I guess it’d have to be Apache Relay – Home is Not Places. But Eddie Vedder’s Hard Sun and Necrofacility’s Explode are close seconds.

3. Movie for 2011
Heh, the last Harry Potter, man!

4. Restaurant of the Year
Magnolias At the Mill kept me sane through one of the hottest Julys on record and provided hockey broadcasts when I was in need. Go see Morgan at the bar for some delicious brews.

5. Book of the Year
George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series (almost done with Book 3…must…finish….)

6. TV Show of the Year
Game of Thrones. Though Hell on Wheels is giving it a run for its money in the off-season.

7. Best Decision of the Year
Deciding to do whatever it takes financially to cut the corporate rope.

8. Bad Idea That Seemed Like A Good Idea At the Time
Many nights out at the Black Cat. Ugh.

9. Best Relationship of 2011
Carrie/Matty/Chris – my DC support crew trifecta, as was true for 2010. Though Ms. Mollie Z, my co-farmhand this summer, is a close contender to make it a er, quad-fecta?

10. Most Memorable “WTF?” Moment of 2011
Having my birthday vacation almost wiped out for the second year in a row by a hurricane. (We’re no longer going to the beach for my birthday.)

11. Newcomer of the Year Award
Mollie Z, Stacey & Casey and the rest of the farm crew. Much love.

12. Low Point of the Year
Late July was pretty ugly. Mid-February a close second.

13. Biggest Change of the Year
Uh….everything.

14. Plans/Goals for Next Year
Stability. Maine. More hiking. More $$ saving.

15. High Point of the Year
Hard to name just one. Many a Twin Peaks & cherry pie weekend, many a hockey & couch & beer night, many a farm happy hour / beer o’clock.

16. New Year’s Resolution(s)
No resolutions. Just forward motion.

I will return! For now… 65 hour retail weeks. Ooof. (oh right, I need to update that Aboot page.)

In the meantime there’s new Skinny Puppy, new Florence + The Machine (holy crap If Only For a Night!), and poking around the new Ulver album/EP that came out in May that I somehow missed (and thus revisiting the weirdness of Blood Inside. 2005?! Seriously? Man…I am getting old fast. Somebody stop this crazy train.)

It’s also late fall/winter which means lots…and lots…of Bauhaus. She’s in Parties shuffled on in the car on the way home from work tonight and between the weekday night and the rain and the fall weather, I missed Dharma coffeehouse circa ’94 something FIERCE. Damn. Had a strong and sudden urge to drive to old town Fairfax and do 2 hours of Western Civ homework while smoking 555s. I miss you, Dharma.

Back again! Let’s get to it.

Boris – Just Abandoned Myself
This album is a good dose of everything + mid 90s punk circa ’05. Or something.

Amerie – 1 Thing
I warned you about the suddenly-having-access-to-everything-ever-bought-via-iTunes thing. (What happened to this chick?) (I forgot about the pantsless era of the 00s)

Warren G – Regulate
I seriously heard this on the radio last week. Just the first few notes makes me smirk.

Spank Rock – Rick Rubin
This album took me a while to warm up to but man I still love it.

Santi(o)gold – You’ll Find a Way (Switch & Sinden Remix)
Reminds me of Luisa and Laura screaming in the car in LA. Brings the LOLz.

Alias & Tarsier – Sleepy
Oh man! Blast from the past. This show was awesome.

• Waterproof pants (Sierra Designs): waistband cord exploded, zippers at ankles barely close, no longer waterproof at knees/thigh
• Fleece jacket/liner (REI): Zipper pull disintegrated
• Work boots (Ahnu): hole in left heel, but still remarkably viable
• Waterproof/windproof shell (REI): No longer waterproof beyond a light shower
• Knife (Kershaw): Lost when clip loosened and jettisoned knife off a moving golf cart (bought another).
• Nitro work gloves (Atlas): Tomato stringing decimated dipped coating on one pair, sharp rock removed tip of two fingers on another. Good thing I have four pairs.
• Work pants (Adventura): My favorite pants dammit! Mysterious rip in back of right thigh, huge gaping hole in left knee.
• Sunglasses (Target): Now scratched enough to be unusable while driving due to, well, being unable to see.

Inexplicable top performers: Old navy cargo pants, my brother’s Iron Maiden 1988 tour shirt.

I still have four more days. I’m sure the clock is ticking on more…

(driving wet, back country roads home with lightning and thunder in the distance, to this track = pretty fantastic)

(I do sleep on the left.)

…which of course leads to…
Fugees – Ready or Not
There’s a great video for this but…uh…screw Vevo. Anywhere you go, my whole crew gonna know.

Pascow - Alles Muss Kaputt Sein
This is here purely to underscore why you shouldn’t iTunes while drunk. “What is…why do I own this?”

INXS – What You Need
Because I took three beers to the face rapidly after a long, long day of heavy manual labor and it’s moving me. Literally.

Big Country – Big Country
What plays in my head riding in the back of the F-150 lately while we drive out to the fields in the morning with all the leaves changing. (There’s a great video for this that was on MTV all the time, but I can’t find it. Boo.)

Project Pitchfork – Song of the Winds
I sometimes chant this under my breath when I’m tired of weeding and desperately want it to rain so I can go home. Truth.

Wolves Like Us – Secret Handshake
This band is still everything right about 90s alternative. And Norway. And unfortunately not on youtube.

The National – Anyone’s Ghost
Yep.

Saul Williams – List of Demands
Can’t get away from Saul. If you ain’t dead then sing along.

Pearl Jam - State of Love and Trust
This is only on here because I saw some recent band was covering it and was all weirded out, “that song came out less than 10 years ago…jerkwads.” Oh…’92 you say? Oh. Yeah. Hmm. 20 years eh?

Which then lead to the movie Singles, which lead to..
Soundgarden – Face Pollution
There is nothing like plowing through traffic to this track.

It’s officially Fall, which means if you don’t like heavy music, you may want to ignore my blog until May or June. Now, that we have that out of the way…

Wolves Like Us – Deathless
Something is….off about this album. Which, I’m sure, is why I like it. This is what you get when Norwegians who like The Afghan Whigs write metal…or something. The “Shiver in the Heat” track off this album has an almost-Pegboy feel. Crazy.

Florence & the Machine – Shake it Out
Blows Arcade Fire’s own sound out of their own water. Florence owns you.

White Lies – A Place to Hide
Also check out the KCRW in-studio of this… it still amazes me that he just…SOUNDS like that when he opens his mouth. They’re like…12. Ok, 19. Ok, 21.

Mastodon – The Ruiner
They’re not 12. And I’m sure a lot of longtime fans hate the new album. That’s unfortunate, and they should give me their tickets to the 11/27 show. Cheers! Alright!

Spank Rock – Energy
Spank Rock is totally ridiculous. But I hope the crazy train keeps going. Runner up: Nasty. You nasty.

The Head & The Heart – Down in the Valley
Just to keep you on your toes. This has been the farmstand soundtrack this week…I dig the time signature changes. (Hat tip: M. Watts. Have mercy on our rough and rowdy ways, indeed.)

I admit that you certainly need to be in a mood for most of this week’s six. I’ve been in that mood it seems. We’re taking a hard left here.

The Association – Along Comes Mary
I grew up listening to The Association in a passive way thanks to my father, but I had no idea how effing weird they were until I saw this “live” version of Along Comes Mary. The song is strangely syncopated and unique for the era. Groovy, man.

The Buckinghams – Kind of a Drag
One of those weird-ass multiple-hit producer wonders the 60s produced. They were asked to change their name to something “more British” due to Beatles Mania…hence, The Buckinghams. You know, a bunch of dudes from Chicago. Not awkward. This song is the strangest collision of 50s doo-wop and 60s mod/slang that it totally fascinates me for some reason.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Running Down a Dream
This has been popping up on the radio a lot when we’re tooling around in the trucks at work. Tom Petty has really grown on me in the last 10 years.

Simon & Garfunkel / The Bangles – Hazy Shade of Winter
I love this song. I may like the Bangles cover better. I think it’s my #1 karaoke choice. (whoa, that chick from The Lost Boys was in Less Than Zero? Huh.)

Snap – The Power (of Bhangra)
I went to look up this song for reasons that are surely strange (but I don’t remember at this point) and found a bhangra remix. Oh Snap, so ahead of your time. (Holy SHIT the flat top! Wow.)

Ella Fitzgerald – Summertime
I somehow went from my 60s wormhole to Porgy & Bess. I have no idea where that leap happened but…love this track. The progression of 30s weird-ass opera to jazz mainstay to Sublime bastardizing the melody/lyrics kind of boggles my mind.

Next weekend I go on my first real vacation in a long while for my birthday, so don’t you worry, you’ll get way more of my ramble than you ever wanted. Wondering what to get me? Wonder no more!