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!