I confess, 2004 has ended badly. The horrible tragedy in the Indian Ocean; Jerry Orbach’s death; on a personal note, my skin is dry and flakey. None-the-less, I would have to say that this year has been my favorite year.

Why, you ask?

Two reasons, really.

I have been pretty much single all year - my longest period of bachelorhood since I was 15. It has really been great.

Since I don’t have the pressure of a relationship, I have been able to be pretty selfish about things. For example, I have been eating with more of an eye towards my own health. Whenever I’ve been in a relationship, I’ve found it hard to eat the healthy things I want to eat - I’ve gotten pressure to eat badly. I mean, I’ve eaten some incredible food while dating, but most of it was unhealthy.

Also, I feel like I’ve had virtually no pressure on me to make decisions about long term things. As a result, I’ve been able to make long term decisions without any attendant guilt. It has been awesome.

I thought I would miss the sex, but, as I have said many times, thanks to the modern day miracle of interweb porn, I don’t even need to miss that. Heck, I don’t need to worry about pleasing anybody. I can masturbate and not even climax myself if I want to. How cool is that?

On a larger note, I still get misty eyed when I think of the 2004 Red Sox season. I was just reading some of Faithful, a book by Stephen King and another writer whose name escapes me at the moment, and I was getting all verklempt.

I had a long talk with my grandfather about the season the other day. He was born in 1917 and has never seen them win a series - he’s wanted it all his life. I haven’t seen him since the world series and last week was an opportunity to relive the whole season game by game. It was wonderful.

And when I think of Game 7 of the ALCS when they beat the Yankees… I am getting a lump in my throat even now. I have not felt like this about a sporting event since I was a kid. Not when the Patriors won the Superbowl for the first time this century; not when I watched the US Hockey team beat Russia when I was a lad (to be fair, I was too young to appreciate that - the movie Miracle did have me doing that silent manly sob sports fans do when something amazing happens).

Anyhow, there are a lot of things that I won’t want to remember about 2004. As long as I don’t, it will always be one of my favorite years.