I suppose I could just repeat most of what I wrote at this time a year ago. Much of it still applies, and certainly my closing advice -- "(I)f you want your life to change, do it. Don't just talk about it. Do it. Do it, do it, do it. Stop talking about it and DO IT" -- is still pretty smart, if I do say so myself. But unlike last year, I feel like looking back a little tonight.
In January I learned that there was a full-length version of the "Mad Men" theme. I started doing volunteer work, doing tax returns with the Campaign for Working Families. I took a shot at Perez Hilton (an easy target). I complained about politicians. (Haven't we all? And it continued all year.) I scooped the local media with the story of former Phillies coach Steve Smith's participation in "The Amazing Race." (And ended up doing recaps of the season that got more detailed as it went on, even after Smith and his daughter were eliminated.)
February brought me lots of snow and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. I found out that "Daria" was being relased on DVD (I eventually bought it when the price was seriously marked down.) I compared Tiger Woods to Andy Reid(!). And my scoop of the media re: Steve Smith and "The Amazing Race" was acknowledged in the newspaper!
In March the hurricane machine came to Franklin Mills. (It's still there. I still haven't paid the $2.00.) I pointed out that Entertainment Weekly thinks people are too stupid to understand that a top-10 list with only 5 items on a page is probably continued on the next page. (Update: the "turn the page" instruction is now gone! I get results!) "Ugly Betty" featured a great song during the scene where young Justin Suarez kissed another boy for the first time. Jon Runyan joined the tea party. (He was elected to Congress. Maybe Entertainment Weekly was right about stupid people.) And the burger wars began in earnest.
April is Birthday Month, and started with a party that was supposed to be a protest, except the Westboro Baptist creeps failed to show. The Phillies, however, did show up. I saw "SouthLAnd" come to life before my eyes. There was another wonderful song in "Ugly Betty" (and I saw this particular episode the other day on the TV Guide Network, and the wedding dance scene still makes me cry). It really was a shame we had to say farewell. My birthday viewing of "Glee" started pulling me into the show. A gay kid joined the Archie gang and we learned that Jughead is a bitch. And, sadly, we had the craziness of the "Mikey" blog hoax. Oh, and I still get a fair amount of blog hits thanks to Chase Utley's ass.
The "Mikey" story carried on into May. In happier news, the first Saturday in May is Free Comic Book Day and I was geeked by the start of the "War of the Supermen." Then the Flyers took the spotlight with their stunning comeback against Boston. I got to say "I told you so" to Arlen Specter (not in person, of course). Summer brought softball (and in 2011 I seriously want people to come watch me play). The Eagles' Stewart Bradley and friends did "Sex and the City." The month finished with the Flyers playing a hideous Stanley Cup Final Game 1 (a series they eventually lost) and no one really caring that much. Something about a perfect something or other...
I went around town taking pictures of the Phillie Phanatic statues, and posted a slideshow in June. Also, my personal ad paid off, the Philadelphia Orchestra picked up a young, cute and gay (but partnered, dammit) conductor. I shared my newly-created summer music playlist. Chase Utley got hurt and Cole Hamels (it's believed) got caught naked on camera.
I got a new phone in July (finally!) And I added to my summer music. Then, Superman came to Philadelphia! (Things went bad for that storyline as soon as he left.) My new phone helped document things when I went to the Camden Riversharks' first Gay Community Night and a local McDonald's. And once again I got sucked in by the Daily News Sexy Singles list.
In August I posted my pictures of the Mural Mile tour, which was the same day I found an entrance to the Batcave. I also got a picture of a yarn bombing, and got many hits on the blog because yarn bombing is surprisingly popular. My friend Kurt sang "God Bless America" at the Riversharks game the same day Prop 8 was overturned in court. But an Eagle got a bit of bad press for being a little sort of vaguely anti-gay. Meanwhile, I made my first attempt at educating people on how to make Twitter a better place for all of us, or at least for me. And I got to see a live Scissor Sisters radio concert.
While "Ugly Betty" sadly left, Vanessa Williams managed to land on her feet in September. "Life is Tweet" became my motto at a Phillies game. The Gumpathon passed right by me, and I was able to get a few famous people to re-tweet my post about it. While my friend Kurt was singing at yet another Riversharks game, I made my competitive eating debut. I grooved to the original "Tainted Love." Something good (the "It Gets Better" project) came out of something very bad (suicides of bullied gay kids). And the Phillies won another NL East title, which led to me blogging while drinking, but it didn't go quite as planned.
In October I got to see a B-52's concert for the first time. Roy Halladay pitched a no-hitter to start the playoffs and I channeled my inner Madonna. I went to Outfest and saw Kendra Wilkinson. I kept writing about things relating to the bullying issue. I tried again to help people improve their Twitter behavior. The Phillies lost in the playoffs to the Giants, but that was overshadowed by the story that has brought more hits to my blog (between these two posts) than every other: the nearly-naked Pat Burrell "gimp costume" images.
November is the month to vote (and complain about the results). So I asked you to take a stand on Justin Bieber's virginity and you failed to show up. For shame! I also complained about sports-talk radio and had a problem with a picture. I went to jury duty. I found myself moving to Michael Vick's side, and not just because he helped revive the Eagles. I reviewed many movies in 2010, but this one has somehow gotten hits in the naked-Burrell neighborhood. Maybe it's the photo?
At last we arrive at December. The Phillies lost a guy and got another guy back. I came up with a name for my posts about a number of random topics. I defended Mike Vick again...actually, it's not so much defending Vick as challenging his haters to think a little more rationally. This post is one of my favorites, just because of its brevity. I somehow turned out to be wrong about the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." I made a recording for you to listen to (and I'm still waiting for reactions). A Sunday at Tabu turned terrible and then wonderful and then even more wonderful. And I wrote five consecutive posts about Christmas.
Plus there were all sorts of iTunes Shuffle lists and movie reviews and comic book reports and a bunch of other stuff. And some of my other favorite posts are probably among them.
I think we're caught up now. Thank you for reading my blog. Happy New Year. Let's hope it keeps getting better.
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