Here are a few of Dave Begel's favorite things in 2012.

Play: There are lots of contenders for this one. I absolutely loved "Microcrisis" at Next Act, "The Nightmare Room" at In Tandem and "Assassins" at The Rep. But my absolute favorite was "Avenue Q" at the Skylight. I walked in with the words "bawdy puppet show" implanted in my brain and a slightly queasy feeling in my stomach. What I found was a show with fantastic music, enough jokes to keep an audience rolling the entire show, and a play with enough heart to choke you up a bit. An absolutely perfect evening of the theater.

Book: "The Art of Fielding" by Chad Harbach was the best book I have read in years. I know it came out in 2011, but I didn't get to it until this year. It's a baseball book, but so much more. It's a love story, a story about self-doubt and a story of deep and abiding friendship. My copy of the book got passed around to a lot of people, all of whom loved it. And I'm not saying this because he's a colleague, but Bobby Tanzilo's book on the historic Milwaukee schoolhouses has become a Christmas gift I'm spreading around to people. It's a real slice of Milwaukee and wonderfully put together. Reading it is to get lost in history and that's a great feeling.

Meal: Odd Duck. We went there very early when they had only been open a couple of weeks. Simply put, it knocked my socks off. From the greeting to the service to the help from the server it was a fantastic experience. The thing they do with dates, stuffing it with gouda cheese and adding bacon may well be he best single thing I have ever eaten. Anywhere. Ever.

Election outcome: Sure I'm glad Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney. But Tammy Baldwin's victory over Tommy Thompson was my favorite. Here we are in Wisconsin where we elected an incredible right-wing senator over Russ Feingold and an even more right-wing governor (twice). And we elect a lesbian liberal to the Senate over a very popular ex-governor. What it shows is that there is still hope for Wisconsin.

TV moment: Donald Driver wins "Dancing With the Stars." From the get-go, Driver showed the kind of charisma that has made him a favorite with Packers fans. He also showed the graceful moves that have made him the Packers all-time leading receiver. And the joy that gripped him and Packers nation when he won was a shining and smiling moment.