Posted Jan 9, 2017
I compiled this summary mostly for myself, but it might also be of interest to family, friends, maybe a few acquaintances, total strangers, and potential stalkers.
And I'm putting this on my own damn website instead of Facebook. I'm going to try doing this more often unless they start giving me a % of the ad revenues generated from my content. But it's also for those who aren't on Facebook.
Most people do their annual reviews in December, which has always seemed wrong to me because, well ... the year isn't over yet! What if something amazing happens after it's already been published?! Although now that I see how long it's taken me I concede it is reasonable to at least get a head start before year's end. Then maybe next year I'll get this published on New Year's Day.
Meanwhile, here's my review of 2016! While most people perceive it as being one of the shittiest years ever, for me it was the best I've had in at least this entire decade, mostly because of self-improvement but also because I don't perceive the major social events of 2016 -- most notably celebrity deaths, the U.S. presidential election, and "fake news" to be as depressing and/or as profound a change as what's already been happening for decades.
Celebrity deaths are sad when they mean so much to us on a personal level, but I focus on celebrating their lives while taking charge of my own. The David Bowie party at Club 21, for example, was hella fun. Never forget the purpose of life is to live.
For many people the country appears to have gone insane re: politics, but I was emotionally prepared for either of the terrible outcomes from the dog and pony show that is our presidential election. Nothing profoundly new has actually happened. Yes, Trump will likely be the worst president we've ever had, but put it in context of the Bush-era crimes against humanity ... which Obama expanded upon as well. The best thing about Trump winning is that self-professed "liberals" are finally getting off their asses again and fighting against the tyranny of our own government and hopefully they'll stop believing in the insidious false propaganda of "humanitarian intervention" and "Just War".
Unfortunately there are still so many Americans who are manipulated by "fake news", and what they don't realize is that the fake news actually comes from the mainstream sources who are controlled by those who profit from endless unjust war and other forms of corruption. I feel good about all the work I did towards exposing more truth about American Imperialism and what our government and the Deep State's ulterior motives are in Syria, etc. While I'm wary of all politicians, especially presidents because no one person should have so much power in any nation, nevertheless Assad's liberation of Aleppo is far better for the citizens of Syria than replacing him with an exponentially worse puppet of Western Big Oil. I don't necessarily trust Putin either, and he has his own motives re: energy transportation from the Middle East, but at least Russia actually defeated ISIS instead of what our own gov't has done, i.e. covertly supporting the worst terrorists on this planet for the purpose of "regime change".
In 2016 I also continued researching and learning about Endocannabinoid Deficiency and how Cannabis is a conditionally essential nutrient. Meanwhile, Cannabis laws across the nation are finally progressing and I still have hope that we can recover from the brink of disaster.
Now on to my personal accomplishments & milestones:
First off at the beginning of the year I conquered a 3-month migration of servers and hosted domains into the cloud, finally giving myself the peace of mind knowing that I'm not the only one responsible for handling what had become increasingly less rare moments of extreme technical difficulty. I'm no longer blasted with alerts from my phone in the middle of the night, I'm not having to rush downtown to reboot when there is no other option, I'm not worrying about my businesses when I'm out of town, and surpisingly I ended up saving $200/mth in hosting fees!
Continued development of dBMonkey's event ticketing service and sold more tickets this year than in 2015, which isn't saying much but it's progress nonetheless.
Branched out into yet another business model of e-commerce powered by Magento. East Portland Coffee Roasters is my first client for that service and online ordering will be available soon.
Accepted the invitation from my great friends at AFRU Gallery to join their crew, serving as marketing guru, booking bands, and occasional DJ. I've met so many amazing people! I've already booked some great bands and more to come. And I also got the ball rolling to add Curator to my list of titles. The date is TBA but next year there will be a First Friday featuring Chris Bigalke aka Showdeer!
Finished Sam Henry's website! www.samhenrydrums.com
Brought DAVID YOW to the Clinton Street Theater and after party at Dot's Cafe! Thanks also to Lani Jo Leigh and Eli Johnson!
In September Angela and I had a really fun two-week vacation first in Astoria, one of many places where we've actually considered moving to at some point in the future if Portland becomes completely unbearable. The weather on the coast was perfect! The next week we went to Mt Rainier and it was so much fun that we're going back in the springtime to see how much the water rises, especially at the stunning viewpoint of the Nisqually River from the bridge on Paradise Road.
Then in October I completed my fifth decade of out-of-womb existence! Details below re: amazing show at The Know! (How's that for some rhyming huh?) I came to realize shortly after my 50th that I needed to finally follow through on those major lifestyle changes I've been promising to myself. I've quit the binge partying, dialed in my nutrients and exercise, and found the courage to have my lower right wisdom tooth extracted before it caused too much trouble. I now weigh less than I have in at least two decades! At 50 years old I'm in better health since I can't even remember when.
I've also been organizing and cleaning up the huge mess in my office. At the bottom of a pile of all kinds of shit on one of my desks I found what may have been the literally and figuratively buried reason for why I let it go for so long, greeting cards from family and friends expressing their condolences after the death of my mother in 2009. I will always miss her, but I've come to learn from past mistakes instead of dwelling on all the regrets for things I wish I had done differently. Though it's a myth that the body replaces itself every 7 years, in many ways I'm not the same person at all that I was back then.
I do regret having not attended some recent birthdays. Here's a belated shout out to Haggy, Sam Henry, and Kitty Diggins. Nothing personal, I just need to avoid bars indefinitely! I'm hopeful that some day I'll learn how to cope with loud 'n crowded sardine cans without alcohol, and I don't regret getting my life in order and getting shit done. Not in the least!
And finally at the end of the year I found myself for the first time in as long as I can remember ... NOT overly anxious nor depressed about the holidays. Remember kids, allowing these arbitrary dates on the calendar to have such an effect on us is like "letting the terrorists win"!
Memorable events (if yours not listed here don't take it personally as there were many I missed for various reasons):
1/8 Federale, David J, The Upsidedown @ Mississippi Studios
1/12 Todd Rundgren @ Star Theater
1/23 European Tour Kickoff and Gator's Birthday with P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S., High Horse, Breaker Breaker @ Twilight
2/5 BYTE ME! 5.0 @ AFRU
2/9 Premier of Holochronics @ Star Bar
2/18 Broncho @ Doug Fir
2/19 P.O.C. Reunion!, Power of County, Archangels Thunderbird, Clampitt, Gaddis & Buck, Hearts of Oak @ Secret Society
2/20 Down Gown, High Praise, Grand Head @ Black Water where I had my first vegan Philly "cheese steak" and it was awesome
2/25 Ben Munat's bday (went to Cravedog happy hour, Supersuckers @ Dante's & Ringo Deathstarr @ Star Theater)
3/4 John Prine @ Arlene Schnitzer (w my buddy Rick Bain!)
3/9 Mister Tang @ Liquor Store then Jen Lane's bday @ Valentines
3/19 MAGMA @ Wonder Ballroom
3/25 Andrew Loomis Memorial @ Dante's
3/30 Wow and Flutter, Down Gown, Human @ High Water Mark
4/12 The Residents present Shadowland, The Residents @ Aladdin Theater where I met & smoked weed with Helios Creed!
4/18 Paul Allen's Birthday Bash @ Star Theater
4/29 Neil Stryker and the Tyrant of Time @ Hollywood Theatre
5/3 Napalm Death, Melvins, Melt Banana @ Roseland Theater
5/6 SCI-FI SHOW, Comet Talk @ AFRU
5/7 Don't Returns From Europe! w The Lovesores & Down Gown @ Twilight Café
5/8 Barret's 40th Birthday Party, The Stolte Boys, Barret C. Stolte (theGoodSons) @ Ash Street Saloon
5/13 Violent Femmes @ Crystal Ballroom
5/14 dBMonkey Presents DAVID YOW (Scratch Acid, Jesus Lizard, Flipper) LIVE IN PERSON, Walden Pink, All Roads Lead @ Clinton Street Theater + after party @ Dot's Cafe
6/3 Finding Your Light @ AFRU
6/6 The Sadies, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, DRC3 @ Star Theater
6/14 Battles, Chanti Darling, Máscaras @ Wonder Ballroom
6/20 Summer Solstice Full Moon @ Planet Earth!
6/24 Piano Push Play @ Portland Art Museum and all over Portland!
7/1 URBAN DECAY, Damn Family @ AFRU
7/8 Neil Hamburger, JP Incorporated @ Star Theater
7/12 Boss Hog, Hurry Up @ Doug Fir
7/14 Benefit for FreeForm Portland Radio!, Down Gown, Killed By Health, New Modern Warfare @ The Know
7/15 Get Thee Slayer Hippy back on the Throne!, Toe Tag, IT, GUN, Sweatpants, Street Tramps, Jennifer Robin, DJ Keebler @ Dante's
7/22 The Colossus of Destiny - A Melvins Tale @ Hollywood Theatre
7/23 The Claypool Lennon Delirium @ Roseland Theater
8/5 Funeral for Old Portland from Skidmore Fountain to AFRU
8/17 Drinks & chess w Ted Imel @ Lotus Card Room (their last week and this night was also a full moon)
8/25 Clan of Xymox @ Star Theater and art shows at Goodfoot and The Trap
8/26 David J & Soriah private show in Enrique's home!
9/1 Portland Film Festival Presents West Coast Premiere of Neil Stryker and the Tyrant of Time @ Laurelhurst Theater w after party @ Beuhlahland where I hadn't been in ages!
9/2 Sylvia Mann, DJ Futropolis @ AFRU Gallery
9/4 Swans @ Wonder Ballroom (not their best show but memorable haha)
9/8 Gooo, Dan Dan, Consumer., Colin Manning @ Turn Turn Turn
9/12 3 Leg Torso Performs at The Lake Theatre
9/23 The Monkeywrench, Audios Amigos, DRC3 @ Star Theater
9/23 Northwest Hesh Fest, Uncle Acid & the deadbeats, Danava, Banquet @ Dante's
9/29 Psychic TV @ Star Theater
10/6 Elvis's Birthday w parade from Skidmore Fountain to Dante's
10/6 Gar Gar @ Lovecraft
10/7 Rustyn Birch, Chris Newman Deluxe Combo, DJ Kenric @ AFRU
10/12 Kenric's 50th Birthday! Holochronics w special guest Helios Creed (of Chrome), The Decliners, Gooo @ The Know
10/14 Poster Children, The Secret Sea @ Doug Fir (on my actual birthday & the reason I celebrated on 10/12 instead of 10/14!)
10/19 Yonatan Gat, Eternal Tapestry, Don Gero @ White Eagle
10/26 Lol Tolhurst (of The Cure) @ Lovecraft
10/27 Slept 18.5 hours!!! (an example of why I've quit the late-night partying hehe)
10/28 Peter Vaughn Shaver's Dia De Los Musicos Muertos
10/29 Halloween Party @ "The Shop" in St John's w Fruit of the Legion of Loom & Smokey Kingdom
11/4 From the Odd to the Macabre, Jeremy Twin-Bears Wetter, Sienna Morris, Cora Lee Poole, Cody Buttcheeks Long, Julia Alora, The Deadlurk Dollymops @ AFRU
11/11 Sam Klein @ Rising Room Gallery
11/12 Guy Burwell @ Po'Boy Art & Framing
11/30 WHEN THE FUTURE WAS NOW EPISODE #5, Dreckig, Dr. Burtrum, Bobbi Wasabi, Jon Timm @ Valentines
12/2 AFRU First Friday Santa Edition, Santa vs Santa Boxing Match, Mutant Toys, Gooo, DJ Bad Santa @ AFRU Gallery
12/21 The Blind Shake, Paul Cary, Fire Nuns @ Bunk Bar
12/31 NYE had a great evening at home with my wife!
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