2004 in Review

That first photo still cracks me up.

What a rollercoaster year! I attended three memorial services, lost my sense of taste, sat through Baz Luhrmann's "La Boheme", the family dog passed away, three of my friends are getting divorced, and (last but not least) was diagnosed with cancer three days before my birthday!

But I also had the best meal of my life at Noé, lost over 1/3 of my body weight, made a lot of new friends, grew closer to old ones, gained two beautiful newborn cousins (one born on my birthday), and moved back Downtown into a great space.

Getting sick was terrible, there's no denying that. But everyone and everything that wouldn't have happened were it not for the cancer, I wouldn't give back or change for anything.

Most days, I can honestly say that I would rather be me with cancer than anyone else without cancer. I mean, Donald Trump may have a hit TV show, billions of dollars, and a hot fiancé. But he doesn't have James, Marycruz, Ali, Allan, Adam, Big Eric, Little Eric, John, Tim, Mike, René, the Hawks, Silvia, Agnieszka, Sol, Evelyn, Lane, Leannah, Tom, Rose, Allegra, Paul, Noah, Dr. McNicoll, Dr. Blackwell, Maria, Paula, my family, and new friends who've e-mailed me through Kevin's Dead Cat this past year.

I guess that's the epiphany I've been waiting for: my family and my friends are the best, and I can face anything, even cancer, as long as they're around.

And a big Thank You to those who've helped me get through the year, though we've never met: Philip K. Dick, Haruki Murakami, Hayden Carruth, Henry Miller, Leonard Cohen, Jacques Lacan, Umberto Eco, Hunter S. Thompson, Jon Stewart, Eddie Izzard, Chris Rock, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, John Coltrane, Johnny Hartman, Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Lou Reed, Al Green, Ravi Shankar, Johnny Cash, Chet Baker, The Flaming Lips, Radiohead, Steve Jones, Natalie Merchant, Glenn Gould, Cocteau Twins, Ina Garten, Rachel Ray, Todd English, Robert Gadsby, Anthony Bourdain, Meng Tzu, Wong Kar Wai, Anh Hung Tran, Jørgen Leth, Peter Jackson, John Luri, Edward Norton & Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp & Benicio del Toro, Matt Damon, and Maggie Cheung.

Here's to the end of 2004, and making damn sure that 2005 is the best year ever.