2017 in Letters

Anniversary - I started this blog to respond to Suzy's 2016 end of year post. It's the one year anniversary of the blog and Suzy just made her end of 2017 post, so I'm doing one too.

Blind date - The wife of a co-worker set me up with one of her co-workers. It went okay, but she wasn't the right person for me. That's the only real date I went on although there were other related adventures. 

Cookies - I tried out a number of cookie recipes for the first time including snickerdoodles, monster cookies, empire biscuits, and walnut cookies.

Doughnuts - Local doughnuts were all the rage this year. At one point, there were four people doing doughnut pop-ups at various venues throughout the city. I did a doughnut crawl one Saturday to try them all out. (I may possibly have eaten one too many that day.)

Ending - My favourite restaurant in Regina, Flip, closed its doors for the last time in November.

Focaccia - When Saltine Baking took a parental leave this summer, I baked a lot more bread than normal. The roasted tomato focaccia was particularly good.

Georgetown - An uncle of mine passed away in the fall, so I made the trip to his memorial service in Georgetown just before Christmas.

House concert -  I went to my first ever house concert. I would have thought that would happen in Regina, but it was actually in Brooklyn where I saw Rachael Cardiello, Taylor Ashton, and Courtney Hartman. It was delightful and thrilling and kind of nuts but also one of my favourite parts of my trip.

Ink, Articulate - I got to silk screen my own T-shirt at Articulate Ink's Culture Days event.

July - July was incredibly hot and tiring and frustrating. Actually so was August. Really, it took me until October to start feeling normal again.

Kindness - I've been repeatedly reminded that I have some of the kindest and most amazing friends. If you are reading this, you are probably one of them. Thanks!

Live music - I attended 142 concerts this year. That's an insane number and I don't think I'll get even close to that in 2018.

Malinche - I ate many, many delicious tacos from my new favourite food truck, Malinche.

Nutcracker - I went to the New York City Ballet's presentation of the Nutcracker and was lucky enough to have a pass to let me go backstage and meet two of the dancers.

Other events - In addition to the live music, I went to 83 other events for a total of 225 events in the year. That doesn't include going to visit friends or family or shopping.

Parties - I got invited to Suzy's surprise book launch party and that inspired me to throw a party for my birthday.

Quick - Quick musical highlights from the second half of the year: Buffy St. Marie at the Folk Festival, Megan Nash with Bears in Hazenmore, The Fretless, Hey Ocean on the windiest night of the year, Casati and their hurdy gurdy, and Port Cities.

Regina Farmers' Market - I started volunteering for the Regina Farmers' Market. First for the night markets and then for the Saturday indoor markets. It isn't really fun, it doesn't pay anything, but it is surprisingly rewarding and I always feel appreciated for my efforts.

Sushi - The best dining experience I had in New York this trip was at a small sushi bar called Sushi by Bou. It was a half hour of dining entertainment. Not only was each bite better than the last, but the chef prepared everything right in front of you and I had the perfect spot to watch.

Twenty five - It appears I posted 25 times here.

Unexpected - On the final day of the Regina Folk Festival, I ran into Suzy and she gave me a free pass to get into the evening shows. It was completely unexpected and absolutely wonderful.

Vacation - I took a three week vacation for the first time in many years. I spent the first two weeks in New York and the third at home. I didn't check my work email that entire time and work didn't attempt to contact me either. It was so delightful that I didn't really want to go back.

Winner - I won the 50/50 draw at the Regina Folk Festival's Sask. Sampler concert. Technically it was my mom's ticket, but she didn't want to collect the money for some reason.

Xmas eve dinner - I had my parents, brother, and sister over for Christmas eve dinner. My dad kept asking how they could help and I kept thinking, mom made dinner for all five of us every night for many years, I can certainly do it one night. (Sure, it was a bit fancier and I was tired since I arrived back from Toronto was super late, but I've cooked for bigger groups in the past.)

Yawn - Sleep has been more elusive than normal this year.

Zoom - Sleepless Sunday mornings aside, 2017 zoomed by.