Best of, well, Me.

This past week, I was looking back for information on one of my posts and my eyes glanced down to the bottom and I realized, good god, it's been 1 year since I started at LAist. 3 editors, 2 apartments, 2 day jobs (you think blogging pays all the bills, think again), countless music shows, music festivals, restaurants, art openings, day trips, networking events and here I am.

For those who say you can't find a strong community in LA, I say you're not really trying. I set out just over a year ago to find friends that matter, to pursue my dreams (all 1,000 of them), and find as many great nooks and crannies in this town that I could along the way. And truly, I have made great progress on every single one of those things.

For this upcoming year, I'm hoping for much of the same, but bigger and better. There are some new categories that I've had our fearless editor put in place including "Good News", "Do Gooding", and "Philanthropy". There are a lot of amazing things going on in this city and we are young, active, consumers who make intelligent decisions. We're eco-conscious and critical of big government and big corporations and want to make the world a better place. So if you hear of anything along those lines and want it written about here, email me.

There are 49 days left to make a difference in 2006, what are YOU waiting for?

I thought in celebration of the past year, I would post my five favorite posts (and get ready, you ain't seen nothing yet!:

1) Goodbye Daddy's - If I could tell you how many people have emailed me and how many conversations I've had in bars lamenting the closing of this bar, it's a lot. I know the face of LA changes and our memories are short so even a few months later, most have moved on. But man, that was a great place at a great time for me.

2) An Inconvenient Truth - I went to see this movie on opening day and was more excited that I remember being for Jaws when I was a kid. I told everyone about it after, for months.

3) L'Effleur De Sens - My first time to King King and I loved every minute. I had one of the few tables to watch this show and it was like nothing I had ever seen. I kept thinking, "I live in LA and I'm watching a cabaret and this is fucking cool." It was a true LA "aha" moment for me.

4) Rogue Wave - This band blew me away. And I love new venues. One of the best parts about LAist is being on the fence about going to see/experience a new (fill in the blank here) and then receiving some information on it, and thinking, yeah - I could go see that. You never know what happens when you step out of your circle, your neighborhood. LAist is my constant reminder to get out and do more.

5) Brewery Art Walk - This is the one that got it all started. That side of town is such an enigma to me.