2011, the year that was

2011 ended up being a fairly unremarkable year for our family, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  Ray’s contractor job still keeps him very busy, thankfully, and my job just chugs along.  The kids are doing pretty well in school, and Ray and I do our best to give them the tools to live a happy life once they grow up.  Finally, our two dogs, Diablo and Mina, keep going strong.  Diablo turned 15 this past December and people look at her in disbelief when they find out, given how well she does.  Mina is still on drugs because of her separation anxiety, but we do what we can to make her feel comfortable.

Unfortunately, in 2011 I lost a dear aunt to cancer, but fortunately Ray’s mom, who also got diagnosed, was able to beat it.  I sincerely hope I don’t have to deal with that illness for a while now…

The political front brought us the big defeat of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, which will undoubtedly help moving forward to cause of gay civil rights nationally.  Unfortunately, the economy is still in shambles and millions are unemployed, which doesn’t bode well for President Obama’s re-election chances in 2012.  I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that my only hope to finally get settled in this country for good stands on his return to the White House for four more years.  If a Republican were to be elected president, we’d be in a heap of trouble.

The greenhouse effect made itself felt around our neck of the woods this year as well.  First, a rather strong hurricane swept up the east coast, a rarity I’m told, and caused us to lose power for 4 days in August.  Then came a freakishly out-of-season snow storm at the end of October that broke countless trees, whose branches were still heavy with leaves following a very long, hot summer, and we lost power again, for 7 days this time.  There’s nothing like losing power to make you realize how much we depend on electricity in our daily lives and how very differently people lived only a couple hundred years ago.

We were fortunate enough to be able to all go to Italy for a week to visit with my parents and friends.  Ray and I also made a quick trip to Venice (kid-less, thanks to my parents), which I had never seen before.  I fell in love with that city.  I found it so beautiful, romantic, unique, charming, and lively; I envy those who live there and would love to go back for longer.

We took another week vacation at the end of the year.  This time we went on a 5-state road trip in the Midwest, followed by 3 days of relaxation in a hotel that featured an indoor pool for relaxing and a water park for some fun.

The road trip started in Omaha, Nebraska and the destinations were:

1. Lincoln, Nebraska
• The state Capitol is quite beautiful; we didn’t see much else.
2. Topeka, Kansas
• Fairly non-descript for being the state capitol, although the Capitol building was very pretty.
• We also saw where the hateful Westboro Baptist Church people live, and were underwhelmed by the simplicity of their lair, while we also felt sorry for the people who live around them.
3. Kansas City, Kansas/Missouri
• While at first we thought the city was part of Missouri, a fact I found rather odd, given its name, we then discovered the even larger oddity of it being shared or split somehow between two states!!  At any rate, the city is quite beautiful, with lots of graffiti, great views of the Missouri river, and a good vibe overall.
4. Jefferson City, Missouri
• We made a detour here to view the state Capitol of Missouri, and I’m glad we did.  It’s a very nice building and the whole city is quite nice.
5. St. Louis, Missouri
• This was the most beautiful of the cities we saw.  We went to the famous arch, the Gateway to the West, which is spectacular from inside and out.  We saw the city at night and walked around a bit.  It was really nice.
6. Springfield, Illinois
• Another state capitol, another visit to a Capitol building, but this one left us underwhelmed.  I guess we expected more from the state that gave us President Lincoln, but it was still quite thrilling to know that our current president had worked in that building before heading to Washington, DC.
7. Davenport, Illinois'
• Another border town, we mostly stopped here just to eat, but we crisscrossed the Mississippi river a couple times and stopped to touch it and take some pictures.
8. Des Moines, Iowa
• This was a surprise for us all I think, since the city felt young, lively, welcoming and open.  We visited a Christmas light display that was quite incredible, then took a stroll through a park with a colorfully illuminated bridge over the lake, and then headed to the state Capitol, which ended up being the prettiest of the 5 we saw on this trip!
9. Omaha, Nebraska
• Our final destination saw us stay at the local Ramada Inn, which features the aforementioned indoor pool and water park.  The stay was good and we got to both relax and have some fun.  For New Year’s Eve we went to a New Orleans’ style restaurant that featured live music, so that was very nice.
• We also visited the local zoo, which was quite spectacular, even at this time of year.  While several of the animals were indoor, we got to see so many, and they have incredible structures like the Desert Dome, the Kingdoms of the Night, and the Lied Jungle that were truly sensational, not to mention the gorilla enclosure, where we saw many baby monkeys and gorillas.  A truly magnificent zoo.

We also got lucky on our way back when our last flight, right after departure, lost one of the engines to what was likely a bird, who flew into it.  Thankfully, the pilot was able to circle around and land safely, but I really feared for our lives for a while.  I was sitting next to Daniel, who kept asking questions (I guess he saw my worried reaction so I had to try to keep calm not to worry him too much), while Nicole seemed utterly unaware (like many other passengers it seemed).

After the landing, we saw several police and firefighting engines that had been put on alert in case it hadn’t gone so well.  Fortunately, the airport being a large one like Chicago’s, they loaded us right on another plane and flew us safely back to New York City.

2011 was also the year I finally started taking my passion for photography a little more seriously.  I started reading about how to do it right, got myself a tripod (a must for professional looking pictures apparently) and a new macro lens which I plan to put to good use in the months to come.  For my birthday, Ray also made me a website where I can post my pictures, such a lovely thought!!

Furthermore, I also got a new car.  T’pol, my beloved Nissan Quest, had so many miles on its back and needed so much work done in order to be safe to drive again that it wasn’t feasible to keep any longer, especially considering its poor performance in the snow, being a front wheel only vehicle and very large and heavy.

My new car, which I road tested in the freak snow storm I mentioned earlier, is positively amazing in the snow.  It’s a Subaru Outback which I named Lorien Lisbetha (yes, I know, it’s weird, but I name all my cars ).  I absolutely love my new car, so much so that I’m surprised I don’t miss T’pol more.  But Lorien has everything I previously had, needed, and/or loved, and more, like satellite radio and bluetooth integration.  What more could I ask for?!

And of course, to conclude, my 2011 movies’ list:

9
Black Swan
Contagion
How to Train Your Dragon
The Descendants

8
Beginners
Frost/Nixon
Grey Gardens
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Megamind
Moon
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
Tangled
The Adjustment Bureau
The Fighter
The Help
The King's Speech
Where the Wild Things Are
X-Men: First Class

7
Alpha Dog
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Flawless
Iron Man 2
Mars Needs Moms
Stand By Me
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Debt
The Messenger
Thor
True Grit
W.
Winter’s Bone
Zack and Miri Make a Porno

6
Battle: Los Angeles
Dracula
Duplicity
Hellboy
In Time
Salt
The Day the Earth Stood Still

5
Eclipse
Gothika
Stargate Continuum

4
Clash of the Titans

3
Land of the Dead
New Moon

47 titles this past year, not bad, but not that many either.  I guess I’ll have to cut back on the television shows I watch on a regular basis if I want to watch more movies…

So, no movie earned a perfect 10, but at least only six titles earned insufficient grades.  And if I had to pick my top 5 movies for the year, they’d be:

Black Swan
The Descendants
Frost/Nixon
How to Train Your Dragon
The King's Speech

Clearly, there’s no contest here, and Black Swan takes the crown for 2011, for its originality, its freshness, its artistry, and its excellent cinematography, direction, acting, and score.  On the other hand, the shame of being the lowliest stinker in the cesspool goes to New Moon, the second chapter in the Twilight saga.  What a load of crap that movie was.

OK, that’s it for 2011.  On to a new year now and to hoping it’ll be exciting and full of good things!!