and so countdown begins... 10

i have been trying to figure out how i wanted to send off this year's blog. i tinkered with the idea of posting ten of my favourite photographs from the year, but considering that my photo-a-day project ended when my laptop died in september, there are dozens of photographs that were never taken from those very special months.

i've thought about posting a goal or resolution for the next year every day until the new year arrives, but i have grown more superstitious as i age, and feel that it would be a poor idea to broadcast them out into the vast universe of the interwebs.

instead, i've decided to chronicle some of my favourite songs of the year. not songs that were necessarily released this year, but that have moved me or embedded themselves in the scent & sound womb of the 2010 memory bank. music affects me more than just about anything else; and many palpable memories have been established in the wrinkles of my grey matter.

indeed, it has been quite a ride.

i've moved three times, struggled through depression and a lot of self-discovery (as per usual), unemployment, a couple of major losses and realizations. all in all a great deal of floundering and a buttload of growth (yes, buttload is a recognized unit of measurement).

i've also had some brilliant fun times, pool parties, laughter, bb-gun shootin', and discovering once again just how deeply i love my family & my chosen family.

also, the most incredible life-changing and beautiful person i've ever met decided he wanted to spend his life with me, of all people in the world. pretty righteous stuff.

i reckon, for the music posts, i'll go in some sort of order. so from january through the beginning of march 2010, i listened to this song pretty much nonstop. it always makes me cry a little and i would sing it ad nauseum on meridian, a road here in town that is lined with live oak canopies.

Jolene- Ray Lamontagne

and because it's a time to reflect, not wallow (or waller as we say down here), here's something new.