Happy 2006!

I am officially in the New Blogging Year. Not to say anything profound, because it's late, but instead, to offer some of my highlights of last year.

I won't try to be thorough. It's too late and I'm sleepy. But here's what I'm thinking:

Favorite Music:

• The Allman Brothers Band. I was in college that Drew R turned me on to the Allmans, and I've never looked back. When it comes to doing work, I can't beat the Allmans. When it comes to driving, especially through more scenic areas than NW Ohio, there's nothing better than Live at Fillmore East.
• I don't think I could do much better than the Johnny Staats Project when it comes to what I'd like to hear every day, though I'm partial to Ricky Skaggs as well. I think the thing about Johnny Staats is that the music moves me.
• I think my current favorites have to be the Violet Burning. They impress me with their honest lyrics and with their sound. I have also enjoyed them live a couple of times, and I think they were maybe my favorite live act ever, after the Prayer Chain, that is (sorry for the non-official prayer chain link -- I couldn't find one just off the top of google, but I didn't want to look very hard for it).
• B.B. King. The guy still has it.
• And the surprise for the year: Sufjan Stevens. I have to admit, I first disliked him mostly because my brother likes him a lot (in defiance of my middle school love primarily for music that my brother liked simply because he liked it, sometimes when I didn't like it at all. Note for any interested readers: I didn't really care that I fell asleep and missed the Box of Frogs video because I never cared for them). In fact, I went to the NPR website and listened to a song by Sufjan Stevens and hated it. Really hated it. But then for some reason I checked out some Sufjan Christmas music, and it completely revitalized Christmas music for me. I was already hating Christmas music before Christmas came near, partially because I hadn't heard anything new for so long (or, rather, because it all sounded the same, or because I would hear the same bland versions of the same bland songs again and again (though I still like "Big Daddy" Burl Ives), or because one can only take "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" so many times). So anyway, I really enjoyed the Sufjan Stevens Christmas stuff. So much that I regained a love for Christmas music. So bring a torch, Jeannette, Isabella, bring a torch, come quickly and run and listen to some Sufjan Stevens. And if you don't like it, you can blame my brother.