The Essential MCF 2K4-2k5

CloakFest 2005 continues as I take a self-indulgent look back at the defining posts of this past year. Consider this the abridged version of my first season of blogging here at the Nexus. If you want to know MCF, look no further than these posts:

The Secret Origin of MCF
I don't know if my first “issue” will be worth money some day, but this is the post that started it all, set me on this strange journey of sharing my thoughts, dreams, hopes, opinions and misadventures with friends and strangers alike from around the globe. An early mishap would be one of my first, and far from my last.

Career Tracks: Episode I
Career Tracks: Volume 2
Career Tracks: Part III
Career Tracks IV: The Quest for Peace
Career Tracks: The Final Nightmare
For five long days, in my longest multipost epic, I shared the full story of my working life up to this point, and proved why bullet points are a must when writing a resume. I'm pretty sure no company would accept these five links with my application...

Life, Existence and Appreciation
Few people can get under my skin the way my folks can. On a bad day, the slightest provocation or criticism at the wrong time can unleash this mild-mannered artist's inner Sicilian. But that's the way it is when you're really close to someone, and in this post I recognized the fact that “I would not be here if it were not for my parents.”

...and I'll blog if I want to.
I have no idea what the significance of November 4th is. It's an ordinary day, no different than the other 364, but for some reason this post makes it into a list of this year's key entries.

I'm Lost
Everyone else in America had gotten hooked, and this is the story of how I became marooned on a mysterious island with the rest of them each week.

”Ees naht a TUBA!”
With a REALLY bad pun, I cement my solitary confinement in the realm of geekdom and take a look back at my life as a musician.

I'm no Superman
For what wouldn't be the first time, I reluctantly recognize my limitations and go home for a long weekend, with some prodding from my supervisor. I also discovered, shockingly enough, that not everyone knows about Cannoli, the world's greatest dessert.

Sobering Facts About Time
Zeitgeist
It takes me two days to conclude that time flies. And I wonder why I can't get my work done by five o'clock.

Peter Parker
Inevitably, every geek, comic book or otherwise, identifies with him.

Survictim
Struggling from what I can only conclude to be several months' worth of anxiety attacks, I consider every thing I've gone through in my life, and conclude that I'm stronger because of it.

Signs
After the office Christmas party I realize, not for the first time in my life, that “I'll never understand women.”

...and Wednesday too?
Here it is, the now famous “backwards” post.

Unresolved
As this year winds down, it's interesting to look back at all the resolutions I knew THEN that I'd never keep. At least I haven't GAINED weight.

I Hate Hospitals.
Bad Night.
Not a Fairy Tale.
Three awful days culminate in the untimely death of a loved one.

Degrees of Geekiness
If I'm only 29.5858% geeky, then why am I still single? Oh right, because I stay home and take tests on the internet to measure my geekiness....

The Dogless Route
Sometimes, people go out of their way to avoid potential danger.

Shallow MCF
I must not have had any readers yet at this point, since no one attacked me for these “requirements”. Maybe someday I'll grow up...

Monkey Charades
The moral of this story is that any conversation with a blogger is potential material, and that the dog of course NEVER dies...

Phantasmic Links 2.6.05
Countless bloggers do nothing but link to cool websites, games, movies and articles and, on February 6th 2005, I became one of them.

Blog Party I: Top Five Villains
Is the first still the best?

Don't Ask Me
I won't dance...

Good Day/Bad Day
I would never do something so foolish as to blog about work, so someone clearly hacked my site back in March. That's the only explanation, and I'll stick to it even if someone asks me who linked back to that post in this post.

Too Good for Television
I anticipate the arrival of a great movie that finally hit theaters a few weeks ago.

Super Family Tension
Have I mentioned that my parents get under my skin sometimes?

101 Things that Excite MCF
For those who didn't ask, I share too much information.

PBW: Chasing Sunshine
I get a digital camera, and the rest is photo blogging history.

PBW: The Inimitable Mister Chirp
I didn't write this one, which is probably why it's one of my favorites. That is one smart cat...

MCF's War Journal
I take paintball seriously on this day, likely TOO seriously.

PBW: Airshow 2K5
These are probably the most interesting pictures I'll take all year.

PBW: Unfinished Business
I think about an ex-girlfriend after learning she's married, and the blogosphere shows their support.

PBW: Weekend Warrior
These will soon be known as the SECOND most revealing photos of myself on the internet...

Stumbling Faith
I look back at my faith, and the people and events that shaped it.

Lorna's Blog Party I
I'm not sure modern science has a name for what's wrong with me...

Torch Rap
Superheroes should NOT rap...

The One Where Michael Sings
This may be, in my humble opinion, the single funniest thing I posted all year.

The A.T.C.T.
In one of the hardest things I've ever had to write, I examine the worst thing I've ever been called, family that never was, and why I feel the way I do about certain things.

Hooking Up at the Bar
That MCF is a stone-cold PLAYA, yo!

Shells
Hey Tony! Gimme a cheese with NOTHING!

It's Electric.
Of course™, I survive a brush with a localized tornado.

Shockingly Stubborn
Of course™, a few days later a spark leaps out from under my desk at work.

PBW: Aftermath
I cover the destruction left by the tornado, and gain an unfortunate reputation as a photographer of the dead.

Stories...
A young MCF gets into trouble many times and a good time is had by almost all.

MCF's Top 100 Tunes
I list my favorite songs, and prove I don't have a life. This differs from tonight's post in that I'm not listing my favorite songs.

Nine Seven SEX.
Let's talk about (phone) sex...

Cheer me up.
I excel at doggerel.

J-No's Big Phat Geek Wedding
A wedding is observed from the eyes of a reclusive blogger.

Eating Out.
The older we get, hopefully our tastes become broader.

PBW: Revelations
What will they think of me now?