Year In Review

2011 was a bit of a roller coaster ride for me. Going into this year, I vowed that it was a time of change, just like everyone on planet earth. I mean, who doesn't make a resolution like...

1) I am going to lose some weight.

2) I am going to eat better.

3) I am going to volunteer. 

4) I am not going to make a resolution this year. 

What was me resolution you ask? Well honestly, I usually tend to go for option number four up there, but this year was different. I had just come out of a very long relationship in which I was engaged at the time, I had a job but didn't like it, and my favorite loan sharks were sending me letters in the mail by the damn truckload. I honestly think there was a man down the street whose job was to come to my door every day and put a letter from Sallie Mae in it. They killed at least three trees for letters just to me by now. But like I said, this year was different for me. I remember exactly where I was and what I thought to myself as Strokey Clark struggled to count down from 10. All I wanted to do was better myself. Better myself not in one specific way, but better myself just some way, period. Not to sound too cocky, but I think I made that happen.

In an overview of sorts, I will give you the who, what, where, why, when, and hows that have happened to me this past year. Trust me people, I gave it a lot of thought. This is what I came up with.

 WHO

First of all, just to cover my own ass, I would like to say if I forget anyone I am very sorry. But I have met a shit ton of people this past year. And not to mention a lot of these people I talk to on a daily basis and love having in my life. If you know nothing about me thus far, know this... I am a genuinely loving person. I love my friends and family in my life and would literally do anything for them. With that said, these are the notable people in my life that I have met this year and in no particular order of course.

-First of all, and probably most importantly, I became an uncle this year. My brother Joel and sister in law Melissa had little baby Tilly. She is literally the cutest thing you could ever imagine. I love her to bits.

-It wan an absolute pleasure meeting all of the people who worked with one of my best friends, Brad Bishop. Especially Phil, Jeff, and Laura. Also through affiliation with Brad, I had the pleasure of meeting Becca who also runs a really girlie, yet wonderfully written blog called My Girlish Whims. Check it out at http://www.mygirlishwhims.blogspot.com/

- I would like to mention who I consider a very good friend of mine now, Gene. I knew you for a while Gene but never really spent time with you. But you are an amazing person, man.

-I met this person through a very good friend of mine, Scott. He started dating an amazing person by the name of Anna. I have literally never ever approved a girl that one of my friends has dated after the first time I met them. This was the first girl. Good choice Scotty boy.

-I would also like to mention something that is sort of the faux pas elephant in the room. Yes, I did in fact join a dating site in 2011. Honestly, everyone does it these days so I don't really get embarrassed by it anymore. But I have met a few really cool girls through the site who I talk to a hell of a lot. I am talking about you Leah and Marie. talking to you guys is literally one of the highlights of my days.

Trust me, there are like 100 more people I could mention in this but those people are the ones I really connected with this past year. Love you guys.

What

This is sort of a broad subject in which I think I have covered pretty well in previous blog posts. But in case you are new to the game here, I will reiterate. I will tell you exactly what I did this year... I went to two awful jobs a lot, went to the gym a lot, ate some food along the way, watched a lot of sports, hung out with some friends, applied for literally hundreds of jobs, and enjoyed every second of it along the way. You know, besides the fact creditors are literally breathing down my neck, life is pretty enjoyable at the moment. I mean, I did some other stuff as well. I started this blog for one. This is something I take great pride in and hope everyone enjoys. I finished writing my first book, It's My Life and I'm Pissed, which is currently in the process of being edited by a good friend of mine, Chris. I started writing for another website called gamesomnia.org as well. Actually, now that I have thought about it and written it down, I started doing something this year that I really had never done before... writing. And damn it, I think I'm pretty good at it.

Like I said, I worked two awful jobs this year. This switchboard job I am always at and a part time job delivering pizza at Papa John's. A job is a job, so they say... but not when people don't tip you for doing your job. I joined a gym and lost 35 pounds thus far. This is probably one of the bigger accomplishments of my current year. It took hard freaking work and I am not done quite yet. Other than those things, everything else is pretty self explanatory.

Where

I didn't get to go to that many places this year, but the places I went to were quality. Probably the highlight trip of the year was my day trip to Detroit to see a Tigers game against the Indians. The park was gorgeous and I have never seen more expensive pizza in such a broken down piece of trash city in my life. Little Ceasars pizza was literally $20 for a large. No wonder no one lives there. You can literally see skyscrapers from the stadium that are abandoned with every window boarded up. Its hilariously depressing. Honestly, every building looks like this.

I also went to a couple museums in Pittsburgh. Namely the Warhol Museum and the Carnegie Natural History and Art museum. I love museums more than a lot of things in life honestly and would love to go and visit more.

I went to quite a few concerts this year as well. I went and saw Bon Jovi, Fitz and the Tantrums, Third Eye Blind, Sara Bareilles, and Tim and Eric. All of these were spectacular by the way.

Other than those things, I guess I could mention some unreal restaurants I went to. Honestly, it is rare to go to an eatery and make an impression with me. Obviously I like food. there is no denying that one. But for a place to make a memorable experience for me. First, I went to a place called Big Jim's in Pittsburgh. It is this little hole in the wall that has unreal wedding soup and a veal parm sandwich that not only is probably one of the best tasting things I have ever had, but literally as big as my head.

I had the best, and biggest fish sandwich I have ever eaten at a place called Roland's in the Strip District in Pittsburgh. I also recommend the lobster roll which I also tried. Also, and this was a big deal to me, I had the absolute best burger I have ever had in my entire life. It was a $16 bacon cheeseburger made from wagyu kobe beef from a place called Burgatory. This place is also located near Pittsburgh.

Now I know none of this really matters, but reminiscing makes me feel good.

Why

Not exactly sure what to put here. Am I supposed to answer why I lived my life in 2011? Because I'm awesome obviously. That's why.

When and How

Once again I am stumped to what exactly I should put here. I slowly came to realize that the last three categories of this blog post are completely irrelevant.

But honestly, I would like to thank everyone and everything that helped me through this wonderful 2011. And to tell you the truth, I really don't have a resolution this year. Well actually.. maybe I should.

"In the new year, I will continue to be pretty awesome. I will continue to go to the gym and lose weight while still scarfing down a crap ton of red meat. I will also try and be nicer to old people... maybe... I also WILL find a full time and well paid job or my life as we know it is over. Thank you and God bless."

Happy New Year everyone! Thanks for reading and I love you all!