Being the 3rd day of the new year already, I realize that "Best of 2005" lists are already played. Still, I feel compelled to offer my version of events...

The Best Things That Happened In 2005

1. The Duran Duran Concert! This was in March, (check the archive entry for pics), and it was awesome. It had been eighteen frickin' years since I had seen this band live, and although our reunion was long overdue, it was well worth the wait. I could not love this band more if I had created them with my own bare hands.
   
2. Swimming With A Sea Turtle in Hawaii. This was awesome. The whole trip rocked, but my snorkeling excursion in the coral reef at Huanama Bay was the coolest thing ever. Swimming underwater alongside a giant sea turtle and literally hundreds of different types of fish and other marine life was truly surreal. It served to convince me, once and for all, that I need to live near an ocean at some point in my life--and definitely while I'm still young enough to enjoy it.
3. June, July and August. Taking the summer off to write was one of the best things that I've ever done. I wasn't as productive as I should have been (I never think that I am), but I accomplished a great deal nonetheless, and (just as importantly) it gave me time to clear my head and take a few steps back from life--something that is always beneficial to us moody creative types.
   
4. Expelling Michael from my life. Giving this jackass the boot was one of the greatest things I've ever done (you had to be there) and it was also--as the rest of the world can attest--long, long overdue. I'm awarding myself extra bonus points + a pat on the back for telling him to "have fun with (his) menopausal woman", and the postcard I sent him from Hawaii, which read "Have a nice life--too bad I wasted so much of mine on you! But I've seen the light. That old woman can have your weak ass. Aloha!" It was my finest hour thus far.
   
5. Getting my pet psychic article accepted! The publication date has been pushed back to sometime after August 2006, but still. It's a beginning.
   
6. The Finn Brothers concert. (My second time seeing them). Jet-setter that I am, I flew down to Indianapolis for the show and it was well worth the price of airfare. Marcus and I agree (check his blog) that it was the second best concert of the year (my 1st was D2, natch), and in my opinion better than the Guthrie show.
   
7. (Nearly) quitting smoking. It's all about the baby steps, people. I'm almost there (knocks on wooden table).
   
8. Getting laid. Sex is fun.
9. Eight-mile bike rides. At one point I was doing this daily--no small feat for someone who hates exercise and sweating (I'm a bit of a girl about such things). One more awesome aspect of my 2005 Summer of Awesome.
   
10. Another birthday. 32 is good.