I wish I had documented this observation, but this was the year when everything needed to happen twice: two trips to Home Depot to get a part, two trips to Daniele’s to repair a mirror, and so on. Much time wasted, but then again, what would I have been saving it for? One hopes 2015 is very different from 2014, which was mostly grind, little glory. Still, it is a poor year that brings no pleasure. Here are some jewels, personally chosen and wholly idiosyncratic, recovered from 2012:
1.) Our young friend Margaret Schmidt, talking about her job on Facebook: “I must be getting a raise, because now I’m supposed to be a mind reader, as well as being everybody’s bitch.”
2.) In his last Yankee Stadium at-bat, Derek Jeter gets the game-winning hit in walk-off fashion. Almost nobody goes out the way he or she would like to. Jeter did, thrilling an entire city.
3.) Borgen. This year we saw a lot of good miniseries, but this one, a three-season story of a woman who is prime minister of Denmark, was excellent. Major reasons: the intelligent, beautiful Sidse Babett Knudsen.
4.) Westward Ho! Our two-week trip through the America that 
lies between here and Cheyenne WY, with stops at the Grand Old Opry, Graceland, the Badlands, with two priceless anecdotes to join the family repertoire involving allergies and cell phone usage
in Rawlins.
5.) Commander Will Cushing.
6.) Staged readings of Carson: The Musical. Onward!
7.) The Wolf of Wall Street. An unflinching look at our greedy times.
8.) The family Christmas trip to see Cabaret
9.) The Midnight Ramble Band with Billy Payne at the Capitol Theater, especially Teresa Williams‘ version of `Willin”’
10.) Odell Beckham Jr.’s catch
Bonus pick: The Polar Vortex
Downer of the Year: Losing Vicki