Well, hello, 2015. I guess this means I graduated from high school 15 years ago. I never had a ten-year reunion, or if there was one, I didn’t care and missed it. I still see the people I went to high school with every once in a while, and Facebook is a thing that exists, so I don’t really feel the need to make a big deal of it. You got jobs, you had kids, you didn’t have kids, you have a rescue dog, you completed a 30-day yoga challenge, you ate a kale salad. Whoopedy doo. So did I. So did all of us. And we put it all on Instagram, along with our selfies on a stick and our horribly compressed, re-grammed, screencapped inspirational quotes from Dead Poet’s Society, or that lady who says “ain’t nobody got time for that.”

I am not writing this first post of 2015 to point out any goals I have in particular for the coming year. I did, however, reach somewhat of a milestone as the clock turned midnight on January 1. It marked seven months without drinking. Although I haven’t made it super public, I decided to quit drinking June 1, 2014 and it’s been a good decision for me. I lost some weight, I feel healthier in general and I have saved some money. I approached this decision pretty casually at first, like, ‘okay, let’s do this and see how long it goes’. And then for a month it went, and it kept going, and after a while it became not a thing anymore. I didn’t want to drink, I didn’t miss my drunquaintances (pub folk). I now exist in a booze-free world. I don’t begrudge anyone who partakes of the nectar of the gods, but lemme tell ya, not doing so has been working out okay for me.

Some great things happened in 2014. I bought a house, and I’m now happily settled in my new neighbourhood. I have great neighbours, Adam likes it here and we’re just humming along.

I went on a trip to Los Angeles, just for myself, which is something I hadn’t done in a long time. Saw some great comedy shows. Met famed film critic Leonard Maltin. Went to Disneyland for free on American thanksgiving. I looked at the moon through the world’s most powerful public telescope at the Griffith Observatory. It was breathtaking. I perused famous art at the Getty Museum, mammoth fossils at the La Brea Tar Pits, and western culture’s artifacts at The Autry. I even corrected a tour guide on the proper pronunciation of Métis. She said “meh-tiss”, to which I shouted, “No! it’s May-tea!”. It was a shining moment in the life of this insufferable grammar jerk.

I hope 2015 goes well. I have some cool shit lined up. My band Soapbox is going to (finally) finish our first album. I’m hoping to do some more traveling, including the next trip: taking my son to DisneyWorld. It’s going to be bonkers. Good bonkers. Let’s hope the rest of the year follows suit. Now excuse me, I’m going to go turn all my pockets inside out.