Another year is just about in the books, which means it’s time to take a very subjective look back at the posts I liked most here.  With this one, I’m passing the number I did in 2012 and have done more than any year since 2011.  I feel pretty good about that.  Remember that I began by blogging every day in January, which was difficult, but achieved my goal of actually posting more this year.

So let’s do a top 10.  They are in reverse chronological order because that’s how I’m writing them down.

10. Taco Bell & Chill
An examination of how Taco Bell is treated in online dating profiles.

9.  Mini Simpsons Multiplying
A new set of Simpsons LEGO figures brings a scene of multiple dramatic showdowns between characters.

8.  HAGS
I go back in time and see how I’ve lived up to the notes and wisdom of those who signed my high school yearbooks.

7. Yikkety Yak
Recapping my attempts to make popular posts on the local messaging app Yik Yak.

6.  Well That Was Interesting
Looking back on the strangest of what has been my interesting dating history.

5.  Ready For The Hits
The arrival of a new baseball bat brings memories of the glorious ones from my past.  Lots of throwback pics and video!

4.  Eligible Bachelor
Those who always wanted me to apply for The Bachelor get their wish.

3.  Crossing Paths
A short story on the Metro with a young woman, a young man and a crossword puzzle.

2. T-Swizz Video
A friend asks me to go down a rabbit hole of Taylor Swift videos.  I oblige.

1.  I Accept This Rose
My hate-watching for blog purposes reaches its peak as I tune in for the opening episode of a Bachelor season.

Hopefully you enjoyed at least something I put up this year.  I’ll try to keep the train rolling in 2016.

Another year of blogging has (almost) come to an end, and thus it’s time to highlight what I think were the 10 best of the past 12 months.

Like last year, I didn’t blog as much as I wanted to, but that’s going to change in 2015.  I’m going to jump-start the year with a new post every day in January (taking requests now).

But that’s the future.  Let’s count down the past, finishing with the greatest post of all time:

10. Extra Medium Pasta
Two pasta makers give me identical shells, but one labels them medium and the other large.  Naturally, I ask them to explain this lunacy.

9.  Box 27, Check
I take partial credit for the New York Times fixing a massive OCD issue with its homepage.

8.  Vegemite This Be A Bad Idea
My Australian friend dares me to eat vegemite.  I do.  I wish I hadn’t. (I still have a ton if anyone wants to dig in!)

7.  Let It Woah
I become a social media superstar thanks to a Nationals player and the epidemic that is “Frozen.”

6.  Brick Simpsons
Lego lets me indulge my Simpsons nerdery. Time-lapse photography lets you watch much faster than I could build.

5.  Going Back to #1s
A running diary of the morning I spent listening to Songza’s stream of #1 hits from the 2000s.

4. No Hits For You (Marlins)
Jordan Zimmermann throws a no-hitter.  I scream on video.  Life is perfect.

3.  Oregon Trail of Misfortune
I fire up Oregon Trail and take my friends (and a few celebs) on a disastrous journey across this great land.

2. Operation Get Breakfast Get Home
An overnight snowstorm while I was at work leaves me in search of a meal and a way home.

1. Anastasiya and the Eli Manning Airport
I get intentionally catfished for the second time, winding a three-month journey that ends up with a document in Russian citing an airport named after Eli Manning.

If you want more “best of” posts:
–2013
–2012
–2011
–2010
–2009
–2005-08

My yearly “best of” lists have been growing, from nine posts in 2009 to 10 in 2010, 11 in 2011 and yes, 12 in 2012.  Obviously that pace is unsustainable without creating a ridiculously big list, especially in years like this one in which I somehow am now posting for only the 56th time.  I promise to write more next year.  For now, let’s just make the recap thing a 10-best post ranked from one I liked to the one liked the most.  Enjoy!

10. Blue Horse Dragon In The Night
My friend commented that a picture and description I posted of a carousel seemed like the start of a short story.  Challenge accepted.

9. Throwback Jersey
In a video from 1996, 12-year-old me faces tough questions about our baseball team.  In a picture from 2013, much older me puts on my jersey from that summer.

8. Mady Is Not Impressed
As an uncle, I have been tasked with teaching my niece a few things, chiefly about baseball.  I took it upon myself to add another item: McKayla Maroney’s “not impressed” face.

7. Just Say No
I noticed the Topps baseball card company was warning its product is not safe for kids under the age of 6.  Their answer as to why surprised me.

6. Will The Last N64 Baseball Player Turn The Lights Out?
Sometimes I ask questions that require far too much time to answer.  This time it was which player from Major League Baseball with Ken Griffey Jr. would be the last remaining player in the league in real life.  We’re down to just a few left.

5. Always Walk-Offs In The Banana Stand
Using a scoreboard message at Nats Park to land an Arrested Development joke.  Thanks to the Internet, we know at least a couple of people noticed.  Success!

4. Happy Place
Also thanks to the Internet, I make a comment about Happy Gilmore, one of my favorite movies of all time, and the lead actress responds to me.

3. Signs Of Natitude
I tap into my extensive shoe-selling experience to answer a question for a couple of Nationals pitchers.  One of them does the utterly unnecessary and sends me cool stuff in return.

2. Harper Goes DEEP To Right
Bryce Harper stars in a commercial slugging baseballs that land at different spots around the city.  I break down the awesome nature of those hits.

1. Chasing Olga
Probably my favorite post on the entire blog.  The month I spent getting intentionally catfished by “Olga.”

This is the time of year you see a thousand stories recapping the past 12 months in some way — trends in entertainment, political happenings, whatever.  I’ve developed a similar system the past few years, beginning with compiling a list of what I thought were the best 9 posts of 2009, 10 in 2010 and 11 in 2011.

As you may guess, today we’re here to knock out the 12 highlights of 2012.  I’m posting this on 12/12/12 but will not be waiting until 12:12 p.m. to do it.  I’m not crazy (and I’ll be asleep).  This is actually a really interesting exercise for me, reading back through my year and seeing what stands out.  So whether these are new to you, or you’re seeing them again too (in chronological order, not by merit), enjoy:

Call Me Aunt Clara
As a college sophomore, I bought a mini pink bunny suit as a gag Christmas gift in homage to “A Christmas Story.”  It became a family tradition to re-gift it each year, and we finally had a recipient small enough to wear it.  Includes cute video!

Lame Lameness
I’ve had some freak injuries, but tearing something in my knee while walking was certainly the most ridiculous one (I hope) I will ever suffer.  Maybe I just shouldn’t ride Metro.

Carding Mr. Deeds & Tommy, Get Your Milk Carton
I spot a moment in both Mr. Deeds and Snatch — movies I’ve seen many, many times — that make me re-think something fundamental about each story. (These are related, so they count as one entry.)

You Think You Know
A survey-style post more common on blogs of 14-year-old girls, but I found answering these questions about myself to be really interesting (and much more time consuming than I expected).

Houston We Have a Draft
After far too many hours typing away at Starbucks, I finally finish the first draft of my novel.  I’m still working on revising, but this was a HUGE milestone.

If Left is Wrong, I Don’t Want to be Right
After seeing an article about the downsides of being left-handed, I went to the important lefties in my life to get their perspective on our awesomeness.

Put Me In Coach
I make my debut pitching off a Major League mound.  Never mind that it was in the bullpen and the home Nationals weren’t even playing that day.

Uncle Needs a Chill Pill
Metro rides are often mundane, but sometimes they are hilarious.  Of course, it’s hard to deal with statements you think are funny when the speaker is two feet away, not talking to you and completely serious.

And The Gold Medal Goes To…
What began as a joke about marrying a duchess evolved into an Oscar winner.  When the Olympics hit London, I set my eyes on a different kind of gold.  This includes a bonus flashback to the “Call Me Maybe” era in America courtesy of the U.S. swim team.

The Land Where Pizzas Smile
A long quest to get a pizza place to arrange my pepperonis in the shape of a smiley face finally ends with success.  All I had to do was go to another state.

Moshi Moshi Man
Another shameless use of my niece to entice readers, but this one includes her quoting Michelle from “Full House.”  You’re welcome.

Playoff Werthy
The Washington Nationals and Jayson Werth provide perhaps the most incredible three innings of baseball I will ever witness.

The year is coming to a close, and with that comes the inevitable plethora of stories about the best/top/most memorable X of 2011.

So what better time for me to break out what I think are my best offerings of the year?  I’ve done this for 2010, 2009 and a single list that covers all the years before that.  I’m not saying these are the greatest things you’ll ever read, but if you’re here and want to know which of the 450+ posts I think may be worth your time, I think these top-10-ish lists are useful.

I’ve really tried to do some new things this year, including more pictures, adding a lot of video posts and even attempting a couple of audio stories.  I also added two new features — the Twitter box to the right that shows you my 10 latest posts (you can click to see more), and the labels at the bottom of each post that allow you to click and find related content from the archives.

Without further ado, the 11 best posts of 2011 (in chronological order, not necessarily by merit):

An Offer You Can’t Refuse
A friend exposes a major hole in my pop culture experiences, and I find that watching “The Godfather” reminds me of “Almost Famous” in ways that have nothing to do with the storylines.

Voices From the Past
I go “This American Life” style with a story about how my mom’s family communicated by tape with my grandfather while he was deployed in Vietnam and Korea, with actual audio from the era as well as some perspective from today.

I Do Declare
I won’t even pretend like this isn’t my favorite post topic ever.  I fulfill a dream by attempting to enter a professional sports draft, and get an official response letter from the NBA that makes me laugh every time I look at it.

Glory Days
A TV news story I did about the University of Maryland women’s basketball team and their national championship run.  Unfortunately it does not include the subsequent riot and people being doused with a pepper spray hose.

Chicken Nugget Dreams
An example of me bringing in a Twitter conversation (ones I know people don’t mind me sharing, of course), as I melodramatically complain about Wendy’s not offering delivery service and my friend Jason letting me know that in other countries, they do.

We’re Jambin’
A post from the “not smart” category.  I manage to run myself into a doorway, think I broke my hand, and fail so badly in explaining the situation to a friend that I have to create a graphic in Photoshop to fully illustrate what happened.

A Kool-Aid Miracle
I dust off a video from the archives — a faux infomercial for a miracle weight loss drink that helped me lose 20 pounds in 48 hours.  It truly is a miracle!

Great PB & J Debate
I never thought it would end up being such a contentious issue, but if there’s one question this year that got people chiming in, it was this: When you make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, do you spread the PB & J on the same piece of bread?

Watch and Learn
Another parody video, this time a series of do-it-yourself tips for self-explanatory things like how to drive a nail, use a faucet and read a digital clock (with bonus blooper video!).  If you don’t find this funny, we probably shouldn’t be friends.

Lifehouse in the Nats’ House
Easily one of the most fun days I had all year, with an amazing baseball game followed by a free concert from one of my favorite bands (video included).

Nats a Wrap
A wrap-up of the awesome year we had attending Nationals games, including some really interesting moments like seeing a rookie pitcher hit a home run on the first pitch of his first Major League at-bat.

Pizza Hut and the (Re)Quest for the Pepperoni Smiley
Other than the NBA draft post, probably my favorite one of the year.  I ask Pizza Hut to put my pepperonis in the shape of a smiley face…and they sort of comply.

Now that there are 400 entries in the archives, I would believe you haven’t taken the time to read through all of the entries, particularly those from the earlier years. So to give you a sense of what was on my mind back then, I pulled 10 of what I think are the better entries from that time (in reverse chronological order, not by merit):

August 2008 — Do I Know You From Somewhere
A coworker says I look like a combination of two celebrities, leading me to examine that and other comparisons people have made to famous people.

June 2008 — The Results, Please
A question I still want to research: How often do two of the exact same type of car crash into one another?

February 2008 — World Out Of Order
A few words from the employee working the Taco Bell drive thru completely derail my life.

July 2007 — I Wanna Be The First, The Best
I argue my brother has set a very unique world record involving a pool table and a Playstation.

May 2007 — Listen Up
The first of some “fond memories” posts from my frustrating days working at the mall. Not funny at the time, but I love the undercurrent of extreme bitterness.

May 2007 — Depository Please Receptacle Of Man
The store gets a new music system that A)makes no sense and B)threatens to literally drive me insane. Good times.

December 2006 — Oh For The Love Of Pete
A very short post about what extreme boredom does to a 23-year-old male, plus one of the all-time great not-smart customer moments.

December 2006 — I’m Suck On The Couch And Can’t Get Up
Holy bitterness, Batman. The extreme laziness of customers gets to me in a big way, especially when someone calls my store just to ask for the number to another store.

November 2006 — Helga Gets Worried
I watch a woman on the Metro become increasingly terrified about the prospects of interacting with the woman sitting next to her.

May 2006 — It’s All Becoming So Clear
Going through boxes of papers from elementary school, I find notes about myself from my classmates and find not much has changed since then.

In case you’ve missed them before, the “best of” 2010 and 2009.