There and Back Again

Pondering: Someday I’ll fly, someday I’ll soar, someday I’ll be so damn much more. (John Mayer)

The year in summary. I had so many obsessions this year, as you can see…

Pages Worth the Flip - these are the books I read this year that I liked a lot, I kept them on the shelf instead of the library donation box:
- Shutter Island (Dennis Lehane)
- The Alchemist (Paul Coelho)
- Digital Fortress (Dan Brown)
- Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions (Daniel Wallace)
- The Flanders Panel (Arturo Perez-Reverte)

Priceless Purchases of the Year - I went all around the world wide web for some of these:
- Keith Urban’s Be Here CD
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban DVD
- Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Extended DVD
- All Eduardo Noriega DVDs: Novo, Visionarios, Guerreros, Plata Quemada (German release which included behind-the-scenes)
- Lucia Y El Sexo Soundtrack
- Tom and Thomas DVD (Sean Bean playing dad, how nice!)
- Tickets to FIVE Keith Urban shows

Worth the Movie Tickets/Rent - movies I saw this year that kept me glued on the theater seat/reclining chair:
- American Gun
- After the Deluge
- Dummy
- Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind
- Finding Nemo
- Goodbye, Lenin!
- House of Sand and Fog
- Pieces of April
- The School of Rock
- The Passion of the Christ

Travel Destinations - Places I went to this year that didn’t involve working:
- Vancouver, British Columbia
- Las Vegas, Nevada (3x)
- Playa del Carmen, Mexico
- Reno, Nevada

New Thing Learned - Knitting and all its glory, including undoing errors, adding new colors and binding!

One Thing I Made - Chocolate truffles for everyone in the office. I got kudos for it, it must have been good.

Highest Score Attained During Sunday Karaoke - 98 (out of 100)! Yeah, Culture Club’s Karma Chameleon always does it for me.

Funniest Experience of 2004 (thought it wasn’t too funny then) - Wading through the flood at Playa del Carmen with my sister who’s blind as a bat with her wet eyeglasses.

Best Damn Time Ever - Keith Urban’s jamming concert at the Hilton in Reno, Nevada (the second night).

Picturesque Moment - Walking in the fog and rain at Stanley Park in Vancouver.

Sister Bonding Moment - Watching the fountain show at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Sad Headlines:
- Tsunami in In South Asia Claims Lives
- John Kerry Concedes
- Keith Urban Fires His Band

Awesome Headlines:
- Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Sweeps the Oscars
- Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince Goes on Sale in July ‘05
- Keith Urban wins CMA Male Vocalist of the Year

Jaw-Dropping Gift of The Year - American Gun DVD. If you know who Ryan Locke is to me, you’ll know why.

Wishlist for the New Year:
- Les Mains Vides DVD (a.k.a. Las Manos Vacias or Where is Madame Catherine?) with English subtitles
- Keith Urban winning a Grammy
- Karl Urban in a lead role on a very good movie
- Salary increase
- A new Backstreet Boys CD (as promised)
- More travel opportunities
- More Keith Urban concerts
- Good health
- A trip back home