2012: the year in review

JANUARY:  Jet lag from the London trip kicked my ass.  I was terrified to return to work after almost two weeks off, but fortunately my backup kept things from getting too hairy.  Was startled when the African-American temp at work informed me that "black people don't like cats".  Got my eyes examined, forgot that my eyes were dilated, and couldn't figure out why the employees at Subway were smirking at me afterwards.  They must have thought I was tweaking hard!  Much to everyone's astonishment, the New York Giants won their division playoffs, which was a particularly nice birthday present for lifelong fan Padre!  Finished Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare.  My stepgrandfather Bill died.  Played a metric fuckton of Bejeweled 3.  Read 2 novels, 3 nonfiction books, 13 volumes of manga, and 6 graphic novels; saw 12 movies.

FEBRUARY:  G went to New Mexico to watch the Super Bowl with his dad; I didn't have any vacation time, so I spent a weekend by myself watching tons of TV/movies, reading, and cleaning.  I missed most of the Super Bowl, but I caught the last twenty minutes and was amazed when the Giants won!  I called Padre to congratulate him and there was much celebrating going on in the background.  Although FTD shit the bed and didn't send the flowers G had ordered for me, I still had a lovely Valentine's Day with my sweetie.  Watched The Fall twice in 24 hours, and it quickly became one of my ten favorite movies of all time.  Watched the Oscars, which were particularly boring this year.  Our friend Root was in town, so we got together with her for dinner and snappy conversation.  Read 3 novels, 5 nonfiction books, 6 volumes of manga, and 3 graphic novels; saw 14 movies.

MARCH:  After years of fangirling from afar, I finally got to meet Kelly Not My Roommate in real life.  She was absolutely gorgeous, sharp as the cliched tack, and funny as hell.  We went to Little Tokyo, had curry for lunch, looked in all the different stores, and played Samba de Amigo and Taiko Drum Master in the arcade.  Went to a charity screening of The Iron Giant, followed by a Q&A with director Brad Bird and several members of the cast and crew.  Afterwards, we had a late dinner at the famous Mel's Diner in Hollywood.  The same temp who told me that black people don't like cats got shitcanned after plugging her phone into her computer (a HUGE no-no) and uploading a virus into the system.  Went to LACMA with G and M for an excellent exhibit of female surrealist painters.  Read 6 novels, 3 nonfiction books, 5 volumes of manga, and 3 graphic novels; saw 13 movies.

APRIL:  Finished Mystery Case Files: Million Heir.  Spent a G-less weekend mainlining season 1 of The Killing, sleeping, reading, and eating my feelings.  The quaint little B&B that was supposed to serve as the locale for Daddy-O and A's wedding burned down; fortunately, they were in the area at the time and managed to find a new venue quickly.  Finished The Wire. Root came out for a short visit.  SoCal got hit with some major rain, which made a perfect backdrop for my Silent Hill Downpour marathons.  A coworker told me I was too smart to be an agnostic, which left me literally speechless for several minutes.  Went to Little Tokyo with G and C to see an origami exhibit at JANM, shop, and get our feed on.  Got addicted to Game of Thrones.  As usual, Administrative Assistants Day was a massive and borderline insulting flop.  Got a migraine at work that led to me barfing in a trash can.  Got my 'do did.  Read 4 novels, 1 nonfiction book, 6 volumes of manga, and 2 graphic novels; saw 5 movies.

MAY:  The wood boring beetles that plagued me in 2008 returned to my apartment, necessitating a call to my landlady.  G and I went to New Jersey for my dad's wedding.  The ceremony was lovely and (as expected) I cried throughout the whole thing.  When I returned from my long weekend away, I discovered that the exterminators had come and made an unholy mess of my apartment that took 2 1/2 hours to clean up.  (It probably wouldn't have taken quite as much time if I hadn't been sobbing.)  Finished Silent Hill Downpour.  Work was an awful whore.  Got a nasty cold.  G went to Florida for his nephew's graduation; because I had no vacation time, I spent yet another weekend by myself.  It was the worst one yet because I had literally NO reading material, which is almost as bad as going without food or water for me!  Did some house/cat sitting for M.  Got my first mammogram, and although it was uncomfortable, it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd expected.  Read 2 novels, 2 nonfiction books, 5 volumes of manga, and 2 graphic novels; saw 11 movies.     

JUNE:  Overall, June was an uneventful month, which was fine by me after May's whirlwind of weevils, weddings, and work.  Got my mammogram results back, and fortunately they were clear.  Finished story mode of Professor Layton and the Last Specter.  My job duties changed yet again, which for once wasn't a bad thing.  Read 6 novels, 2 nonfiction books, 6 volumes of manga, and 2 graphic novels; saw 12 movies.

JULY:  The receptionist at work quit in a huff halfway through the day, forcing me to help cover the lobby until a replacement was found.  Needless to say, this sucked my ass out.  Went to the animal shelter and lost my shit over an adorable Siamese sealpoint kitten who kept putting his paw through the cage bars and touching my arm.  The obnoxious temp who sat behind me either got shitcanned or quit of his own accord; whatever the case, my work wife J and I threw a party.  Celebrated G's birthday on the 16th and mine on the 18th.  I feasted on a glorious dinner (chicken picatta, spaghettini in lemon caper sauce, a cherry lime cocktail, and warm butter cake for dessert) and gleefully opened presents.  On the 21st, as a belated birthday excursion for G, C, and me, we saw The Dark Knight Rises in the VIP 21+ lounge at our local theater.  Read 6 novels, 3 volumes of manga, and 3 graphic novels; saw 15 movies.

AUGUST:  While walking to Barnes & Noble on my lunch break, I spotted a turtle wandering in the parking lot and relocated him to a koi pond next to a restaurant.  When I walked past the restaurant on my way back, it was either on the giving or receiving end of a proper boinking.  Padre came out for a short visit to do an interview for an HBO documentary; afterwards, we had dinner at Kate Mantilini's and saw Lisa Kudrow and Mel Brooks, though not together.  Went to the county fair with M.  G and I celebrated our eighth anniversary.  Wound up getting fucked out of both Thanksgiving AND Christmas vacation at work.  Got my hair cut at Supercuts and then decided to get my eyebrows waxed as long as I was there, which led to the stylist dripping wax in my hair that she couldn't get out.  I wound up going home, standing in my shower, and drenching my hair with olive oil, which worked (and made my hair super shiny!).  Read 4 novels, 5 nonfiction books, 3 graphic novels, 6 volumes of manga, and one comics collection; saw 11 movies.

SEPTEMBER:  Our friend G2 was in town for a short visit, so along with C, we stayed up all night eating, talking, watching movies, and playing video/board games.  Finished Max Payne 3.  After some serious tsuris with the buyers, Daddy-O finally closed the sale on his house.  Finished Journey.  One of the receptionists at work broke her ankle during roller derby, which meant I had to fill in, which meant I spent much of September in mental anguish because working in the lobby sucks sweaty ballsack.  Used a shampoo sample that I got with a Beautyhabit order and was astounded when my hair turned out softer, shinier, and more manageable than it had ever been; my plans to immediately buy a bottle were thwarted by the $50 price tag.  (What, is it made out of virgin yeti blood or something?)  Went to Little Tokyo with G and C; was horrified to see that our favorite macaron place had closed down.  Twisted my ankle going down the stairs at my apartment complex.  Read 3 novels, 1 nonfiction book, 1 graphic novel, and 3 volumes of manga; saw 8 movies. 

OCTOBER: They changed some things around at work, and not for the better.  Went to an alarmingly hot podiatrist about my foot pain and was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis.  Finished Persona 4 Arena.  Had the best work day ever when a water main broke and rendered all of the bathrooms unusable, so they let us go home early and I basically got paid to spend 4 hours reading, napping, and watching Louie.  My solo trip to Vegas started off on the wrong foot thanks to a 2-hour flight delay, but the rest of it was amazing:  lots of quality time with my oldest friend in the world, tons of delicious food, sightseeing, 3 hours of pampering at a spa, and an awesome show called Absinthe.  Read 8 novels, 1 nonfiction book, 7 volumes of manga, and one graphic novel; saw 8 movies.

NOVEMBER:  Finished Resident Evil 6.  Caught a nasty cold.  G and I visited our friend M and loved up on her kitties.  (Not a euphemism.)  Saw The Book of Mormon at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles.  Madre and Padre visited for Thanksgiving, and we all went to San Diego for the long weekend.  We hit up the zoo, Balboa Park, and Old Town.  My stepsister had a baby boy.  I had back pain that lasted for several days and eventually culminated in me leaving work in agony, going home, puking in my sink, and calling G in tears.  He rushed over and took me to the doctor, who ordered bloodwork and x-rays.  The x-rays came back fine, but the bloodwork showed "liver derangement", so I had to schedule a CAT scan.  Read 3 novels, 2 nonfiction books, 3 graphic novels, and 4 volumes of manga; saw 9 movies.

DECEMBER:  Finished Lollipop Chainsaw.  Got a CAT scan, which involved drinking two huge Big Gulp-sized cups of contrast material, lying in a machine, getting scanned, getting a fucking IV of contrast material, and then getting scanned again.  Was sorely disappointed that I didn't receive superpowers from all that contrast material.  December's fuckery continued the very next day when my car wouldn't start.  It turned out to be a problem with the key immobilization system, which wound up costing me $150 and a vacation day from work.  The CAT scan results turned up gallstones, and my doctor recommended surgery, which I managed to defer until the new year as I didn't want to spend Christmas in the hospital.  G bought a new car.  Cashed in some old savings bonds with a face value of about $500; was astounded when they wound up being worth almost two grand.  (Of course, a lot of that windfall went towards medical bills, but it was still a nice surprise.)  G surprised me on Christmas with Pillsbury orange cinnamon rolls, which I'd previously mentioned as being the thing I most associate with childhood Christmases.  The day continued on an awesome note as we played video games, watched TV and movies, ate pizza, and drank wine.  Finished The Walking Dead, which wound up being my favorite video game of 2012.  My laptop gave up the ghost after 8 years of reliable service; rest in peace, dear friend.  Spent New Year's Eve/Day with G and his family in Santa Barbara.  Read 3 novels, 2 nonfiction books, 8 graphic novels, and 5 volumes of manga; saw 13 movies.