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11:58 a.m. - 2003-12-30
heres to 2004
tuesday, december 30.

this entry is going to be long.

Christmas was great, mike got me the best pair of shoes ever made (white leather Campers with green soles and red flowers and embroidery), saw Lord of the Rings with my family on my mom's birthday, friendly times with all the friendships in g town.

and now this. i wrote a list, a la slatch because I couldn't think of a "best of" anything. so here's one memorable thing about this year for every year I've been on the planet.

List of 2003. in no real order.

1. The Shins at the House of Blues.

2. my official jukebox songs: Domino, Van Morrison. Beast of Burden, The Rolling Stones. Cracklin' Rosie, Neil Diamond. Fat Bottom Girls, Queen.

3. California with Shane. four days removed from everything else in my life, right when I needed it most. Those hills covered in flowers on highway 99, the Lucien Freud exhibit, my five second appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel show.

4. drinking wild irish rose with zeb and ransom on the fourth of july.

5. 7 and 7 on courtney's porch on a temperate august night. all the times my friends came together in a new place and we never skipped a beat.

6. shoes. according to my calculations, I purchased at least one pair a month. highlights: the burgundy chinese laundry mary janes ( i get compliments every time I wear them), the cheap black sandals from target I beat the hell out of this summer.

7. the drive up to wisconsin to see radiohead. feeling so young and zeitgeisty. talking to those married guys / fathers from minnesota, and the really good espresso they made. then listening to the canadian chiropracters argue about chiropracting. i could have totally missed the concert and it still would have been a great day.

8. the two months of my life i tried to live like a novel and everything went screwy, late may through mid july. lord was I glad when that came to a close.

9. friday afternoons on loyola beach.

10. thursday nights drinking wine on val's third floor deck, the sun setting over wicker park.

11. listening to only Spoon and Erlend Oye for what seems like 4 months straight. summer music.

12. selling my font! oh yeah, I'm supposed to get my royalty check soon. i'm really looking forward to that $12.

13. iowa city on the weekend of halloween. it always feels good to pretend I'm in college again, at least for a short time. and I can't remember the last time I hung out with Zeb when he wasn't bombed.

14. being in wrigleyville after the cubs lost the 7th game: priceless. i've never seen a more depressed looking crowd. also, being at the cubs game when Ozzy Osbourne butchered Take Me Out to the Ballgame. it was so hot that day.

15. the breakdancers at the De La Soul show, though I remember very little of De La Soul.

16. Rainer Maria / Mates of State, twice.

17. Two wednesday book readings in a row, middle of the summer: Douglas Coupland, Dave Eggers. Realizing that I can still appreciate Douglas Coupland even though I've grown out of loving him makes me feel adult, somehow. but he's really funny in person. and canadian.

18. The Streets on St. Patrick's Day, at the metro. near the end he could hardly rap he was so drunk. he had all kinds of ridiculous plastic green necklaces all over him, too. other good Metro memories: Royksopp, the Dismemberment Plan. yelling "ellen and ben!" over and over.

19. moving out of our apartment in the middle of nowhere. the new place rocks and it suits me so much better. the ten minute walk to my favorite record store doesn't hurt either. i'm really reaching a new love of chicago.

20. not getting fired even though my office had no projects for about three months. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I went to my doctor and he put me on Prilosec, I was getting an ulcer because I was so stressed out about not working.

21. i'm rounding out this list with Mike stuff. (schmoopy!) his office christmas party which felt like a movie of a christmas party. the two of us at the top of the john hancock building beforehand, being engulfed in a snowing cloud.

22. the saturday this fall we walked up and down michigan avenue, talking and really getting to know each other. going to the museum of contemporary art, me dancing with that guy on the street, eating salmon at a steakhouse.

23. the night he took me to Wilco at the auditorium theatre. probably the best night of this year, the surprise of it, the "official" start of the mike and katie relationship. at the risk of sounding gushy, I can honestly say he's the best thing to happen to me this year. everything has changed in such a positive way in the last four months. love is great.

this list makes me happy and tired. i'm sure i'm forgetting about a hundred other good things. and a few bad things, too. i grew up a lot this year. here's to 2004.

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