We’re now pretty fully entrenched in 2015, I guess, and there was a lot of hating on 2014 right around the New Year, but I have to say: 2014 was a pretty good year for me in a lot of respects.

1. I taught six classes and more than 100 students in 2014, more than I’ve ever taught in a single year. One of those classes was probably the best class I’ve ever had, and one of them was the worst. So it goes, I suppose. The great class made the terrible one worth it.

2. I left a job that had zero potential for upward mobility for one that was a better fit, professionally, one that made it possible for me to meet and engage with some really amazing artists in my community, one in which I feel consistently appreciated and respected (imagine that).

Byron, having injured himself with spinner during our Peggy Jo preshow warmup.

3. I played four incredibly different characters in four really amazing shows. I mean: those characters (Heather, Dale, Peggy Jo, and Tiger) could not be more different, and the productions were lovely, heartbreaking, and hilarious. Along the way, I got to work with some of the most talented, generous artists around: you know, just as a bonus.

4. I started working on a fun new show with my friend Joanna as part of the Failure Festival, which we’re going to develop into a whole thing, and let me tell you: it will be a thing.

5. I got to be part of an amazing fundraiser that netted $6,000 for a really great non-profit.

6. I got to spend another year with the kindest, most supportive human on the planet.

What are you looking at?

7. Isobel & Yoshimi grew the thickest, most luxurious winter coats I have ever seen in my life. Nonetheless, it was warm enough for me to ride my bike to work well into December.

8. I got to spend some serious quality time with good friends, got to reconnect with friends I hadn’t seen in years, made some new, awesome friends, and even started rebuilding some relationships that a year ago I would have said were unsalvageable.

Sara Veglahn’s The Mayflies

9. My New Year’s Resolution for 2014 was to read every day. And I did. I read a total of 30 books and 45 plays in 2014. Some of my favorites were Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian and S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders (which I know everyone read in high school but I have no memory of doing so). Both of these are young adult novels, but man, they are powerful pieces of writing in their own way. I also read a really terrible romance novel while onstage at Buntport, I re-read Faulkner’s Light in August and Chopin’s The Awakening, read some lovely brand new books, including Laird Hunt’s Neverhome and Sara Veglahn’s The Mayflies, as well as the Fifty Shades trilogy and the Hunger Games trilogy (the latter was better by a lot). So: it was a year of great variety. 

St. Vincent @ the Denver Botanic Gardens

10. There were some excellent albums released in 2014, and my best of mix can be found HERE. You don’t have very long to download it, so get clicking. As usual, I’m more a sonic person than a lyrics person, so most of my picks are chosen for the way they sound. My favorite albums of 2014 include: St. Vincent’s St. Vincent (you guys, I can’t even), Lana Del Rey’s Ultraviolence (yet again some of the most brilliant commentary on America around), Perfume Genius’ Too Bright (with lyrics like “no family is safe when I sashay” you just can’t go wrong), BOTH of the Parquet Courts’ releases (yeah, they released two albums in 2014, what did you do?), which remind me of music I listened to in high school (in a good way), Milagres Violent Light (I just like their sound), Wye Oak’s Shriek (not their best album, but still really damn good), and Janet Feder + Paul Fowler’s Leavings (just listen to that sound).

You guys: all of those things happened! All of them were good!

There were some pretty low points in 2014, of course: police violence aimed at people of color really seemed to explode, though, of course: I don’t think there was any more of it than there is in any given year, it’s just finally getting more attention. While the murders that happened in 2014 were horrific and inexcusable, I can only hope that the attention these events garnered made people in this country a little more aware of how racist our culture really is, of how far we have to go. We have quite a long road ahead of us. Further: that election was heartbreaking. I don’t really want to get into it too much, but really, Colorado? Corey Gardner? Way to fuck it up.

I hope that you had a mostly good year, too. And I hope that 2015 will be even better. Let’s hang out! xo