2007: The Year in Review

This has been a long motherfucker of a year. Last year around this time when I stopped to think I came to the conclusion that I was living the high life. Things could only go downhill. God damn, was I wrong. Nineteen has been a triumph. I've seen the rise and fall of friendships, two cars, a musical adventure, and more changed opinions than I care to imagine. I may finally be coming into my own as a person and settling into the path that defines me forever. The year was anything but uniform, though. It's got three distinct parts and every one carried with it different lessons and arching changes.

The Year in Segments
I. January-June
This is the least influential of the parts and the one that is most like last year. I built three friendships and watched one fade and probably learned nothing the whole time. This was the age of the ska-punk and I spent it blasting ska and wearing denim. Kaitlin became a good friend and I got to know Nikki again. Alicia became the one real friend at UC and joined me in one misadventure in April that changed everything. I'll never forget the parts I remember. The downside is that Emily's prolonged absence caused the friendship to fade into the background. We can still talk about anything but almost never do. Aside from school, thats my one lament of 2007. I also experienced the last great runs with Angus and finally killed the poor bastard.

II. June-September
This short segment is a transitional period. It was the summer of shindigs. It was the change of cars and interests. I spent the summer growing used to the Jetta and learning to love indie rock. My goal was to get buried as deeply as possible in the local music and I think I only half-succeeded. Throughout it all was the work and the shindigs.

III. September-November
I leave out December because I think it's the transition into the next year more than anything. It doesn't fit into this year because the third segment is defined by one person through whom I've met more people had more adventures than anyone else this year. One night in late August I was abducted by Nikki and met the girl and from there things went weird. Meagan's introduced me to the whole NKU cadre and re-introduced me to coworker I never imagined myself hanging out with. This chunk was defined by parties, people, and a never-ending quest to get more tunes. It built to a climax and came to a screeching halt one Thursday night when Meagan lost six months. Everything felt different from there because so many people were affected in different ways. This is also the point where I decided I might have to change majors. I've since changed my mind on that but knowing it's a possibility scares me a bit. December is the turning point, though. After the accident I also ran out of time and money so the crush on Sarah (Yeah, you, if you still read this thing) died. The year is ending well regardless of the mini-disaster and 20 should be suitably spectacular.

The People in Review
I made a lot of good friends this year and nearly lost contact with some others. This, my friends, is the list.
Kaitlin Shupert - Kaitlin is and always will be the first person I invite to a concert. We really started talking early this year and she's distressingly like my mother sometimes, but I never suspected I'd actually get to know one of the younglings I ignored. Sometimes she's like a little sister to me, but the girl's usually mature enough so I can take issues to her and actually feel like I've done something. Unfortunately our schedules have clashed in the later part of the year and we don't talk as often as we used to.
Joseph Hanna - Joseph spent a summer a year or two ago where he almost lived at my house and since then we've nearly been siblings. This year Joseph brought his cooking skills to the fore. He built a permanent fire pit in the backyard and is a huge part of any party I throw. I know he fears we only use him for his food, but I vastly prefer Joseph to my own brother in nearly every respect.
Joey Kunzleman - Joey is a creepster supreme and almost scarily polite until you get to know him. Then he's more or less an average guy with some strange tastes. I got to know him pretty well this year and think sometime in the future a roadtrip may be in order. After one drunk dial this summer, I'd love to chill with the kid and his friends and get a little hammered sometime.
Nikki Greis - I went to gradeschool with Nikki and back then knew her sister better, but we re-met through Facebook last November and spent the first half of this year getting to know each other again. She was pretty shy at first and can be really mercurial, but I feel really grounded around her. I'm not sure why that is. She also introduced me to a lot of cool people. She's more popular and outgoing than she thinks she is.
Emily Wernet - I've told things to Emily that I've told to nobody else and during a short stretch at the end of high school I don't think I had a closer friend, but this year has been marred by us drifting apart. We're still great friends and probably always will be but our distance and busy schedules are keeping us from talking to the detriment of the friendship. I've had some unforgettable adventures with her in 2007, though. Who hasn't heard of the infamous drive to Louisville with Angus's hood in the back seat?
Brandon Stephens - Brandon and I have been good friends and partners in crime for about a decade now, and it seems like most of the shit we do is entirely superficial. While we'd like to have serious conversations, our personalities and methods for dealing with things are too different for them to take place often. Still, the man is a great friend and I can rely on him for damn near anything. Besides, it's always good to know a guy who really understands the meaning of "epic."
Meagan McNeilan - Nikki introduced me to Meagan sometime in August and we spent the next two months becoming exceedingly good friends. Talking through the night with her is usually a treat and she has a lot of good things to say if you can deal with someone with a harshly judgmental side. The friendship climaxed during two weeks in November. After she bashed her head and lost six months the talks mostly stopped. We're still really good friends and I'm damn happy about that but for me, her, and a lot of other people in the group I don't think things will ever be the same. She seems to have finished the year off on a high note, though. I'm really happy about that.
Sarah Leidy - I worked with Sarah for 7 months in 2006 and we never really talked. I met her again through Meagan and for a while we were running into each other constantly. The girl has an absolutely wonderful taste in music. Between that and how often I saw her during the last quarter of this year I managed to develop a pretty solid crush that I'm pretty sure everyone but her found out about. After Meagan got hurt I basically stopped running into her and then ran out of money, so I never actually tried to do anything about the crush. Oh, well. What's important is that I still run into her often enough to have picked up a good friend.
Ryan Williams - I first knew of Ryan as the guy Meagan was interested in but in October and November we actually started talking. Ryan is a really cool guy despite the occasional mopester tendencies and collects a lot of weird and interesting music. The man's a damn good drinking buddy and has a grasp on sarcasm like nobody I've met before.
Tommy Scott - Fifthe is another of the NKU gremlins I met through Meagan and is one of the more fun people I've met from that horde. He's a douchebag, something we have in common, and knows a good cigar when he sees one. He's also the source of more WTF moments than anyone I've found at NKU. Man shot? WTF, Fifthe, WTF...
Julie Cupp - Julie is almost an NKU-er and another of Meagan's awesome friends. I met her a few times at parties but we never really talked until her car got stuck on Meagan's hill and we had nothing better to do for most of a day. The girl's batshit crazy in all the good ways and has some interesting ideas about hair but it's a guarantee that things are brighter when she's around.
Alicia Zwiebel - Alicia is my one real friend from UC and I didn't know her real well until the spring break run to Michigan. We got way too drunk and she got the honor of hauling my blacked-out ass back from the frat party and became true friends on the way. It's really strange that I get along with someone so different in values and opinions but we manage to keep things going and take interesting perspectives along on our adventures to wherever.
Stephen Reynolds - Stevo is as good a friend as ever. That's what's remarkable about him. We rarely see each other and don't communicate often but every time we meet it's like we'd never parted. It's strange that we never see each other but the friendship never deteriorates. I'm not sure why that is, but I'm really happy about it. Stevo is cool as hell and might be the most real person I know.
Amber Cummings - She wasn't in the first run of this post because I never see her, but despite being in a permanent state of serious confusion she's only ever been nice to me. With any luck I'll run into her occasionally in 2008. Doesn't seem to have happened much in late 2007.
Jimmy Nichols - Another late addition to the post, I added him because I finally decided on the right term. Jimmy is like some kind of geek Jesus. The man has the ability for cruelty because it's required in good DMing but he may be the flat-out nicest guy I've met this year. Like so many of my friends he has a neat taste in music and is a virtual encyclopedia on many things science fiction and fantasy. One of the things I missed out on in 2007 was gaming a lot with him, but I'm sure I can rectify that in 2008.

The Year in Music
I started the year with something like five gigabytes of music. That's about fifteen hundred songs. I'm finishing the year with more than sixty gigs. This has been a huge year for music and the year when I really got into indie rock. Which albums hit me the hardest? I'll embed videos when I can.
Top Five Albums of 2007
5. The Lashes - Get It
Key Song: "Sometimes the Sun"
This album is indicative of my changing crowd and my changing taste in music. It's happy indie pop played by a bunch of scenesters. None of my friends got into the album but I'm still happy when it comes up on party shuffle. I bought the album on the strength of one single, "Sometimes the Sun" and fell in love with the whole album. "Sometimes the Sun"
4. DragonForce - Inhuman Rampage
Key Song: "Through the Fire and Flames"
This album is the theme of Angus. That piece of shit had more adventures this year to the epic wailing of DragonForce than I care to remember and the album will always remind me of the aforementioned drive to Louisville and rolling out of UC with the windows down and the stereo blasting. The album also blew out three of the speakers in that car. It's the first thing I reach for when I'm asked to play something epic and reminds me that life is still fun in the end.
3. Streetlight Manifesto - Keasby Nights
Key Song: "Keasby Nights"
This album is the anthem for getting to know Nikki and seeing them live twice this year was everything I hoped it would be. Their angry commentary on life and horn-heavy brand of ska is fun to listen and dance to and makes for good driving music. This is the album that narrated the early chunk of 2007. Streetlight only made one video, though, so nothing to link you to here.
2. Ben Folds - Songs for Silverman
Key Song: "Landed"
While Ben Folds in general was one of the artists I played most this year, this is the album that I played year-round. It's the background to a lot of adventures and a lot of long contemplations about life. It also participated in one of the weirdest moments of the year. "Landed" came up in party shuffle soon after I got iTunes and Sarah IMed me with the lyrics almost in realtime. Coincidences like that shouldn't happen. "Landed"
1. The Format - Dog Problems
Key Song: "She Doesn't Get It"
I really started listening to this album this fall and heard it about daily when I was getting to know the NKU crowd. It's happy indie pop that never gets unrealistic and is written by a band who has experience with hardship and parties. The key song is "She Doesn't Get It" because it's typical of the album as a whole - ironic and happy but tempered by just a bit of melancholy.
Other notable artists:
Jimmy Eat World - Jimmy Eat World is notable for being the driving music of April and was playing on the way to Ann Arbor whenever XM wasn't.
The Pinstripes - I saw them live several times in 2007 and have some good memories from the Poison Room and Bogarts. "Uh, yeah... she vomited on my shirt."
All The Day Holiday - I got their album from Sarah a couple weeks ago and it quickly became a favorite. It's really mellow and calm. I'd love to see them live.
Fall Out Boy - I never thought I'd listen to them and me from last year would kick my ass if he found out, but I really like From Under the Cork Tree. It's strange and witty and has some well-thought-out song titles. Aside from that it's just high-energy pop-punk that's fun to listen to.

A Year of Firsts
I tried a lot of new shit in 2007 and have some interesting statistics. This is the rundown.
Times laid: 3
Grand Adventures: 3 (Utah, NYC, Ann Arbor)
Jobs: 3
Cars: 2
Crushes: 3 (0 pursued, as usual)
First flight
First real college party
First time blackout drunk
First cigarette (I used to hold a huge prejudice in favor of cigars.)

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my Year in Review. I know I still have half a month of 2007 but this is more about me being 19 than it being 2007 so midway between the two is a good starting point. I'm interested to see how it ends, though I think the year peaked at the end of November. Peace out, bitches, and have fun with life. I know I will.
----------------
Now playing: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - The Impression That I Get
via FoxyTunes