Many great things happen in a year, so it's hard to whittle them all down to one concise list. Yet, I've attempted just that.

Here are some of my favorite things from 2012.  And, here's to 2013. Onward and On Milwaukee!

1. Taylor Swift's "Red"
2. The spirited play of the Bucks Larry Sanders
3. Milwaukee's top 20 finish in the Bloomberg Challenge
4. Historic Milwaukee's "Envisioning the Scene" events
5. The 18th season of HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel"
6. Zac Brown Band's show at Summerfest
7. The Brewers mini-run at a playoff spot especially during a season when most counted them out. Darn blown saves
8. Louis C.K.'s "Lincoln" sketch on "SNL"
9. Ryan Braun's season
10. The opening of The Moderne in Downtown
11. Dear MKE
12. Mumford & Sons' "I Will Wait"
13. Northwestern Mutual's new Downtown office tower announcement
14. The Lumineers' "Ho Hey"
15. The cornbread at Smoke Shack
16. The summer heat wave
17. "Argo"
18. The record crowd that ran the annual "Storm the Bastille"
19. Another solid, if not a bit wacky, season of "Homeland"
20. Season two of "Boss"
21. The return of the supper club to the area with the openings of Bartolotta's Joey Gerard's restaurants in Greendale and Mequon
22. Kenny Chesney's underrated release, "Welcome to the Fishbowl"
23. The beginning of the new Downtown arena conversations. This is a good thing
24. OnMilwaukee.com's EPPY for "Best Entertainment Website"
25. Buzz Williams' dance after Marquette beat West Virginia
26. "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" by William Joyce
27. Another championship for the Wave
28. Continued expansion for Milwaukee's best pizza, Calderone Club
29. Leinenkugel's Snow Drift Vanilla Porter
30. The daily messages inside Joel Osteen's "I Declare"
31. The openings of The Stone Creek Factory, 422 N. 5th St., and Alterra Coffee Roasters' Bay View Cafe
32. And, of course, my family, friends and you, the great people of Milwaukee!

On Friday, the Bruegger's bagels location at 2045 E. North Ave. closed.

Workers were seen hauling equipment out of the location and a sign posted on the door encouraged patrons to visit the Bruegger's in Downtown Milwaukee or Whitefish Bay.

The East Side Bruegger's opened just over four years ago, and closed just two months after OnMilwaukee.com moved its office from the East Side to Downtown.  Ironically, OnMilwaukee.com's new office is steps away from one of the still open Bruegger's at 753 N.Water St.  Coincidence?  Yes. But still interesting.

In other random East Side Milwaukee news, check out this video.  It was posted by Steve Greenwood on Facebook.  Let's hope the parking meter gets repaired soon.

 

This year, Hanson Dodge Creative asked some of its friends and neighbors (including yours truly) in the Milwaukee community what they would do with just one wish.

As you'll see below, some answers were heartwarming, others profound.

The creatives at Hanson Dodge hope they inspire you to actively pursue making at least one wish come true.

Cheers, and here's to Milwaukee and 2013!  

Comedian Jim Gaffigan showed Milwaukee some love today on Twitter by promoting "his" beer that's being sold at The Pabst Theater during his upcoming three nearly sold-out shows.

Jim Gaffigan Pale Ale will be sold, with a special label, at Gaffigan's three New Year's Eve weekend performances. It's brewed by Stevens Point Brewery. Here's video of the bottles on the line in Stevens Point.

By the way, this is the sixth straight year that Gaffigan's choosing to spend NYE in Milwaukee.

Cheers, Jim!