I’m not a fan of odd numbered years. Enough bad happened in 2011 that I couldn’t wait for 2012. 2013 tried really hard to be as tragically sucktastic as possible. My theory is that election years create so much negative energy that our own lives seem pleasant. So.. yay for mid-terms in 2014!
January
The first of the year featured my eldest niece getting married. It was a lovely event, and she’s featured again at the end of the year.
Lee Webb died. Lee was in her early 40s, and had gotten married about a year after Michelle and I did. We’d run into her at a couple of local concerts and she seemed happy. Her death was unexpected, and frightening.
“When a pitcher’s throwing a spitball, don’t worry and don’t complain, just hit the dry side like I do.” — Stan Musial
February
Local girl Jennifer Lawrence wins an Oscar and shows just how cool she is by flipping off a photographer who makes a joke about her tripping.
A giant fireball meteor streaks across the Russian sky. We all know this in minutes due to the combination of insurance fraud, dashboard cameras and ‘social media’.
“Over the past year, the Strategic Consultant role has unquestionably played a vital part in leveraging Lean Six Sigma methodology, spurring [redacted] on to greater levels of performance excellence.” — Actual sentence in an email I received this year.
March
New Pope! Way better than the old pope. Jesuits are underrated.
We double down on our effort to watch every Disney movie before our trip to Disney World. We got most of them done. A handful of films from around 2000 were missed. We didn’t get to Dinosaur, or Home on the Range. But rewatching several dozen children’s films over a month or two is a fun little project.
“Art is the closest we can come to understanding how a stranger really feels.” — Roger Ebert
April
A guy named Carlos Arredondo shows us what it means to be a good citizen. He’s the guy in a cowboy hat, manually holding closed an artery of one of the Boston Marathon bombing victims.
U of L wins the national championship (in Men’s College Basketball), the women’s team comes in 2nd. Michelle doesn’t care at all, but I think it’s nice to have the championship go from UK to U of L, and I hope one of them wins it again.
“I couldn’t wait for success, so I went ahead without it.” — Jonathan Winters
May
Angelina Jolie announces she had a preventative mastectomy, because she tested positive for a genetic predisposition to breast cancer. This story rears its head in my world in a few weeks.
Walt Disney World — Loved everything about this trip. I wouldn’t recommend doing it this ‘right’ regularly, since it was just shy of ridiculously expensive. Five days exploring 4 parks, and eating a truly ludicrous amount of food. We’ll likely go back, someday.
Listened to Beatles Anthology, front to back again. In honor of Everett. I like this annual tradition.
“VACATION!!!!!!!!!! Perhaps the greatest word in the English language.” — Michelle (on Facebook)
June
Schmoops’ birthday is celebrated at Richo’s, and they have Old Rasputin on nitrous. I got her a gorgeous Maleficent statue.
Our living room is finally decorated with Electric Mayhem posters. Life is good.
“Scotch on the rocks.. and I MEAN ICE!” — Eddie Valiant (it was the 25th anniversary of Who Framed Roger Rabbit)
July
Got into an argument with a 3 year old over whether or not Orcas are Sharks.
Finally finished my bottle of Elijah Craig 18 year, that was several years old. You know, if you’re looking for gift ideas, I could use a replacement bottle of expensive celebration bourbon.
Michelle made me watch Pitch Perfect, repeatedly. It’s still on our DVR.
“It’s a Shark!” — Lila
August
Went to see Strangers on a Train at the Louisville Palace. The Hitchcock series there every summer is one of nicest annual Louisville traditions.
Michelle’s mom got diagnosed with breast cancer.
Michelle postpones a previously scheduled hysterectomy. To take care of her mom post surgery. Also we now need to find out if the hysterectomy needs to be changed from partial to full, due to genetic testing. Her mom’s test comes back negative, eventually. But it’s a LONG few weeks.
The news of the negative result means Michelle can skip the test, plans don’t have to change, and the weight of the diagnosis for her mom lightens immensely. I kidnap Michelle from work and we go celebrate with beer and comraderie. That day was, quite simply, as good as it gets.
Her mother has a mastectomy, recovers way faster than a human should. Seriously, like 3–4 days, she was fine. Janet Kennedy is crazy strong, ya’ll.
“Tony Stark realizes that there has been a disturbance in — in what he will call a time ribbon. For the time being, I will allow J.J. Abrams to think of a better term for this. And he then starts to assemble the cream of the Marvel universe, not — not the second-tier super heroes that we saw in the first Avengers movie, I’m sorry but Hawkeye and Black Widow are not first-tier. He would go find, hello, Spider-Man? Spider-Man exists in that universe.” — Patton Oswalt’s epic Star Wars filibuster from Parks and Recreation
September
Took Michelle to Gethsemani. We couldn’t hike, but we enjoyed a chant and bought a whole bunch of cheeses.
Jim Henson Biography comes out, and reminds the world that he was one of the most interesting and wonderful people of the 20th century. Read it.
“If our “message” is anything, it’s a positive approach to life. That life is basically good.” — Jim Henson
October
We celebrate our 5th anniversary with a trip to Columbus IN. A top 10 architectural destination, despite it being a pretty small town. We stayed in a nice, artsy hotel and enjoyed the trip a lot.
Michelle has a hysterectomy. It was intended to be partial, but became a full one once she was opened up. She was suffering from Endometriosis, Adenomyosis, and fibroid tumors. Basically, she was in a LOT of pain, all the time. I took a few weeks off to take care of her. She was only doped up on pain killers and awake for a few hours. Not nearly enough entertainment.
“You made me forget myself; I thought I was someone else, someone good.” — Lou Reed (Perfect Day)
November
Michelle recovers, and is mostly all better now. Her sleep still gets a little wacky, but we’re hopeful for a pain and surgery free few years now.
The 150th anniversary of The Gettysburg Address goes by, without nearly enough fanfare.
St. Louis loses the World Series to the Boston Red Sox. Boo.
My friend Eric died. He took the photos we used for our reception invites. He took more photos of me than anyone ever. He was a smart guy who lived his life by his own rules, and died doing something he loved. He’s going to be sorely missed.
Thanksgiving. It’s still the best holiday. Michelle and I spent it in Flatwoods again, with Jeremy and her parents.
“I bet living well does more good than posting crappy inspirational shit all over the internet does.” — Eric Bartley
December
My niece, Jessica, the one mentioned in January, has a healthy baby boy. Making me a “Great Uncle” for the first of what will undoubtedly be many, many times.
Christmas happens. And I get a handful of new Windmill drawings from nieces and nephews, and an awesome one from the brother in law.
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” — Nelson Mandela
2013 Recommendations
- Game of Thrones
- Jim Henson: The Biography
- The Exchange (New Albany)
- Narcoossee’s (Grand Floridian Hotel, in Orlando (WDW))
