2011 Top 20 Grouches vs. Top 20 Purrs

Top 20 Grouches

• Losing my director-level position and being unemployed for the first time in 20 years in a dismal job market
• My sister Janet losing her glamorous Hollywood job 6 weeks after me
• Jeff’s scary February car accident on an icy treacherous stretch of road in Long Grove
• My July 4 ER visit caused by art-related X-ACTO knife blade slip and resulting ugly scar
• Far-right politicians pulling out all the stops to sabotage Obama – hurting all Americans
• Mom suffering needlessly years after a botched appendectomy
• Incessant and overblown media coverage of Tim Tebow
• Kim Kardashian and her clan
• Mom falling while on vacation in NYC and suffering a nasty head wound
• Samantha incurring a permanent facial scar at the hands of an incompetent oral surgeon
• Wall Street Volatility – making investing wisely a total crap shoot
• Grossly overpaid CEOs, athletes, and celebrities
• North Koreans’ brainwashed adoration of a monster dictator upon his sudden death
• Nancy Grace
• June 23 ComEd power outage affecting our humble abode for 17 hours
• People who text and talk on cell phones while driving – especially on the highway
• Charlie Sheen
• Rained-out August garage sale after months of preparation – never again
• Financial worries caused by loss of income and health insurance
• The annoying Ozzie Guillén – adiós in 2011

Top 20 Purrs

• Pepper’s snuggles and unconditional love
• Jeff walking away uninjured from his terrifying car accident
• A lot of free time to play tennis and exercise
• Photographing and painting my site specific works
• Legions of oppressed people in the Middle East overthrowing horrific regimes
• The deaths of Osama Bin Laden and Muammar Gaddafi
• Leisure time to hang out downtown with Samantha
• Detoxing after losing my incredibly stressful, office politics-ridden job
• Discovering the superb Breaking Bad and devouring 3 seasons of episodes within a month
• Humility learned from being unemployed
• Amanda Knox being freed in October after 4 years of imprisonment in Perugia
• The magic of movies including Hugo, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Drive
• Watching Dark Shadows and enjoying all the bloopers therein
• Reading Just Kids by Patti Smith and rediscovering her music
• Concerts at Millennium Park
• Steve Martin & Martin Short in a Very Stupid Conversation at the Chicago Theatre on June 19 – free tickets courtesy of Janet
• Attending the UNIF Tabletop Show at McCormick Place and getting freebies galore
• Exploring garage sales, rummage sales, and thrift stores for hidden treasures
• The chance to promote and garner media coverage for the stellar Journal of Neurosurgery and work with their great staff
• My dad still vital and working at age 88

Addendum

I thought of a few more purrs that merit mentioning – making 2011 more purrfect than grouchy, despite everything:

• The remarkable determination and spirit of Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly
• The opportunity to attend a traditional Indian wedding of a wonderful couple
• A jaunt to San Francisco in September, albeit for a job that didn’t pan out

New Year’s Resolution – to make 2012 even more purrfect than 2011. Cheers to your health and happiness!