2011: A Year In Blog Posts

Since I’ve been posting every day this year, my blog has, in some senses, taken the place of a journal for me this year. The highlights, the low points, the important decisions and processing to be done — nearly all of it has been recorded in some form or fashion. I’ve looked through my posts from this year and have seen how they have covered how 2011 has gone for me. This is the result.

Post-Top Surgery: I Feel Fabulous

The vest is off, and I feel fabulous!

It’s been three weeks since top surgery, and I’ve finally been allowed to take the post-surgical vest off. I am so glad that it’s finally gone. Also, I love the way my clothes look! I am beyond excited about, well, everything regarding being done with top surgery. I am so pleased with how it looks — with how I look now.

Free Doctor Who On iTunes

iTunes on Facebook has just alerted me to the availability of free Doctor Who on iTunes! “The Eleventh Hour” and something called “Best of the Doctor” (presumably the Eleventh Doctor) are currently available on iTunes through BBC America. You can likely find a link on the iTunes Facebook page. 

Barbra Streisand and “Evergreen” (Time: Live In Concert)

I adore Barbra Streisand, if you didn’t know. There are no words for what a gorgeous voice she has. I am a big fan. I also have several of her concerts on DVD, of which Timeless: Live in Concert may be my favorite. “Evergreen” is one of my favorite songs from that concert, and I just found a video of the song that I thought I’d share here. 

Wise Acre Eatery

I love Wise Acre Eatery. I first heard about it from a review in the Star Tribune (the local Minneapolis paper): they raved about the food. Wise Acre Eatery prides itself on using mostly using harvest from the Tanglewood Gardens’ farm in Plato, MN. All of their meat products come from that farm — animals that lived “stress-free, hormone-free lives with plenty of room to roam.” The food is delicious, and nearly everything is house-made.

Caitlin Heaney and “O Holy Night”

My friend Caitlin recently posted a video of herself singing “O Holy Night” on her YouTube channel, CaitlinHeaneyMusic. Today is the day after Christmas, and “O Holy Night” is a gorgeous Christmas song, and of course, Caitlin sounds beautiful, so I thought I’d post the video here. Enjoy!

Doctor Who: The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe

Spoilers for the Doctor Who 2011 Christmas Special!

This year, I have access to BBCA. And that means that I can watch the Doctor Who Christmas special as it airs in the U.S. It was a fantastic episode. There was a nice element of fantasy, some clever lines, a heart-warming story, an nail-biting deadline — everything a Christmas special needs — and yet my favorite part was the last few minutes. 

Christmas Eve Dinner With the Family

Our ornament tree

For years, it’s been tradition in my family that we have my dad’s Swedish meatballs (and, generally, some kind of seafood, partly because I don’t care for Swedish meatballs) for Christmas Eve dinner. This year was no exception, and it was a delicious meal.

The festively set table

Hairspray at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres

I saw Hairspray today at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, and it was so much fun. I love the music of Hairspray (I’ve had the soundtrack for ages, and I saw the musical in Philadelphia a few years ago), and the Chan’s production was great. The cast was really terrific — I don’t think there was a single weak point — and I loved the costuming. The effect the color schemes of costumes can have on the overall show fascinates me. 

All Rocks Go to Heaven

All rocks go to heaven. That may not make sense to you unless you’ve seen the series of photos of two churches’ welcome signs (and even then, it still may not make sense). It began with a Catholic church, Our Lady of Martyrs, (and by the way, it was really difficult not automatically typing Mawrtyrs) stating that “all dogs go to heaven.” Beulah, Cumberland Presbyterian church, took offense to the idea that anyone other than a human would go to heaven. It is a hilarious conversation.