2016

As the calendar year starts to wind down and reset there appears to be one overwhelming and inalienable narrative from pretty much everyone: 2016 was really horrible.

You’d be hard-pressed to make an argument otherwise. We lost too many great people to entirely list from musicians to sports luminaries, actors, actresses and so on. The ones that cut deepest with me were probably David Bowie, Prince, and especially Leonard Cohen. Cohen’s death felt like a cruel swift punch to the gut. I had been really reveling in his latter-day records over the past few years and he’s become one of my favorite artists. He released his final masterpiece You Want It Darker this year on October 21st, my wedding day. Thanks for the unintentional wedding gift Mr. Cohen.

Devastation was on a global scale with social unrest, mass shootings, and at its epicenter the American public flinched and elected (Not me) a petulant spoiled brat of a “man” in Donald Trump as their next President of the United States.

Work is still pretty horrible overall and I’ll definitely be ramping up the intensity of the job search in 2017 for a “career” and not just a “job.”

Those things make 2016 bittersweet for me and going forward I’ll choose to remember the good of this year and not the bad.

This year was one of the best years in recent memory for me as far as new music and albums go. Phenomenal personally rewarding albums were released by the likes of Metallica, Car Seat Headrest, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Black Pistol Fire, Kings Of Leon, Radiohead, and the aforementioned Cohen and Bowie along with many others.

I went and decided to do the most grown-up thing I’ve ever done and finally get married to Maggie. She’s one of the (very?) few people that truly makes me happy and understands me… and tolerates me! We decided to go to Ireland for our honeymoon and it was an incredible experience (Minus international flights). Plus they had a Tower Records in Dublin! How about that?

And oh yeah, last but not least… THE CHICAGO CUBS WON THE WORLD SERIES! I’ll be sitting on that one till next Spring for sure. Sorry haters, you lost this time. The Cubs were the best team in baseball (Hell, all of sports!) from the start of 2016 until the end. Best record in baseball, NL Central Champions, National League Champions, World Series Champions. Checked everything off the list in 2016. The greatest feeling I’ve ever felt in my life as far as sports fandom goes. I’ll cherish that forever.

I’ll remember the good times more than the bad for sure. And now with a star pointing True North to New Year’s Eve let’s all have a room at the top of the world that night.