This year was filled with ups and downs, but at the very end of it, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to ride life's roller coaster in good health with a few great people. Happy New Year, Milwaukee.

Concert: I saw a few very solid shows in Milwaukee during 2011, including The Pixies at The Rave and Peter Gabriel at Summerfest, but my favorite show of the year took place beyond Brew City. The Band of Horses show in Savannah, Ga., last April was by far my top concert experience of the year. The intensity of their delivery, the absolutely breathtaking screen imagery of the natural world and the fact the band is now based in Savannah's sister town, Charleston, S.C., I really felt the love.

Event: Moving to Walker's Point after spending 18 years in Riverwest (with the exception of three years in the Rufus King neighborhood) has been one of the best decisions I made in a long time. I am thrilled to live within walking / biking distance of Conejito's, Kruz, The National, Ginger, The Noble, La Merenda, Chez Jacques, Transfer, The Olive Pit, Bomb Shelter, Borg Ward, Farm Girl, Triskele's, Great Lakes Distillery, The Harley Museum and more. Plus, I am surrounded by people I adore and admire and my kids made a Spanish-speaking friend this summer.

Also, this year's Milwaukee Film Festival celebrated it's strongest year yet. I thoroughly enjoyed everything I saw, most of all the festival winner "Louder Than A Bomb," that focused on four Chicago high school students preparing for a poetry slam. "Natural Selection," the story of a supposedly infertile, Christian housewife who learns her husband fathered a son via a sperm bank, was also very good.

Milwaukee Moment: The incredible opportunity to stand on top of the Wisconsin Gas Light Building, 626 E. Wisconsin Ave., next to the "the flame," was a surreal, unforgettable experience for this lifelong Milwaukeean.

Books: Phew. It was a year of terrific reads. I am almost finished reading former Milwaukeean Craig Thompson's latest graphic novel, the 800-page "Habibi," and although I am thoroughly enjoying it, reading his autobiographical graphic novel from 2003 called "Blankets" was probably my favorite read of the year. His illustrations of northern Wisconsin in the wintertime are gorgeous and the storyline features extremely human characters. I also reread "Catcher In the Rye" this year and it reconfirmed that Holden Caufield remains the protagonist that's closest to my heart. Finally, parts of Tina Fey's "Bossypants" had me chuckling aloud and Joan Didion's "The Year of Magical Thinking" provided eloquently-written insights into the world of grief.

Condiment: After being a strictly mayonnaise person for decades, I rediscovered the tangy zip of Miracle Whip this year. It hasn't replaced mayo, or wasabi mayo, but once in a while, I gotta have it on white bread with some orange cheese and iceberg lettuce. Pretty much nutrient-free and delicious.

Music: If forced to pick a favorite, I'd name Bon Iver's self-titled second release as the year's best. I own this on vinyl and the MP3s and play it multiple times a week and never tire of it. It's the perfect emotionally-charged soundscape for whatever I'm doing, from writing to cleaning. Currently, I'm pretty hooked on Bjork's latest, "Biophilia," along with the new live Tegan and Sara compilation, "Get Along" featuring a stellar, mellow version of my favorite song, "Nineteen." Earlier this year, I completely overplayed TV On The Radio's "Nine Types Of Light," but was disappointed with their too-short concert this summer. Also, it has been really fun rediscovering some old favorites, like the mighty Queen Latifah, through my kids, who now have their own musical tastes that are independent of my own.

People: My dad died at the end of 2010, so 2011 was about enduring first times of everything without him. I've already blogged about my dear pops, so enough said, except that I really missed him this year.

And the world lost another great man at the end of 2011: my friend and coworker, Tim Cuprisin. Tim was a great writer and listener – I learned a lot from him – but mostly, as his former desk neighbor, I miss laughing with him about our passions, flaws and day-to-day minutiae.

To end on an uplifting note, I'm gonna give a special shout-out to Toni Spott, my attentive Shorewest realtor with a great sense of humor, who helped me buy my cute house and then gave me a plunger at the closing. It was my first time buying a house alone and I couldn't have done it without her.