minimalism

Life: 2004. The year that was. Honestly, this is only a partial list of things I went to this year. I didn't keep track of everything.

the minimalism world tour

Dec 31 NYC, NY - Don Hill's New Year's Eve Party
Jan 17 Philadelphia, Pa - SG Philly Party @ DPT's House
Jan 30 Philadelphia, Pa - The Stills @ The North Star Bar
Feb 04 Philadelphia, Pa - SG Burlesque Tour @ The Trocadero
Feb 06 NYC, NY - SG Burlesque Tour @ The Knitting Factory
Feb 07 NYC, NY - Luna's Birthday Party @ 3B
Feb 09 Boston, Ma - SG Burlesque Tour @ The Middle East
Feb 11 Philadelphia, Pa - Juke, Jerk, and Jive @ Ministry of Information
Feb 13 Brooklyn, NY - SGNY Anti Valentine's Day Party
Apr 24 Brooklyn, NY - Girlie's Housewarming Party
May 7-17 San Francisco, Ca - SG Prom
Jun 12 Boston, Ma - Boston SGs Birthday Party
Jun 19 NYC, NY - SG Burlesque Show @ The Knitting Factory
July 04 Brooklyn, NY - SGNY Rooftop BBQ
July 10 Wocester, Ma - SG Cabaret @ The Lucky Dog Music Hall
July 16-18 Bangor, Pa - SG East Coast Camping Trip
July 30 Brooklyn, NY - JaiDee's Loft Party
July 31 NYC, NY - Curiosa Festival @ Randall's Island
Aug 07 Boston, Ma - Curiosa Festival @ The Tweeter Center
Aug 28 Brooklyn, NY - JaiDee & Orali's Housewarming Party
Sep 11 Boston, Ma - Housewarming Party
Sep 17 Pittsburgh, Pa - DJ Gig - Panty Party @ The Upstage
Sep 26 Jackson, NJ - SGNJ Great Adventure Trip
Sep 27 NYC, NY - Tori's Birthday Party
Oct 09 Baltimore, Md - SG Slizzy Bowling
Oct 20 Philadelphia, Pa - DCFC/PGMG @ The Trocadero
Oct 23 Newark, NJ - DJ Gig - The Loft
Nov 4-8 SF and LA, Ca - Disneyland Trip
Nov 12 NYC, NY - Interpol at Hammerstein Ballroom
Nov 20 Wocester, Ma - SG Cabaret @ The Lucky Dog Music Hall
Dec 11 Brooklyn, NY - SGNY Holiday Party
Dec 18 Baltimore, Md - Game Night
Dec 31 Pittsburgh, Pa - SG New Year's Eve Bash @ The Upstage

You know, looking at this list I'm even shocked that I went all these different places. I remember thinking after the crazy New Year's Eve I had at Don Hill's that if that had set the pace for the next 12 months this was bound to be a year I'd never forget. The first time I knew for certain things were going to be out of control was when the week I had scheduled for vacation turned out to be the same week the SG Burlesque Tour rolled through the north east. I had no idea that was going to happen. I had just booked that week back in November because I wanted off for my birthday. I ended up getting tickets for three different shows, Philly, NYC, and Boston. Those were big nights, let me tell you. Each one started off with a pre show dinner and ended with a huge after party. The show in Boston ended up on my birthday itself, and everyone was buying my drinks. That was pretty bad ass.

The next huge trip was going out to San Francisco for the SG Prom. I'd never been to California before and I was told repeatedly that I was going to fall in love with the place. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm a New Yorker true to the bone. Until I got there. It really lived up to it's reputation. It's an amazing place, I took the very beautiful GlassHeart as my date to the prom, and that trip made me so happy. I had a smile on my face for a whole month afterwards.

July was another wild month. Starting off with the Rooftop BBQ at BK_Unknown's pad in Brooklyn. I have said it before, but it can never be repeated enough. The NYC skyline is the most incredible thing in the world to me, and watching the fireworks go off above it makes me feel giddy like a little kid all over again. The two years that Will has done this party so far it has been easily the best SGNY parties that we have had to date. I'm sure that it's going to be a standing tradition as long as there is an SGNY.

I drove up to Wocester on the afternoon of July 10th to catch the SG Cabaret that Bailey had put together and had to be back in NJ for my neice's Christening the next day at 1pm. It was a rough weekend, but well worth the effort. The show was brilliant and Bailey did a fantastic job putting it together.

One of my favorite events of the summer was next. The East Coast Camping Trip. 3 days in the woods with 40 other perverts. Who the fuck came up with that idea? Two years strong and getting better each time. We went tubing, ate lobster, drank, laughed, and got to know a lot of new friends. We WILL be doing it up even bigger next year. You can be sure of that.

To end off July and begin August I caught the Cure / Interpol tour. Not once, but twice. NYC and Boston. What a fantastic show it was. Although Interpol were opening and limited to 45 minute sets, they rocked the crowds. The Cure's two hour sets were stunning. The light show was out of this world and they played some of the best songs from every album. Cheers to that.

Trying to get to my DJ gig in Pittsburgh on September 17th turned out to be much harder than we had originially planned. Of course no one plans to drive through a hurricane to a DJ gig. We got there so late, but we made it in one piece, thanks to the very skilled driving of Miss Jamie Lee. I cannot tell you how scared I was at times that we really were going to crash and die, but she got us there. The event was pretty fun once we were in the club, and the next day we hung out with Penny. Went to the Carnegie Museum, I got a new tattoo, and then we all went out to a fancy dinner. That was a very nice trip in the end.

Took another trip out to California later in the year for the SGLA Disneyland Event, version 3.0. Let me just say this, they claim that Disneyland is the happiest place on earth, and they are so right. It is impossible to have a bad time there. Got to see a bit more of California while I was there and I have to admit I'm surprised at how brown it is. I guess I always figured it would be more lush and green, but I didn't take into account how fucking big the mountains were there. I'm used to the east coast mole hills that we call mountains.

There was another, and this time much bigger, SG Cabaret in Wocester in November. Again it was a phenominal weekend. The man of the hour, Derceto hooked me up with a ride, booked the hotel, and made sure that even on a limited budget I was able to have a great time. Thanks for that one, brother. There was a pre dinner that turned into a night of a lot of people meeting a lot of new people. Those are always my favorite nights. Especially when everyone turns out to be so cool. The show itself featured I think, 12 girls. Bailey out did herself with this one.

So that's was the events so far, there are still two more big parties to round out the year in style. SGNY has a holiday party on Saturday which should be brilliant. As they always are. And then I'm heading out to Pittsburgh to DJ on New Year's Eve at Penny's big party. It should be another great night.

I know that some people will look at this list and think, jeez either this guy is crazy or obsessed. I can't deny a little of both, but bear in mind my location to all the east coast cities is very centralized, I can travel by rail for free because of my job, and I have places to stay in each city. That makes these events very affordable to me and I love seeing my friends. Who am I kidding? I'm obsessed. And with good reason. SG parties are the best ones that I have ever been to and that's why I want to be at as many as possible.

Thanks to everyone who hooked me up with a place to stay this year, to everyone who helped put together the parties, to everyone who comes out to make these events so memorable and fun. I wish you all the best for the holidays and well into the new year.

Tom/minimalism

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I just got some incredible news. Don't know if I can tell you all just yet, but I'm fucking wicked happy right now. Congradulations, GlassHeart!!!