It's that time of the year again...

It's time once again to take a look back at the past year's events, and believe me, 2010 was easily the most difficult and eventful year I've experienced yet.  I got engaged, moved to Philly, and played some of the coolest gigs of my life.  I also don't live in my own place, still rely on others financially, and have gotten really out of shape.  Good or bad, these are the events of 2010.  Let's get started.

January 1 - The Mummers are to Philadelphia what the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is to New York City...but it's a million times better and not nearly as family-friendly.  These people are dressed in ridiculous outfits and are basically a bunch of marching bands with strings.  They're also hammered...well, for the most part.  The best string bands are sober and put on awesome shows.

Anyway, Kerri took me to my first Mummers Parade, and I have to say there's nothing quite like celebrating New Year's Eve hard and getting up to go to the parade.  We're going again next year (read - in three weeks), and this time we'll be more prepared.

January 25 - I had been thinking about my future with Kerri for a while and decided that day, after looking at rings for a few days online and weighing my options, that I would go shopping.  I ended up at the Mall at Robinson in Pittsburgh, eventually stopping into Jared.  Laurel educated me on the finer details of diamond buying - though I will say that I already knew a lot.  I figured out how I would propose while I was waiting for the diamond to be placed in its setting, and I was on my way.

Later that evening, I called Kerri's dad while she was in the shower, and I asked if I could marry her...I know it's old-fashioned, but you never know.  When she was out and dressed, I got on one knee after singing a silly song I wrote earlier.  I had to ask twice.  She said, "Yes."

February - Kerri and I picked out a date and venue for the wedding.  Big decisions.

Blizzard of 2010 hit full-blast all over the region.  Pittsburgh's streets were not cleared for weeks, and many, including 6536 Darlington, were snowed in for days.  Many hours of shoveling yielded us just spots that were taken as soon as we left, even when doing the whole "let's leave a plastic chair there so nobody can possibly move it and take our spot trick."

Panama Rock Machine made its nameless debut at the Institute on Melvin in Squirrel Hill.  It was just a sign of many bigger things to come.  Also, two words:  Gin Bucket.

March 17 - Alisha Atkins, Will Cosby, and I gave an alumni recital at A-B with the assistance of Mrs. Lillian Long and Dr. Hooi Yin Boey.  It was an honor to make music with these wonderful people.

April 6 - QUIT PANERA!  I loved working with the people I worked with, but I just couldn't deal with how uptight 96.8% of our customers were.  As rich as many of them were, a much smaller percentage of them actually had a brain.  If you are reading this and go to Panera to eat, please realize that we are all human and that it isn't a gourmet restaurant that can just go out and order your favorite caviar because you snapped your finger.  Please also realize that the employees there aren't out to get you and most would do their absolute best to help you in whatever way possible to make sure you get what you want.

April 9 - Panama Rock Machine made its Peter's Pub debut to a packed house of nearly 200 people.  Try finding any other band that has played there and gotten nearly 200 people to show up at its first actual public show.

Middle April - Kerri and I decided it would be best if I moved to Philadelphia in anticipation of Kerri graduating.  After much thinking, I decided on May 2 as my move date.

April 30 - PRM put on the best show in Peter's Pub history.  We debuted our Blues Brothers-esque skinny black ties and white shirts, now standard PRM attire.  Less people, but it was the most fun I've ever had anywhere.

May 2 - I moved to Bucks County, Philadelphia, PA.  It was pretty much a foreign country to me - different language, people looked different, couldn't figure out where I was going, terrain was different, etc.

May 6 - I started working at Parties and More.  To be honest, this has been my favorite non-musical job yet. I learned all about Philly by driving around all day all over the city and into Jersey.  Nothing else could've acclimated me to Philly better than this job.  My goal when I moved here was to know nearly everything I needed to know about the area in less than 6 months, and I believe I obliterated that goal.

May 13 - I lost a monumental bet to Kerri that the Flyers would lose to the Bruins in 4 games (they were down 3 games to 0 in Game 4).  I said that I would owe her massages, the amount of which depended on how far they got in the series.  If the Flyers won the series, I would owe her massages on command for the rest of my life.  They got to Game 7 and were down, appropriately enough, 3-0 in the second period.  They came back and won the game and the series.  That was easily the greatest comeback in the history of hockey and maybe even sports history.

June 12 - Went back to Pittsburgh for my birthday weekend that included playing a show with PRM, got a new computer, and retrieved Hank for a cross-state excursion to his new home.  I don't remember the show, but I do remember the car ride with Hank, and it sucked.

Also, during that weekend, I asked Nick Andes to be my best man.  He cried.

June 30 - I bought the phone that transformed my career from one in which I had to wait to respond to opportunities into one in which I proactively search for and promptly respond to opportunities  - the iPhone.  This thing does it all.  It was a necessary investment, and I've gotten many gigs and students because of it.

July 6 - Desperate to get back into musical activity, I answered a lot of ads on Craigslist in the beginning here in Philly.  Over the summer I played with the Warminster Symphony Orchestra, and A Wing and a Prayer Brass Choir.  In July I auditioned for wedding/private event band Main Line Affair (www.mainlineaffair.com).  Thankfully, they needed a new trumpeter and someone who could fill a high male vocal void.  I was asked to join, and since then we have performed several times a month in New York, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.  This has been the most important part of my career development so far in Philly.

End of July - Made a real website with my actual name on it.  It's www.ajcutright.com.

August - Kerri and I picked a photographer for the wedding.  Her name is Nina Perini.  Check out her work here: http://www.ninaperiniphotography.com/

September - Kerri FINALLY moved home.  I had seen her maybe three times since I moved, and it was very tough.  I won't get soft here, but I'll say that from May to November, I've never had a tougher stretch.

October - Kerri got a job and quit all in the same month.  She quit for a number of reasons, first of which was because they hired her after she said she could only work one day a week, yet for the duration she was getting 40 hours by Wednesday.  She said, "See ya!" and left.

We confirmed Andre Crews as the DJ for the wedding.  He's our friend and will be yours.  If you, like me, refuse to dance in public (or at all), you will be throwing away those preconceived notions and shaking your ass with me, Kerri, and everyone else.  I guarantee it.

We also started registering for stuff.  Our registries are at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Kohl's and Sears.  If you wanna see it, just type our name in on their Registry sections.

November 10 - Finally began having some success with building my lesson studio.  That day I did my trumpet lesson with Lu Ann Cahn (see the "No-Break November" blog).  Several students later, I am still teaching and continuing to grow my studio.

November 19 - Kerri successfully defended her thesis!  This was not the end, however.  That would come two weeks later, after certain people she needed to keep on track dropped the ball and stalled her graduation.  She finished all the stupid paperwork with just a couple days to spare, had to make two return trips to Pittsburgh, and waste a stupid amount of money just to make sure people didn't drop the ball again.

Again, one of the most trying periods of our relationship has been the last few months, and I believe we've gone through it as strong as we could ever imagine.  We're there for each other and have the other's back.  We're the dream team.

November 28 - Kerri went to Jared, and I went to Kay to buy our wedding bands.  I know it's early for that, but this is something we think is even more important than the small details.  These wedding bands are totally "us."  It's nothing outrageous, but they're very elegant at the same time.

There are still another 21 days left until 2011, so who knows what else will happen.  It's crazy to think of all the crap that has happened this year, but let's recap, shall we?

- got engaged and decided lots of wedding stuff already
- moved to Philly
- went without Kerri for over 5 months
- brought Hank to Philly
- joined Main Line Affair
- started teaching
- learned about Philly by working at Parties and More
- worked with an 8-time Emmy winner
- bought wedding bands

What I still need to do:

- get my own place
- get out of debt
- make more money
- increase amount of playing jobs
- add more students to my studio
- buy recording equipment
- have professional photography done for trumpet
- keep working on my image/business skills
- finalize wedding plans (honeymoon, reception food, etc.)
- make music my full-time job

I'm in a much better position at the end of this year than I was at the end of last.  Here's to 2011...

Later.