"Yet ANOTHER Exercise in Self-Indulgence" - December 31, 2008 *Year Recap*

It’s the end of 2008 and quite frankly, I’m not happy.

Why do you ask? Well, these past 365 days were a massive 180 to what 2007 was. To be honest, I’m surprised that the year ended in such positive fashion, only because 2007 was so utterly horrendous, I really had the lowest expectations possible going into the New Year. But sometimes, low expectations call for great things. You don’t expect much to change, or much to happen, and then something surprises you. Before you know it, it’s another surprise after another surprise, all of which leaving their own special positive impact thus making for a very good year. Of course, when you end something on such a positive note, you always ask yourself, “If I had more time, what else could I have done?”

Part of the reason the year was so great is because I became a much stronger person, as far as accepting certain flaws as well as standing up for myself in specific situations. 2007 taught me a lot about things I needed to improve on in life, as far as fixing my pessimistic attitude, being the bigger person and trying to fix the relationship with my dad, understand why I’d failed in my relationships that past year, and work on getting my grades up in school. All of which, if you ask me, were overwhelming successes, and to be honest I attribute those four key factors as to why my 2008 will probably go down as the best year so far in the seventeen that I’ve seen. And I really don’t think I’m stretching it here.

I really do, honestly believe that I’m a tremendously different person than I was at the end of 2006, hell even the middle of 2007, because for the first time in my life I was willing to spend less time worrying about the little things and direct my focus to the big things around me. Believe It or not, that’s proven to be a much greater improvement of character than even I would’ve ever expected. Instead of worrying about “Oh, she doesn’t like me, what am I going to do,” these days I’ll just make an approach, and if it fails, you know what that means? To me, it essentially tells me that there’s another opportunity out there, and to be honest that’s an outlook I have every time I happen fail at something.

I’ve also mellowed out ridiculously. Sure I still have an obnoxious side but it’s nowhere near as apparent as it was, say, a year and a half ago. My obnoxiousness seems to have translated into more subdued, sharp-witted humor. How that happened, I don’t know, perhaps that’s another flaw that I had sub-consciously decided to fix, because I do realize it was a problem. Sure, a nickname like “Megaphone” comes around now and again, because I still haven’t completely gotten over that side of me (and probably never will) but I have it under so much better control than it used to be, and it’s really helped me socially.

One issue I still have is my low self-esteem, which translates to low confidence in certain situations I have to face in life. Granted, I have and probably always will view myself as a great person who seeks out the best in other people and always tries to help them with something in their best interest. But based on the events that occurred in 2007, my self-esteem took such a massive blow I haven’t been able to get over it, despite all the positives I’ve encountered. And it bothers me when I have people saying that I “shouldn’t have the problem because I’m such a wonderful person.” Honestly, I firmly believe that it’s a mental block you simply can’t just “get over.” It’s going to take awhile for me to overcome that. Funniest thing is, I’m a very ambitious person with a lot of goals that I want to reach. Which is a plus, because it shows that I’m starting to build up some personal confidence and realize that if I want to do something, I can make sure it’s done, no matter what the task may be.

So, the purpose of this whole thing is to recap the year, yes? Well, just like any story, you start from the beginning. I ended 2007 with a “it can’t get much worse than this” attitude, meaning that while I didn’t have drastically high expectations, I had a better feeling about the year in general. For the fifth year in a row, I spent my New Years by Dale’s place up in Chicago, which was a lot of fun. Shoveling with three hours left to go, counting down with Collective Soul on CBS that night. That was a particular New Years celebration I’ll have a difficult time forgetting, because it was the end of one of the darkest chapters in my life and the start of hopefully something better.

Well, we ended that stay on the second day of the year, with a fun trip to Chicago Ridge Mall with some friends (really just one, which was Marcella, since to be honest I haven’t been the biggest fan of really anyone else I met that day and still, am not, really). I took the ride home later that evening and, to my joy, realized that I still had a good five days left of my winter break. So I slept in and just relaxed, since I’d spent a long week up in Chicago as it was. Sadly, it was back to school the next week, but luckily, unlike the clusterfuck that was 2007, my final exams were actually before break, so the semester started with a clean slate. Which was nice, less for me to worry about over my vacation. Glad they decided to stick to that format.

Anywho, the rest of January was a bit of a drag, though I did have another successful haul at the Cubs Convention. I took off school that Friday and spent Thursday night at my uncle’s, and this worked in our favor, because we got there early enough for an Alfonso Soriano autograph and picture. Sure, he’s a flop and I can’t stand him, but you just cannot diminish the value of it! Also just the weekend following, there was a back and forth between Dale and I on the phone in the early afternoon, because he managed to get Rush tickets at the United Center for June 9th! Long wait, but damn well worth it. So, clearly, January was off to a solid start, which was definitely a lift to my spirits.

February was very bland. I’m sure you all remember my stories about February ’07 being a remarkable period of inspiration in my life, from getting closer to a beautiful girl to watching snow fall so majestically in a way I hadn’t seen it fall before. Wish I could say the same for this year. By this point, I just wanted the snow to go away, I had nothing special going on, and there was no Super Bowl excitement without the Bears there (although it was good to see the Giants kick some Patriot ass!). It just wasn’t the best month, and frankly I was just counting the days before spring would come along.

I’ll never forget one night, though. I went to Cait’s birthday party which was an absolute blast, although my night was ruined by my father coming home at four in the morning the following night without even calling after a party. That’s not the norm around here, so my mother and I were scared shitless. So even when I have a very fun evening, I couldn’t find solace that night. Felt like the same old shit happening again. Pretty much the only downside in the first two months of the year, so nothing too bad to complain about, really.

So we move on to March, which wasn’t that memorable either, to be honest. Although am I the only person who has those days that, no matter how insignificant they may be, you just remember them so ridiculously well? For some reason I remember St. Patrick’s Day vividly, as I spent that day with Laura, Cortez, Jess, and Dave, and we all saw “Horton Hears a Who” (why is it that movies between January and April always suck massively that your last resort is that?). Sweet movie for what it was worth, and a great day to boot.

Another bad experience was coming back from my uncle’s before Easter and having my dad embarrass me in front of them—second time in a month, mind you—thus causing my dad and I to not speak to each other for about a week, the longest feud we’ve ever had, which may have been the best thing for us. I really cannot think of a time since that incident when he and I have had a bad fight, when before it used to happen on a considerably consistent basis.

This leads us up to April, and still, no warm weather. Baseball season had begun, the fourth quarter of school had begun, and life was good. The Cubs showed promise and delivered on it early, my grades were solid, seriously, who was I to argue with how things were going? Though to be honest, it wasn’t as notable as April 2007 was, not as much going on. Rush’s new live CD came out in the middle of the month, which was definitely something to hold me over until the show in a couple months.

May was perfect as it usually is. School gets out later that month and you just keep the countdown tally going as to when you get the hell out of there (alright, so maybe I’m the only one who does that, so what?). Not to mention, summer plans start to get together, which makes the anticipation to leave so much worse, really.

Sophomore year was so far my best year of high school (so far, Junior year’s not measuring up) and really, may go down as one of the better years of my education life. Lots of memories, from Mr. Russell’s American Government class, to Mrs. Ireland’s Journalism course, and most of all, Mr. Kane’s Physical Science. Most of my memories come from that class, actually, primarily with Lauren, Stacey, Megan, and Mark. Though I gotta admit, sometimes it killed me to see someone who I still cared so strongly for despite everything that went down between her and I have some of the issues she did, and even worse me not knowing the purpose behind any of it.

May ended in positive fashion, school year ended positively, which led up to a very optimistic June. My last weekend in May I had taken a trip to Peoria to see the Chiefs, and that was a very good trip, despite the ending where I had to deal with a bout of food poisoning when I got home. Amazing free breakfast my ass!

Anywho, I had so much planned the month of June, and really had myself booked up for the first three weekends back in late April. Lucky for me, none of those plans fell through; all of them were resounding successes. My summer essentially began with Laura’s birthday party, which was a whole lot of fun seeing certain people and meeting new ones in the process. The next day we went to my sister’s 8th grade graduation dinner, where my uncle graciously gave me tickets to the Cubs vs. Braves game on June 10th, and also gave me Brewers tickets for a trip he and I would take up there in late July. So my summer started off essentially, well, perfectly.

So, the rest of the week was just used to relax. I went to Max’s birthday party that Friday which he had graciously set on that day because I was leaving for a week in Chicago the following day. That was another great experience, just playing football, having a bonfire, and messing around with friends. I remember sitting out on Max's porch with Laura waiting for our ride, staring at the sky and just talking about life. That was a great evening. But the fun was just beginning.

That Saturday, which was June 7th, Dale and his folks picked me up at my place late in the evening, in a very hot, muggy late spring evening (unseasonably warm, guess the heat was compensating for the winter that overstayed it’s welcome, eh Al Gore!?). This would be the start of an outstanding week in Chicago, which started off with Dale and I just messing around and resting. The next day was pretty much the same thing, since the weather was bad and much of it was spent mellowed out in the house. Though we did have an interesting walk to Arby’s that day, where we saw a ton of older friends in unexpected places. But that’s about it.

The following day was the day of the Rush show we’d waited four months for, and to be honest the long wait really paid off. Since Dale was at band early, I got to sleep in until 10:30. First time I ever slept past eight in his house, haha. I entertained myself with my Nintendo 64 while he was gone, but when he came back we headed to Burger King and swiftly headed back home. We met up with our good pal Ray around 4:30 (later than we wanted, but he had work, so it’s forgiven) after doing some yard work in the rain, and left for the United Center about a half hour later after spending time to search for directions. We had dinner at this God-awful place called Moretti’s (thanks a lot, Rush fans!) since it was right by the venue, and got to the United Center around 7:10, just a half hour before estimated show time, so we were behind schedule. I won’t indulge into how the show was, except the fact that it was perhaps the best show I’d seen in my life (I know I said that about Rush last September, but it’s not my fault they just keep getting better!).

So after returning back from a very long day, we both hit the hay early, especially considering I had a very long day ahead of me following that. On that next day, I left Dale’s around two, because Sean, my uncle and I had to get to Wrigley Field to see batting practice at the Cubs / Braves game. What a great game, too! Cubs won 10-5 no thanks to Home Run Howry and thanks to a three-run jack by Geovany Soto. That game was a blast, and after returning home, the next few days were leisure days. I pretty much helped my uncle around the house, watched the Cubs’ 1948 game with my grandma (she’s a huge Cubs fan, thanks to my late-grandfather), etc. But I’d headed to Sean’s place on that Friday; we went to the White Sox / Rockies game at U.S. Cellular Field that evening and had a blast.

The next day we pretty much decided to relive nostalgia for the majority of it. We helped out in removing the pool cover of a family friend of theirs that morning, then went swimming, and eventually spent a good four hours playing All Star Baseball 2000 and FIFA World Cup ’98 on the N64. It’s what we did when we were young lads, so that was a nice time to revisit. After a great dinner from his mother, we watched some baseball, played MLB 2K8, I showed him the Tourette’s Guy video and had him crying at how funny it was, and then we retired. Due to a baseball game he had the next day, I had to leave. I returned to my uncle’s, we watched the Cubs against the Blue Jays in Toronto, and then I headed home. My long, phenomenal week had come to a close. I’m sure you’re all glad, I indulged into that more than I should’ve, haha.

The rest of June was a drag, except when I got Motley Crue tickets for the second row in mid-July! Also, very suddenly Dale and I made plans to head up to Summerfest on the first day of July in Milwaukee to see O.A.R. (we wanted to see Rush again, but we couldn’t get up there that day). I came up on June 30th, we played baseball, had some dinner, I had some fun with the neighbors while he was at band that evening. When he came back, we just hung out on the porch (after chasing his ass around for throwing a drum stick at my foot), enjoyed the mid-70s early-summer weather while listening to the Sox game, and headed back to play Mario Kart in his basement. We eventually ended up playing MVP 05 on the GameCube and doing our own broadcast, stacking my camera on about 20 different VHS cases. We watched Whose Line is it Anyway for the rest of the evening and went to sleep at four, only to wake up at eight.

The next day was when we left for Summerfest. Not much to say about that, really. We arrived at 2:15, set up the camper, and headed to the festival grounds. Saw some great bands, had much nicer weather (unlike the 100+ degree day we had in 2007), partied with the folks at the O.A.R. show (many Illinois folks, actually), just a great day. The marijuana scent in the air was a fond reminder as to why outdoor festival concerts are such a blast, haha. We retired to the camper around 12:30 and hit the hay. We left early the next day to return home, to which I had another busy day ahead of me. I would be picked up by my family, and we headed to Taste of Chicago. Great experience, the rain was nice, to be honest, and the Cubs were playing in the West Coast so I wasn’t going to miss it thanks to the late start. Probably the most exhausting day of the summer though, two major festivals in two days ain’t easy on you, trust me.

Fourth of July was uneventful (good, I needed a break) and for the most part didn’t do much until the middle came around. Went to Dave’s party on the 12th which was a ton of fun, and also had the MLB All Star Game three days later (which really I didn’t care much for). The next day was Cruefest in the second row with Cortez, which was a hell of a time. Talked to some of the titty cam girls (got one’s number, but haven’t spoken to her since July, haha), interacted with the band, and just had an awesome time, one of the best concerts I’ve had the pleasure of attending. Following that show, my dad and I went to a Chicago Fire game that Saturday, the 19th, which ended in a tie. But a Fire game in the second row in beautiful weather, with Toyota Park being ten minutes from the place you used to proudly call home? Come on now, that’s a great feeling.

July ended with that trip my uncle and I took up to Milwaukee. Saw the Police again and two Brewers games (one win, one loss), and also went up to Germanfest, which was pretty nice. For the most part it was a nice relaxing getaway, despite having to deal with seeing the Brewers who I have tremendous respect for briefly take over first place in the Central in front of my eyes (didn’t last long, since we destroyed ‘em in a sweep the next week). We returned that Sunday the 27th, watched the Cubs game, then I helped him with some of my grandmother’s plants later that evening accompanied by an unusual accordion player down the street (I’ll tell you, as dorky as it sounds, the melodies he was playing were so beautiful, it fit the mood of a mid-summer evening back in your “hometown” absolutely perfectly. That’s a very fond memory I have). That Monday we headed to Navy Pier to see “The Dark Knight” in IMAX, followed by Harry Caray’s for dinner. The next day my uncle and I accompanied by Sean went to the minor league game between Peoria and the Kane County Cougars at Wrigley Field, which was such a corporate sell-out game, I was simply appalled. Only National City execs could get a Ryne Sandberg autograph instead of us fans who waited an hour and a half for it? Thanks a lot, assholes.

So, I returned home on the 30th, which effectively ended my July in prime fashion. August showed promise, well, at least half of it with school starting. On August 5th the family headed up to Wrigley Field once again to see the Cubs take on Houston, which was a wonderful comeback victory courtesy of an Alfonso Soriano three-run homer (I still don’t like him). That was a great day, but another very exhausting one. To be honest by this point I was actually beginning to get worn out. I spent the last free week I had sleeping in, watching the Cubs against Atlanta, savoring every free minute I had left. School began on the 15th which was a major drag, but to be honest it wasn’t as bad as I’d expected.

I also was lucky enough to reunite with someone towards the end of the month who’d left one of the most significant impacts on my life, even though I’m sure she’d be modest enough not to think so. Our relationship had been rocky for several reasons which had all been cleared up eventually, and frankly this was one of the higher points as far as personal relationships are concerned for the entire year. She knows who she is, and I’m very glad to say things are evened out between us.

September was a bore. Really, I don’t even have that much to say. I did see one of the best Cub games of my life that month, on September 18th against Milwaukee, which was a come-from-behind win taken to twelve innings. We all knew the Cubs were going to clinch the NL Central, that was pretty much the only exciting thing about it. That happened on Homecoming day, which was also nothing really special (though I did have an awesome, humorous discussion with Stacey that night, despite the subject matter). Honestly, that’s about it. Shame, huh?

October, on the other hand, had proven to be more entertaining, though because of my primary focus on school I had a difficult time doing as many cool things as I had been doing for most of the year. My month started negative, not so much personally though. I went to NLDS Game 1 at Wrigley Field between the Cubs and Dodgers, and any baseball fan knows how that one ended. Mark DeRosa got the big two-run homer, but then we allowed seven runs losing, as you can imagine, 7-2. This was the beginning of the end, as we would lose the next two games and were swept out of postseason contention. Lazy bastards. 97 wins are absolutely meaningless when you can’t win ONE SINGLE PLAYOFF GAME!

The rest of the month was considerably busy. My parents’ anniversary was on the 10th, and the next weekend was my uncle’s birthday dinner. I don’t get many chances to eat prime rib, but if I get the chance to do so two weeks in a row, who am I to complain!? Anywho, I basically spent two weeks following that anticipating my birthday, which was on the 29th. Better than I’d expected despite being on a Wednesday. Got the new Madden game, NHL 09, a box of Upper Deck baseball cards, a Blackhawks hoodie, tickets to get autographs from Mark Grace and Lou Piniella in November, and best of all, AC/DC tickets for that Saturday! It was a great birthday, much to my surprise.

So naturally, November began with the AC/DC show, which was one of the best shows I’d seen in my life. I swear, between both Rush shows, Cruefest, AC/DC, Sammy Hagar on stage, Collective Soul from the seventh row, and Genesis the past couple years, I’ve seen some of the best shows I ever have in my nine years of concert-going. But AC/DC were stellar, great setlist, great energy. Just not the best venue in the world, but hey, can’t be perfect, can it?

The next few weeks would be a drag, watching Kyle Orton get hurt (and rushed back to play way too quickly) for the Bears, dealing with stresses of school, etc. However, on the weekend of November 21, I went to stay up by my uncle’s to meet the aforementioned baseball figures from my birthday. That was a successful weekend, saw a ton of autographed memorabilia, even met AL Rookie of the Year Evan Longoria on a quick last-minute decision. That was a hell of a weekend, of course I came home on the 23rd and had to take school off the next day because I had another bout with food poisoning. Funny, in seventeen years of life I only had to deal with it once, and this year alone I had it twice. Damn.

Anyway, in just a matter of days, in time for Thanksgiving break, I returned up to my uncle’s to help with Christmas decorations and such. Thanksgiving with the family was nice, no complaints about that. The following day my uncle and I went doorbusting, which was a lot of fun. Spent about three hours out shopping around, and when we got back to the house, we picked up my grandma, had breakfast, and immediately started putting up Christmas decorations. It was probably one of the busier days of the year, because I woke up at three in the morning and went to sleep at eleven that night. The next couple days were relaxing, went downtown to my uncle’s for the morning, finally saw “Quantum of Solace” (which I’d end up seeing three more times), and returned home. The rest of the weekend was spent secluded, for the most part, watching college football and hockey. It was a nice getaway.

But all good things must come to an end, eh? I had to go back to school starting right at the beginning of December, but luckily it was only three more weeks until vacation. Not much really went down throughout the course of the month until vacation came around, to be honest. I was absolutely drained down the stretch, getting sore, and working too damn hard for my own good. But certain positive aspects came out of it, definitely. Especially the start of a vacation I, and I’m sure many others, so desperately needed.

Vacation began on December 19 in a somewhat unusual day with school. We had a huge ice / snow storm that night and I expected school to be cancelled (which I didn't want, last thing I needed was to have to come back from vacation and take a final exam). I got to sleep late, school started two hours later, so I woke up at 8:30, watched Spin City for the first time in ages, and went to school. Very good day, and a great way to kick-off my vacation.

Not much went down until Christmas, and let me just say, Christmas was a BLAST. Got tons of stuff, lots of Cubs paraphernalia, such as a new alternate blue Mark Grace jersey, a 2008 plaque for my wall, and autographs of Ryan Dempster, Ryan Theriot, Carlos Marmol, Mark DeRosa, and for unusual measure, CC Sabathia in a Brewers uniform. Also got Blackhawks tickets for January 4th, a new DVD/VCR, a new digital camera, music, the Genesis 1983-1998 box set. I got a massive haul this year and I'm damn proud of that.

The next few days were a drag, not much happened until I saw Jeff Dunham last night with my dad up in Rosemont. That was a very funny experience, Dunham is easily one of the funniest people in the business today. Worth the $50, definitely. "Taste a Vagina!"

So tonight, we arrive at. Today I woke up at noon, went to my grandma's for awhile, and then proceeded to go by Dale's place for our traditional New Years celebration. Who knows what we'll be doing tonight. Probably head to Chuck's after his haircut, then watch the Snakes & Arrows DVD for the first time since I got it last month, and ring in the New Year with a visit to the guys at Pirate radio. Afterwards we'll probably run around the block throwing Triscuits around like confetti, because that's just the kinda guys we are. And before you know it, it'll be 2009!

There you have it. The end of 2008 and a damn fine summary of it, if I must say so myself. I’m gonna miss this year. So many things happened, and really this summary is just about as long as last year’s, much to my surprise it may actually be shorter. But I believe I summed it up nicely. All four goals were accomplished: Improve things with my dad, keep my grades better, my pessimism is almost non-existent, and I’ve learned from relationships how to improve myself. Mission accomplished.

NEW YEARS RESOLUTION: LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES IN 2008, AND CAPITALIZE ON THEM IN 2009.

I will extend it though, to give a few shout-outs to those who made this past year what it was. I simply cannot have you all read such ridiculous self-indulgence without throwing out a few thank yous in the process. Last year I basically just gave a “Thanks a lot, you know who you are,” but this year is different. This year would not go down as one of the best I’ve been lucky enough to have experienced without these people on the list, and I honestly would feel very poorly if I didn’t extend my gratitude to these special people.

Dale – Another year in the books, and another year of awesome music, videos, and stories to tell down the road. There’s a reason you’ve been my best friend going-on thirteen years, and if this year wasn’t an example of that, from the Rush show to Summerfest to another classic New Years celebration, then I really don’t know what is. Thanks a lot, buddy, you deserve it.

Sean – My other longest-lasting friend, who deserves a shout out as well. We didn’t chill as much as we wanted to this past year, but nevertheless, the times we did were just great. Someday we’ll get those usher jobs at Wrigley and I’ll be seeing you everyday, but until then, what was accomplished this past year was great. Thanks, man.

Brian – Brian, my good friend, off to college and away from here. All I have to say is “You lucky bastard!” Hope life’s treating you well and I have to admit, I miss my daily Freddy Bynum joke around here. Take care, man, you’ve been missed. Keep on rockin’ through the night, my friend!

Laura – You were there since the start of the year, and what’s sad is I haven’t seen you as much as I’d hoped toward the end of the year. But we had some good memories, from the movies to your party to talking before school everyday. Thanks for contributing. You've been one of the best friends a guy like me could ask for and I'm proud I can say that.

Marcella – My amazing Asian sister. I know I lose my temper with you and the things you do, but you know the reasons I do. While I don’t see you as much as I’d like, I saw you more than I expected to this year, and those were fun times. So thank you, and take care of my best friend for me *wink*

Stacey – I know you only contributed to about a third of the year, but you still deserve something. Why? You said in a survey that you didn’t think you made a difference in anyone’s life, but you’ve made a significant one in mine, whether you believe it or not. You taught me a lot about myself that I didn’t know two years ago which helped me become who I am today and I thank you for that, and it’s good to have the Stacey from before back in my life these days. Your dedication was longer than the others because I didn’t get the chance to thank you last year. You've become one of my very best friends despite our history, and I'm very happy about that.

Max – We haven’t talked recently man, but I gotta say it was a good year, especially towards the end of German last year. Miss ya this year bro, take care of yourself, and keep kickin’ ass with Martial Law!

Auston – Good to be seeing you everyday again, man. You’ve always been a quality friend, always helped me out with stuff, and always provided a good conversation. Thanks man.

Cait – I know towards the end of the year we didn’t talk so much, except around the playoff time with our Cubs / Sox battles, but for the first half we kept in touch a lot and I know I tried to help you with a lot of things. Thanks for continuing to make the Cubs / Sox rivalry interesting, I look forward to next season.

Lauren - You deserve a dedication as well, you've become a very valuable friend to me and I completely respect everything you've done for me and helped me with over the past year. Not many are willing enough to take time out and do that, so thank you.

Of course, along with the thank yous I could extend a couple of fuck yous as well, but I’ve decided to stay classy and let the past remain the past.

So, forecast for 2009? None of us really know, I sure as hell didn’t expect to make so much progress personally this year, but I did. I’m going into 2009 optimistically, though not with too many high expectations. If I learned anything from this past year it was to never get your hopes up too high, because you may just be disappointed. If you go in with low or moderate expectations, things may end up better than you’d expect. That was my mentality throughout 2008, and it turned out to be one hell of a year. Screw 2009 being a "new beginning" for me, as far as I'm concerned 2009 is just a higher number, for me it's essentially going to be a continuation of 2008, hopefully keeping things on the high they're currently at.

Question marks going into the New Year: Will my Cubs finally learn and maybe win a damn playoff game? Will I finally get to see the Bruce Springsteen for the first time? Which friends are going to continue to stand by me? Will I find a relationship and be able to stabilize it? Who knows?

Being a very nostalgic person for much of my life, especially this year with the Nintendo 64 abuse, viewing of old Cubs games on VHS, and catching up with some old friends, I’d like to leave with a random lyric I wrote, one of my favorites. It’s uplifting, and it’s about positive reflection on life, from a piece I submitted to school for Visions.

“So at these crossroads, we return
To the days that we conquered the world.
We were kings in our own memories
As those times in life fade to history.”

This is Zach, signing off for 2008. It’s been a riot, and you were there for the experience. Thank you all, take care, and have a great night!

-Zach

"Trip Down Memory Lane: Top 15 Video Games" - December 18, 2008

As everyone is already very well aware of, I'm a ridiculously nostalgic person. A major part of my past, however far back that may indeed extend, would be video games. Talk about a central focus of my life for so many years. I'll always remember living in Chicago and going to a buddy's house to play Nintendo 64, which was typically the norm if you weren't out playing baseball or basketball. What's funny is, those were the days when beating Perfect Dark was the most difficult thing was going on in your life (which I need to buy on eBay).

I've worked on these "Top 15" lists in the past, did 'em seemingly religiously at the beginning of the year (before life started getting more in the way), and while I still have three finals to take tomorrow, I thought I'd ease myself of some stress with a trip down memory lane. Whether it be recent or from the past, these are games almost all of you should know, as these defined our generation and sometimes those after us. I can't make a universal "Top 15" list, so this is essentially my personal favorite 15 video games of all-time. Let's begin.

#1 - Goldeneye 007 (Nintendo 64, 1997) - Single-handedly the most addictive game I've ever played in my entire life. A game who's gameplay is so modern, who's graphics were stellar for the time, who made a first-person shooter more than just killin' bitches in your way. Find me one guy my age who didn't own and enjoy this game, I dare you. It's based on the 1995 James Bond film Goldeneye, and the game is ridiculously accurate toward the movie's storyline. 17 different levels (19 if you unlock "Egyptian" and "Aztec"), all of which maintaining different objectives to make each level more difficult than the last (my favorite being, easily, Statue Park). This game has been with me through everything, whether it be preparing for basketball practice or simply just using it to relieve some stress (recently, for example).

#2 - Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64, 1996) - This is a game that shouldn't be omitted from any video game list. It's a seemingly never-ending quest to find 120 stars throughout the game and defeat your enemy Bowser three times, first time Mario ever did it in 3D. Clever levels, interesting storyline, and complex challenges that no matter how many times you beat the game, always make you want to do it again.

#3 - Pokemon Red and Blue (Nintendo Game Boy, 1998) - Yeah, I know this is the "lame" answer, but back ten years ago, there wasn't a single person who wasn't playing one of these games. And they were always exciting: Say you beat the Elite Four, you still needed to catch more Pokemon. The game never ended, even though (by research) it's a fact that you can't catch every single one (unless one has a Gameshark). I recently broke out my Red version just for kicks and I swear I couldn't put it down! Gold was always my favorite, but Gold would've never existed without these two, which sufficiently held me over for a couple years before the release of Gold. Pokemon Stadium (N64, 2000) won't make the list, but deserves honorable mention. Great game as well.

#4 - Kingdom Hearts (PlayStation 2, 2002) - A game that I still think doesn't receive it's due from the public, I always thought it was brilliant. Not to mention, the shit gets REALLY hard after awhile. Hollow Bastion is probably my favorite level / world in ANY video game, because along with it's absolutely beautiful design, the story really starts to unfold. I spent DAYS trying to beat Riku, for Christ's sake! The game was always a challenge, I was lucky enough to beat End of the World with the Ultima Weapon after several tries. You know what? I haven't played this in awhile, actually...

#5 - Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (PlayStation, 1998) - The sequal to the magnificent 1996 debut, the game seems more appealing solely based on the fact that the story is easier to understand and characters are given more interesting personalities. I couldn't tell you how many times I collected every crystal but could hardly get the gems, haha. Still, awesome game, still have it, too. May give that one a spin tonight.

#6 - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64, 1998) - Yes, I realize it's not #1 on my list, like it is everywhere else. But it's there, which in itself is impressive enough. I'd spent endless days in the winter of 1998 playing this one, and if I wasn't playing it, I was organizing my 1998 Collector's Choice baseball cards while watching my mother play it. What a fun game, easily the best of the Zelda series (coming in very close would be "Wind Waker). Got the GameCube version of it with Master Quest, which is hard as shit, but nevertheless, exciting.

#7 - Banjo-Kazooie (Nintendo 64, 1998) - Outside of Goldeneye this was the Rare corporation's shining moment. It's a stupid bear with an annoying, smart-ass bird in it's backpack who can fly both around at will. How brilliant is that? Not to mention, the storyline flows very well, for such a silly concept the game has moments that are just ridiculously hard. The game pretty much out-does any sequel made from it, hands down.

#8 - Spyro The Dragon (PlayStation, 1997) - People often overlook the Spyro series and I never understood why. It's this cute dragon with a vicious interior, kinda like that small dog or cat all of us had once owned in our lifetimes. Interesting plot, nice graphics for it's time. Basically all your doing is shooting fire at the asses of anything that gets in your way, and if you can't burn it, ram it! Great game, underrated too.

#9 - Final Fantasy VII (PlayStation, 1997) - I remember how difficult this game was being only five years old at the time of it's release, but in reality, after re-visiting it several times after that, I pretty much came to the conclusion that the game really does live up to it's hype. One of the best video game stories I'd ever experienced and possibly the most well-done RPG of all-time. No one should overlook this one.

#10 - Sonic Adventure / Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (SEGA Dreamcast / Nintendo GameCube, 1999 / 2001) - Sonic the Hedgehog is probably my favorite video game character of all-time. I remember playing the original game on Sega Genesis when I was at least four years old (still have the Genesis, no idea how to hook it up). We sold the Genesis around '96, but when I got the Dreamcast in 2000 it was a BLAST playing as Sonic again. Not to mention, it's a great story, easy to follow (unlike the latest installment, blech!), and the missions are pretty classic Sonic. Love this game, wish my Dreamcast hadn't crapped out on me. It's sequel was just as good, if not better, introducing Shadow Sonic and also focusing more on individual storylines.

#11 - Tom Clancy: Splinter Cell (XBOX, 2002) - I got an XBOX for Christmas 2002, and I remember instantly by dad bought this game for the both of us on December 26. At the time, there was no other game like it. It was much more than just a first-person shooter; it was a strategic, complex, and thusly, interesting game.

#12 - Halo 2 (XBOX, 2004) - Very fond memories of this game, clearly one of which playing it in my CCA class after every lesson with just about everyone there Freshman year. The Halo series defines this generation, much like Goldeneye did seven years prior, and anyone who hasn't played or owned one has really been missing out.

#13 - Super Smash Bros. (Nintendo 64, 1999) - Why not higher on the list? I'm well aware that it's a favorite of just about everyone I know, but frankly I've always been a fan of storyline-oriented games. Regardless, you guys have no idea how many sleepless nights I spent playing this one when it first came out. Melee and Brawl were great sequels, excellent even, but the first will always be the ultimate one. Awesome.

#14 - Rayman (PlayStation, 1995) - The oldest game to be on the list, and definitely deserving of it. Rayman is just a...weird...thing, who goes through ridiculously unusual obstacles in order to complete the game. I've never fully finished it, because sometimes it gets so bizarre you just kinda lose focus. I swear, someone HAD to be on LSD when they made this one, haha. Great game, though, and often forgotten due to it's subpar-to-awful sequels.

#15 - Yoshi Story (Nintendo 64, 1998) - My Nintendo history ain't as good as it used to be, but I don't recall any game revolving around the lovable dinosaur Yoshi. What a "cute" game, if you will. Interesting plot, with Yoshi inevitably having to defeat Baby Bowser at the end. It takes the form of a standard NES Mario game for the most part, just with 3D graphics, which is what makes it so interesting. Great plot, great game.

Games of honorable mention (due in part because I didn't want to add racing or party games) - Mario Kart 64 and Double Dash, Diddy Kong Racing, Crash Team Racing, Mario Party 1 and 2.

Now, I finished that list, but what I'm sure everyone knows about me is, I'm also an avid sports fan. Thus, I take a strong liking to sports games, as one is able to control the progress of a team in a season, franchise, or just an exhibition game. I'm going to list two games each for baseball, basketball, and football, just to balance it out. I could list many more, but don't see much sense in it.

Baseball:

Major League Baseball featuring Ken Griffey Jr. (Nintendo 64, 1998) - The simplest yet quite possibly the most exciting baseball game ever made. I love season mode where you can pretty much rape an opposing team 28-0, and how they would never sub out their pitcher anyway. I've probably thrown about ten perfect games (just threw one with Pat Hentgen last weekend against Texas), but only because I've played it so many times. This game's been through just about everything with me, and if it were on the initial list of 15 it'd probably come in at #2. Christ, I'd wake up at 5:30 in the morning sometimes, just to play this game.

All Star Baseball 05 (XBOX, 2004) - MVP 05 came out the following year and I have no problem admitting like everyone else it was probably the best baseball game ever made. That said, I've always had a soft spot for the ASB series (I own every game, except 99), and this game was the best of them all. Great graphics, excellent commentary, easy gameplay. I spent many mornings in the Summer of '04, counting the days before moving out of Chicago, playing this one in my basement. Shame this was the last of the series, they were really starting to make great progress with their games. We can thank Acclaim Sports for not paying their royalties.

Basketball:

Kobe Bryant's NBA Courtside (Nintendo 64, 1998) - Same creators as Ken Griffey Jr. MLB, ironically enough, and this game was just as great. Realistic gameplay, awesome rosters of the time (w/ player photos, something Griffey MLB lacks). I'll always remember Michael Jordan's player being listed as "Roster Player" with jersey number 98. Funny stuff. Excellent game.

The 2K Sports Series (Sega Dreamcast / XBOX, 1999-Present) - Very rarely would I single out one group, but these games always seem to be getting better, release after release. The game easily had the best sports graphics ever upon it's initial release in winter 1999, which added towards it's appeal. 2K sports hardly disappoints with their games, but the NBA series has probably been their most consistent.

Football:

Madden 99 (Nintendo 64, 1998) - I remember this one so fondly. I often recall going over to Sean's regularly and just churning this one out as long as we possibly could, until we had to eat or I had to go home. This is around when the Madden series was becoming THE series to play for NFL football games, and what a way to start. Always nice to play a throwback game at the Pontiac Silverdome or Old Soldier Field, eh?

ESPN NFL 2K5 (XBOX, 2004) - When baseball season ended and I wore out ASB05, this game took over. Almost every morning in the winter of 2004 going into 2005, I would play this game. The franchise mode was stellar, the graphics were so far ahead of their time, which added to it's appeal. Possibly the best "Swan Song" of all sports games, since after this one Madden bought out 2K Sports' NFL rights. Excellent game.

Honorable Mention: FIFA World Cup '98, the Tiger Woods golf series, Nagano Winter Olympics '98, Wayne Gretzky NHL Hockey.

There you have it, that was a fucking fun list to make! Talk about a trip down memory lane indeed, I'm gonna have to break out some of these this weekend. Any omissions on my end, let me know. I'd love to see what else you guys would add on to this.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, should hold over well until my New Years post.

-Zach