In many ways this post is a day late. I sat down to start writing about 2012 in retrospect and found myself incapable of really setting things down in words. It is impossible for me to write about 2012 without noting the pall my grandpa’s death casts over the entire year. It’s difficult to call the year anything but bittersweet. It was a year of inevitable transitions and new beginnings.

Sitting down to write though led to an overabundance of topics. I was faced with too many problems – a stack of work left over from my rush to leave town, family pictures and items that once belonged to my grandfather, a variety of projects I had let slip, everyday annoyances, and a very messy desk. In all, I sat down and was immediately overwhelmed. I suppose that was a fitting close to 2012 though. It ended a lot like it started: with me in over my head.

Still, the year deserves to be marked somehow. So, obviously, I made a playlist. I stole the idea (as is usually the case with good ideas). Oh well. This is about the best I can muster at the moment. Most of them are older tracks rather than albums I picked up in 2012. Lately I’ve just I found myself gravitating to old favorites. Here goes (with minor annotations, links, and a few videos):

Dissertation Song: The Decemberists “Rox in the Box”

 

Writing Process: Trampled By Turtles “Wait so Long”

Dissertation Defense: Heartless Bastards “Down in the Canyon”

Post-Dissertation Slump: Delta Spirit “Bleeding Bells”

Farewell to Home: Elton John “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters

 

New Horizons: The Corin Tucker Band “1,000 Years”

 

Los Angeles: Eddie Vedder “Hard Sun”

 

Burn Out Case: Gomez “Get Miles”

Finding my Way: Of Monsters and Men “Little Talks” (Mostly because I first heard this song while I was checking out my soon to be new home.)

Missing Pieces of Life: King Creosote and Jon Hopkins “John Taylor’s Month Away”

Eulogy: Flogging Molly “If I Ever Leave This World Alive” (It’s a long story, but it fits for my grandpa.)

 

Perspective: Mumford and Sons “Not With Haste”