The Section to Thank People Without Whom...

Thanks again to April for the camera that captured the great scenes of Austin. And special thanks to Stacy and Donnie for making my trip down to the heart of Texas this fall a great one, for indulging my weird obsession with ribs and the great Salt Lick shirt. I wear it every week. See you next September.

Things that made this year better: every Geico Caveman commercial, shots made with Strawberry Quick, roulette, the Wheel of Fortune slots, 220 bucks in credit at Amoeba, Gary Cohen on TV—and not Fran Healy, “Surrender” for Paul’s birthday, “Rock n’ Roll” with Michelle, Derby Day, Tony Paige on WFAN, Lobo after really annoying actresses, Indian River Light, Nada Surf’s “I Like What You Say,” The Tide doing Definitely Maybe, batting practice at Shea, the Salt Lick 360, The Horseshoe Tavern, Batman Begins, “Highway to Hell” with Joe on guitar, Bryan Adams duets at Shenanigans, Casino Royale, slow dancing and more to “Thirteen,” Logan’s Run in Reverse, The O.C.’s funny comeback

This year’s list took took one pitcher of iced tea, two Starbucks Iced Venti Chai, 15 20oz bottles of Diet Coke, two steak fajita burritos; one bag of chips and salsa, four pieces of sugarless peppermint Bubble Yum; 12 trips on the F Train, one meatball sub, one steak and cheese sub, one bag of M&M almonds, four cups of Swiss Miss hot chocolate, one Starbucks Venti Hot Chocolate, two coffee rolls, one Pepperidge Farm Saulsolito cookie, one pint of chicken fried rice, three 7/8 of a ounce bags of Bugles, one Ziploc container of leftover chicken and broccoli, one Werthers butterscotch candy and one bottle of Robitussin.