Oh God. It's been a year.

    The title says it all. I can't avoid it any longer. It has been over one year since I graduated from my ivy coated university with a bachelor's degree in two of the most practical and useful subjects in the world: archaeology and American history. Now, all kidding aside, those majors were practically pointless unless I somehow become the female version of Indiana Jones...whose adventures all take place within the confines of our great country. While I'm waiting for that to magically become my life, I have a lot of thinking and exploring to do. This whole year has been about learning what I want to do. So, in this vein, I am writing a list of things I actually did learn this year:

1. How to do my taxes and pay my bills!

2. How to hold down a part time, minimum wage job.

3. How to commute via NJ Transit and the subways.

4. How to be a stage manager.

5. How to throw little children in such a way that it looks like they are doing gymnastics skills.

6. How to fuse together Hamlet and the Sound of Music into one show put on by 8 year-old children.

7. How to deal with 20 phone calls from your parents while out on a first date.

8. How to avoid telling your parents about Shore Party.

9. How to book shows in Manhattan.

10. How to get ripped off by recording studios.

11. How to play as a band.

12. How I probably don't want to be a lawyer.

13. How much I despise most of the Upper East Side and its inhabitants.

14. How much I like plaid. I love wearing it, and always have; but I recently discovered how much I love looking at it. Guys in plaid generally seem more attractive to me. There is clearly something wrong with me.

15. How there are many things wrong with me.

16. How much television I can watch before truly hating myself for being such a lazy person.

17. How I need to fucking move out of my parent's apartment. Like, seriously Lauren. We actually need to get a place next year or I may start pulling my hair out...or patricide-ing all over the place.

18. How much I truly love my friends.

19. How lonely I feel when my friends have actual jobs and I don't.

20. How useless I am at figuring out if men are interested in me. //Kennelly: "Michelle, no dude actively tries to spend time with you who isn't interested" or "Michelle, no dude will come to see your band for a second time unless he's interested...or if he's my friend."

21. Just how much I love Mke Kennelly for his continual existence and his constant reminders that I am crazy...but not as crazy as he is.

22. How much I appreciate all the friends I've made or grown closer with over this year. You know who you are, so I won't list you all (and I bet none of you are actually reading this). However, you make living life a pleasure.

23. How to be a better person, and still not succeed in doing so.

24. That I'm still not an adult. Jesus, look at me. I still look like I'm 16 at best. My maturity level is probably somewhere around there as well.

25. How to survive through what was the toughest year of my life thus far.



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    Now, who knows what the next year holds. One thing is for certain: I will be in NYC full time! No more treks back to Jersey every week. I will have different jobs. I will probably get closer with different groups.

But you know what... I'm not petrified this time. I'm excited.