2008 in review.

2008, you are a shit year. i will be glad when midnight hits and i can officially roundhouse kick you in the FACE.

i can say without a doubt that 2008 was the most difficult year of my life. the good news is that here i am, december 31st, still alive and still kicking. i have a positive attitude. i see good things on the horizon. so if that was the worst life has to offer so far, then everything's gonna be fine and things can only get more awesome.

january. 2008 started at dan and tess's party and migrated to empire. i was temping at the amazingly boring wachovia and pretty much hating it. i was living with brett and jenna in their attic. it was in late january that i made one of the most difficult decisions i've made in my life - to quit olympia and decide not to tour anymore. i'm satisfied with the decision that i made, but there's not a day that goes by where i don't miss it.

february. in february i left my job at wachovia in grand style (YAY!) and returned to my former job at the marketing agency. it was the official beginning of the "career", a conscious decision to commit to long-term employment without the escape of an upcoming tour or album on the horizon. i played my last official shows with olympia at mojos in richmond and rock'n'roll hotel in DC.

march. in march my grandmother got very ill and passed away shortly after. we drove up to ohio for her funeral which, despite being sad, was one of my most cherished memories of spending time with my extended family. shortly after that, i attended the funeral of a high-school friend, rob slimak, who died in an accident at 27. in non-death related news, i decided to buy an autoharp and started taking my first lessons.

april. april derailed just about everything, including autoharp lessons. as most of you already know, april was my bike accident. i broke most of the bones in my face, stayed in the hospital for about a week, had two surgeries, had metal plates and screws put into my face, and had my jaw wired shut for about 6 weeks. it was a very trying time, but thanks to the amazing surgeons, i have made a full recovery.

may. all of may was spent in bed, taking painkillers every four hours, hardly sleeping. i was only able to drink liquids and ate all my meals through a straw. may was when my love for rob & big began due to all-day MTV2 marathons. without a doubt, i survived may because of the support of my amazing mom and jenny, who were completely selfless and were by my side for most of this difficult time.

june. things are starting to look up! i moved into an amazing loft apartment with kenny and bill. bill hadn't arrived yet, but we saved him a room. i returned to my job and to a semi-regular richmond life, despite my jaw still being wired. there were a few notable dance parties and many trips to the james river. one of my favorite accomplishments of june was being able to interview my grandma on my dad's side of the family for storycorps.

july. july started with my jaw being un-wired. THANK GOD. july started with robin & jess's wedding in williamsburg and then a week-long trip to the beach with my family, followed by an epic 4th of july at hadad's lake. we had an exciting prom night at bank and i started my love affair with cous cous. i officially switched from pc to mac.

august. in august we had a few epic rooftop hangouts at 319. best friends day came and i played the most intense game of volleyball i've ever played. kenny debuted 240 minutes at cous cous and a legendary evening was born. the dental stage of my recovery began and i got seven (OUCH!) root canals. NOT fun.

september. in september i turned 28 and continued hurtling towards 30. i had an amazing daytrip to kings dominion with brandi and kenny. bill chubb finally arrived in richmond, so we threw a fancy party to celebrate. kenny let me join in the fun on 240 minutes, which was the best b-day gift ever. september saw the birth of MANCATION, a new yearly tradition for dudes only that involves kayaking, bbq ribs, and drunk dialing. i also took my first work trip and stayed in the fanciest hotel room i've ever seen in my life.

october. in october, i took an epic solo roadtrip to albany to visit my equal vision dudes and then to brooklyn to hang out with the one and only mari. i saw hot chip play in manhattan and it blew my mind. october had so many amazing weddings. garrett & olivia tied the knot and we all got drunk, had life-changing conversations, and slept in tents. samm & spencer got hitched the next weekend in staunton and i unleashed my DJ skills, got drunk again, and bill and i stole giant helium balloons and took them to a bar. missy and clay had an amazing fancy richmond wedding at plant zero, but i kept it sober and drank some amazing root beer. halloween closed out october in grand style. bill and i dressed as confederate and union generals, got our first missed connections on craiglist, and had a crazy night.

november. november started out with my first ever civil war re-enactment. AMAZING. after that, we discovered that this dude we met on halloween night was actually STALKING us. after a few really creepy encounters, a call to the cops, and a few weeks of looking over my shoulder, i think our stalking incident is officially closed. november's shining achievement was the election of barack obama and the impromptu parade that erupted in front of my house until 3:00am. definitely a night that i will never forget in my lifetime. courtney came to visit and we found some of my old ancestors in hollywood cemetary. 240 minutes hit the road and played in DC, followed by the debut of slanted & enchanted, an indie dance night back home in richmond. both were a big success.

december. here we are! december was one of my craziest months at work since i started, and there were a few days i wanted to tear my hair out. december also saw a number of christmas parties, a trip to antietam battlefield, and time with family and friends. 319 threw our big xmas party and nothing was destroyed. in december i officially started working on getting my record label idea off the ground.

2008.

so that's it. i thought when i started this thing that it would be a huge 2008 pity party due to all the bad things that happened, but after june i was pretty hard pressed to find anything that bad. the repercussions of my recovery carried on throughout the year, but i am so lucky to be fully recovered and feeling more or less back to normal.

2008 was mostly about waiting and transitions. letting go of my touring life and transitioning to a career. waiting to heal from my accident. transitioning back to work and back to my regular life. in a lot of ways, i'm still waiting and transitioning and i'm not really sure what comes next, but i'm ready for a new year. i think it's gonna be a good one.