With the year drawing to a close, everyone else is doing yearly recaps… so why not?  The Best Friend™ has gone to bed, the snow outside has stopped, and it’s just me, the laptop and the TV.

2007 was a pretty damn good year.  Workwise, I had one hell of a year — promoted to a position I’ve been working to attain for years, and I’m finally satisfied with the level of professional success and level of reputation in my industry I’ve achieved.  Thanks to work, I also got to visit Toronto and Charlotte and Minneapolis for the first time, I went to Disneyland for the first time, I met Chubby Checker, and I saw the first concert on the Van Halen reunion tour so I was able to cross “seeing a David Lee Roth-fronted Van Halen show” off my List of Things I Want to Do.  I also went to Tijuana and walked across the U.S.-Mexico border and back.  And the last time I was here in Denver, I saw the Boston Red Sox win their second World Series in almost 90 years.  In the negative column, I went through another tumultuous relationship, though I’ve picked myself up and I’m out dating again.  I definitely packed a lot into the last 12 months.

And now, in no particular order, my top 5 songs of the year:
- “Lazy Eye” by Silversun Pickups.  Technically, I’m cheating here, since I first heard the track in October 2006, but it didn’t really hit big until early this year.  Usually, when I first discover a song that I love, I burn myself out on it by playing it over and over and over to the point where I’m kind of sick of it by the time it really gets going on the radio, but this one… well, let’s just say it’s more than a year later, and I’ll still leave it on all the way through every time I hear it.
- “Jesus" by Brand New.  It’s such a haunting song, and it got me through some not-so-easy times earlier this year when I was feeling upset about my breakup.
- “Suburban Knights” by Hard-Fi.  This one is a great anthem to the working folk, and it’s got a stellar melody along with a catchy chorus that’s almost impossible not to sing along to.
- “Wolf Like Me” by TV on the Radio.  It’s a straight-up fast-paced rocker, and it’s one of my favorite songs to drive to.  It’s impossible not to press down on the gas pedal when this track is blasting through your car stereo.
- “Thrash Unreal” by Against Me! Not only is this a great song to listen to, but the lyrics reflect so much of what I see on a regular basis in Los Angeles… people who are just past their prime but can’t seem to break out of the habits of drinking and drugging and partying, no matter how used up they are. 

I do think 2008 will be a good year… if anything, we’ll have a new president voted in by the end of the year, which definitely bodes well.  Happy new year to all!