In January of this year in the midst of real estate hell I drove six hours roundtrip to play a really weird show in someone's tiny studio apartment around the corner from where I used to live in Kensington, Brooklyn. I was not paid, but in the morning I got to visit what would eventually become my own piano. The first song I heard of the new year was "Show Me Love" by Robin S very loud on the Avalon Lounge speakers and I gulped champagne and made out with my girlfriend as beautiful strutting unfurled in the light of the lasers. I did my first and perhaps my last piece of investigative gastro journalism writing about mini hot dogs.

In February of this year we continued watching every episode of Columbo. I got drunk off of a volcano bowl at Rain Modern Chinese in Albany and then played the goofiest possible music with Max in the back room of a shitty bar for like six total people, it ruled. Felt stuck, almost had a panic attack at a Goodwill in Massachusetts after eating other little hot dogs with Sam because of emails from lawyers. I wished violence and degradation on an evil man and did not like how it felt.

In March of this year I played a surprisingly nice show at a very dirty apartment as a snowstorm fell heavier and heavier. On the way home Gracelee's car started doing this weird overheating thing so we went via back roads at 5 mph and I truly feared getting stuck. I hosted a cute ambient daytime show at a bar I don't think I'll ever go to again then I played a really nice show at Avalon with Ged and spilled nearly an entire tallboy on my little keyboard, it made a very loud and hilarious noise - horribly embarrassing at first but John made me feel otherwise with his quick wisdom. Seeking joy and solace Gracelee and I went to Montreal where we immediately found joy and solace and also we ran into Keegan! And then we closed on the house.

In April of this year we finally started moving. We sold things, we donated things, I threw a lot of shit into a rented dumpster and, following our shaman's orders, I peed all over our property. I transported a baby grand piano into our living room the same day someone jacked my catalytic converter from the upper west side, a horribly inconvenient and expensive series of events. I got a real job at Basilica after a very long interview process, some relief. I played a fantastic show at Opus 40 and hosted Lake Mary at my house, sweet boys, did feel strange, though, to have such a gift to offer them. We had our first party surrounded by many sweet friends and the house still feels warm all these months later.

In May of this year we got to play with our bubble machine quartet at 24 HOUR DRONE at Basilica at 7am which, though yes very corny, I can truly say was something I had dreamed of doing for years. That same night I had a gig DJing a wedding and I can't remember being more exhausted, doing everything all at once. A truly insane amount of free Liquid Death was mistakenly delivered to our driveway. Gracelee was in a sick art fair in NYC and I took the train down to hang out with her there, an overwhelming amount of cool people in interesting outfits. We painted many walls, we got ice cream at the place by the hardware store with Matt and Jennae.

In June of this year Ged and I dropped the first Friends Meeting recording which I love a lot but our big outdoor gig got cancelled due to rain last minute. Camille, who was also supposed to play but just so happens to also be my new neighbor, put on a show at their place instead and lightning forked behind me as I sang into my delay pedals. Our house flooded terribly while we were at a Yo La Tengo show, we kept having to rip out wet drywall while my dad was visiting. I threw a pretty sick party at my job. We went to medieval LARP rave camp. We saw the Sufjan musical at Bard and it honestly fucking rocked.

In July of this year we threw a really big party at my job, 500 techno freaks in a thick wash of fog. I learned how to drive a scissor lift. Kendra played a really good set during a tornado. We went to Vermont with a bunch of our friends and had a religious experience involving a beaver clearing in the woods. It rained a ton and then they made me a flower crown for my birthday, I felt very loved. We saw movies at the drive in theater and struggled with insurance payments. We went to a really good Leah dinner. We all said goodbye to Tortoise Town, a definitive line break.

In August of this year I went on tour with Sinai Vessel which I think once and for all actually proved to me that it is in fact worth it - all of it - to try and play music with your friends. Our obsession with frogs continued. We swam at the mill pond in Leeds. Gracelee grew (and I ate) an absurd number of cucumbers. Some stupid asshole played unwelcome marimba over my beautiful music. We worked out at the YMCA often.

In September of this year I finally got to meet the farm puppies. Sammy and Ty and I went to the Columbia County Fair. With far less than adequate help I pulled off a music festival attended by 1,000 people, then we got COVID pretty bad and had to miss Sustain. I went to Florida to start OneBeat and I'm still processing what the back half of September felt like. Got to officiate Max and Sara's wedding and then we partied extremely hard, everyone kept asking me if I was a rabbi.

In October of this year I spent five days racking up as many e-bike trips as I could through the streets of New Orleans. We did a lot of karaoke, I randomly got to hang out at John Cameron Mitchell's house. As good as playing music all day with two dozen charismatic strangers felt it felt even more amazing to come the fuck home, but first I had to attend one wedding and then play music at another. We accidentally booked a private boat tour of the Hudson and they played 2000s indie rock the entire time, Broken Social Scene sounds amazing on a river. We ate an absurd number of garden radishes - ah, how sweet is life!

In November of this year I watched the New York City marathon and coincidentally stood next to my ex girlfriend's boyfriend. I got very emotional riding my last Revel scooter. Another fucking huge show at my job and for whatever reason we had to call ambulances three separate times, scary but everyone was okay. We went to San Francisco for 48 hours and then went straight to Providence for 48 hours, everyone was so nice to us in both of those cities. I played a great show under a trestle bridge in Kingston. An important sculpture was taken out of storage, an art of origin. 6,000 fucking people came to my job in one weekend. We pulled a wishbone from the Thanksgiving chicken and it exploded in three even pieces, what could it mean?

In December of this year there will be feasts of goose and fancy. A music video will be shot at our house. I will continue to eat japchae from Avalon and work from home more often. I will spend one week in Las Vegas. We will have a great party on the eve of new year's eve and I hope there will be much to jubilate.