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Last summer, my #1 show ended. My #2 show at the time, which became my #1 show, was Fringe.

I remember watching the first 2 episodes when they aired, but I gave up on the show after that. Because people said the show got better and I have to watch everything J.J. Abrams produces, I started recording it again. After the season ended, I caught up on the episodes I missed and I loved it. Not all of Fringe was great, but it had a lot more good than bad. It had great characters, great acting, and imaginative story lines. Fringe should have gotten a lot more recognition than it did.

Fringe aired its last episode Friday night around the time I was leaving for Vegas. I have a history of missing Fringe finales. I watched it this morning. I was very satisfied with how it ended. I’m glad that the show made it to 100 episodes and was brought to a satisfying conclusion.

I’m going to miss having new episodes of Fringe on my TV. I think a re-watch is coming soon.

This past weekend some friends and I went to Las Vegas. All except one was someone who I had met in person for the first time at San Diego Comic-Con 2011. We had been tossing around the idea for a while, but finally started planning something last summer. I knew that Des, Alirio & Christine, Michaela & Dave, and Jim would be there. However, we ended up getting a surprise visit from Chris as well. A couple of people knew he was coming, but not me. Most of our group stayed at the Luxor, which was inexpensive and pretty nice. I had a good view from my hotel room and the hotel itself looks awesome at night. I got in late Friday night, so I didn’t do much except gamble at the hotel.

Saturday we went to brunch at the Wicked Spoon. We all ate so much food. We were there for over 2 hours. Some members of our group did their own blind taste test, which was neat.

After that some of the group went to the pool at Michaela and Dave’s hotel (I’m probably staying there the next time I’m in Vegas) while the rest of us went shopping. After we regrouped, we walked around A LOT and took in the scenery. There’s a lot of scenery to take in. I was amazed at all the lights and everything screaming for your attention. I didn’t like the people on the sidewalk who were constantly shoving flyers and cards into your face. I’d say Vegas is nice but with a hint of trashiness. While we were walking around we did stop occasionally to gambling.

The last thing we did before the whole group separated was have dinner at the Heart Attack Grill. I’ve heard about them in the news because of people who have died after eating their unhealthy food. People who weigh over 350 lbs get in free and they make you wear a hospital gown while you’re in the restaurant. I ate the smallest burger that they have and it was almost too much. I barely finished it and I thought I was going to vomit at the end.

I was so tired and full when we got back to the Luxor. I’m still sore 2 days later from all the walking. I had my most successful gambling time this night before I went to bed.

On Sunday, I did a little more gambling in the Luxor. I won a little bit. I was down about $45 for the whole trip. I had a flight at 1:55pm, so I didn’t have time to do much before heading to the airport.

I had such a great time in Vegas, even though the trip was short for me. I’ve gone on several trips alone lately, and this one was so much better because I was there with friends. I hope we can continue getting together like this from time to time. I’m already looking forward to seeing everybody again.

I finally broke and went to see a doctor Friday.  I got to a point where I wasn’t getting better and I’m going to Las Vegas in less than a week.  I was better when I was at home, but I felt like crap when I was in our cold office where we have no control over the temperature and when I was out in the cold.  It turns out that I had bronchitis.  I remember having bronchitis once when I was in high school.  The doctor prescribed a Z-Pak and some cough medicine.  The next day I felt so much better, even when I was in the cold.  I’m glad to finally be getting over this sickness.

Oh man, I’ve been so sick.  I started feeling something coming on the day before New Year’s Eve.  On New Year ’s Eve I was sick, sneezing and runny nose and all.  I didn’t get to go to Ground Kontrol for their NYE celebration like I wanted to.  One week later the worst has passed.  I still have a weird taste in my lungs and my voice isn’t where it should be.  Good thing I had some time off, so I didn’t have to work as much during that time.  The year hasn’t started off well, but it could have have been worse.

The Rook by Daniel O’Malley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m not 100% sure what inspired me to read this book. I think it was the selection for a local book club I wanted to get involved with, but I think they changed their mind about this book because I haven’t seen any mention of it recently.

The main character wakes up in a park in London surrounded by bodies. She bruised and doesn’t remember who she is. She discovers that she’s a super-powered person and that she’s a member of a very old secret British organization that protects people from supernatural threats.

The Rook is definitely a page turner. I like that there’s a lot of humor in the book. It’s one that I would really like to made into a movie one day. I only have 1 issue with the book. The main character knew she would lose her memory and wrote letters to herself. The letters give the reader background on the organization and all the key players. These letters showed up way too frequently and sometimes went on way too long. Whenever the momentum started to pick up, I would be forced to read a long, boring letter.

In spite of that I highly recommend it to people who are fans of books like these.

I don’t think I’ll be posting these blurbs here anymore. Check out my Goodreads page if you want to know what I’m reading.

I think I rocked 2012.

• Listen to music more. I didn’t do so well in the first few months of the year, but it picked up after that.  Between new CDs, SiriusXM, and live music, I think I did well.
• Read 20 books. I read 20 books. I might be able to hit 21 by the end of the day.
• Go to a Halloween party. Okay, so I bought tickets to a Halloween party that I had heard about.  A few days before party, I got an email saying that they were going to change it to an indoor party, which meant fewer people could come.  They offered me ticket to a couples only event they were also having, but I didn’t have anyone to go with.  I decided to stay home that night.
• Go to a Christmas party. I went to my company’s Christmas party and had a great time.
• Buy new clothes. I bought new shoes, shirts, jeans, socks, and coats.  I almost bought a new suit, but they couldn’t get anything to fit me when I needed it.
• Meet new people. I’ve met new people at work and outside of work.  I need to hang out with them more.
• Do social gaming. I’ve done more social gaming this year.  It’s been all online.  P.A.X. inspired me to do more board gaming, but so far that hasn’t gone anywhere.  I recently found out about a couple of groups trying to get a regular gaming night going, but with the holidays nothing got off the ground.  Maybe in the new year.
• Start buying collectibles. I’ve been doing a good job of growing my collection of geeky items.  Following Brian’s suggestion, I’ve been documenting them on Facebook, Google+, and Flickr.

What a great year this has been.  I moved across the country to a great city with lots of exciting things to do.  I’ve made new friends and I have a job that I love.I’m not going to make a list for 2013.  I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing.

Once again, I looked at my last.fm profile on New Year’s Eve to see what music I listened to the most during the year.

Top 10 Artists
1. Revision 3 [podcasts]
2. Jay and Jack TV [podcasts]
3. Foster the People
4. Fiona Apple
5. Pearl Jam
6. Nicki Minaj
7. The Smashing Pumpkins
8. Rob, Chris, Robin, and Boston [podcasts]
9. nerdist [podcasts]
10. Mumford & Sons
10. HBO Podcasts [podcasts]

Top 10 Songs
1. Nicki Minaj – “Super Bass”
2. Foster the People – “Houdini”
3. Foster the People – “Helena Beat”
4. Foster the People – “Pumped Up Kicks”
5. Foster the People – “Call it What You Want”
5. Foster the People – “Waste”
5. Foster the People – “Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls)”
8. Fiona Apple – “The First Taste”
9. Foster the People – “Life on the Nickel”
10. Birds of Tokyo – “Head in my Hands”
10. Foster the People – “I Would Do Anything for You”
10. The Naked and Famous – “Young Blood”
10. Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Monarchy of Roses”

The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become by Robert Kirkman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a step down from the past few volumes, but only a small step. There was a little too much whining from Dale and a little too much talking about how much Rick has changed. We did see a certain character return that I had been hoping to see again, so that was good.

I had a lot of fun with new tech in 2012.

In March I got a 3rd generation iPad. It was my first iPad. My boss, another co-worker, and I went to Best Buy and got in line the day they went on sale. It was kind of an impulse buy because I had decided to get an iPad 2 since the price was going to go down. I love my iPad! I hardly go a day without using it. It’s one of those things that you don’t think you need, but once you have one you can’t live without it. I think everyone should get one of these. As it turns out, I don’t mind reading on this as much as I thought I would. I never use that Kindle that I bought last year anymore.

A few months later I bought a Nexus 7 because I wanted to learn Android programming and have a real device to test on. I do like how open Android is, but I still prefer iOS, probably just because I’ve had so much more experience with it. Sometimes I still don’t know what to expect when I press a button. It wasn’t until last week that I got a chance to start learning Android programming.

On another sort of impulse I decided to go to the Verizon store on the day the iPhone 5 went on sale. I was fed up with AT&T’s service and decided to make the switch. And I had the urge to get a new phone and it would be another year before I was eligible for an upgrade with AT&T. I am very pleased with this phone except for the fact that I needed new charging cables.

I pre-ordered a Wii U the day I heard that pre-orders were being taken. I love the gamepad and I love the Mario game that I got. My biggest problem is how slow everything is. I didn’t mind the long update before I could even play it that much because it gave me time to read the manuals. But you have to wait so long for anything to load. I really do need to spend more time using it, though. Maybe I’ll get more used to it.

I won an iPad mini at my company’s Christmas party, which I have written about previously. I’m really digging this little thing and I had no interest in it before. It’s so light and it’s just the right size. My only problem is that it doesn’t have a retina display. The text is very small in the Kindle app, so I have to read on my big iPad.

I wonder what I’ll get to play with next year. New consoles?

Leading up to Christmas, there were times when I was really into the season and times when I wanted it to be over. Of course, the traveling was what I was dreading. I hate flying and driving gets old after a while.

I flew to Mississippi on the 23rd. This is the first time I’ve flown United. I had already made plans to fly to Jackson months before I knew everyone would be in Georgia for Christmas. I was going to cost around $1000 to change the flight to Atlanta, so I figured I would drive the rest of the way since I had already planned to rent a car. I spent the night in Jackson and drove to Decatur the next day. I had a blast in Georgia. I hadn’t seen my sister, brother-in-law, and niece in a little over 2 years and my mom since February. My niece is almost 3 now. She is adorable. I never got tired of her calling me “Uncle Will”. She wore me out a few times. I don’t see how parents do it. Seeing her joy at opening her gifts made me happy. It was great seeing everybody again and getting caught up.

The day after Christmas it was time to return to Portland. I drove back to the airport in Jackson. I ran into a high school classmate at the airport. Our plane was late leaving Jackson due to the plane arriving late in Jackson due to bad weather in Houston. I think we made up some time in the air, but it wasn’t enough. Between leaving late and being stuck waiting for a gate to open up after we landed, I missed my connection. I rushed through the airport as fast as I could. When I made it to the gate for my next flight and handed the lady my boarding pass, word came over the walkie that the door had closed. It was too late in the day for another flight. I was put on standby on the first flight out the next day. I didn’t like the fact that the customer service guy made it sound like it was my fault that I missed my connection. United put me up in a room in Houston, but I had to pay for most of it because my missed connection was caused by something beyond their control. This will probably be the last time I fly United, though other airlines would’ve probably done the same thing. I got a seat on that flight the next day and was glad when I finally made it home. Overall, a great Christmas, but I may be trying to convince everyone to come to Portland next year :).

What did I get this year?

• How to Be Black by Baratunde Thurston
• Super Fly on DVD
• Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlen
• A Best Buy gift card that I’ve already spent
• A nice shirt that I’ll probably wear on NYE
• The Bourne Legacy on blu-ray
• A Tardis cookie jar and Texas cookie cutter
• One gift that I still haven’t received yet