It takes a village. If it weren’t for other people, I’d just be over here taking pictures of my cats and my own face, and if the end of the year isn’t time for being thankful, I don’t know when is. (Other than Thanksgiving, of course.) So without further ado, people I couldn’t have survived this photographic year without:

Everyone at all the media companies I worked with, including Sneak Attack, Girlie Action, Big Hassle, 1-Up, ROMO, McGuckin, & Presswolf, and especially Marnie, Elliot, Lallie, C., & Sarah.

Everyone at the indie record labels who still do it for the love; Bloodshot, Suburban Home & Afternoon in particular, and Josh & Virgil in particular particularly. And everybody at Merge, because.

All of the great venues in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and the Triangle at large, who book flawlessly and who give me four or five great show options every night; especially, especially, the entire tireless crew at the 506: Glenn, Hoppie, Rusty and all the rest of the staff.

Every local band who let me invade their privacy and crawl around on stages with them, particularly Slingshot Cash, Sinful Savage Tigers, Mandolin Orange, Magnolia Collective, the Brand New Life, Wylie Hunter and all of his Cazadores, & Lilac Shadows; & always American Aquarium & Holy Ghost Tent Revival.

Each and every local photographer here, especially all my Hopscotch partners-in-crime.

And the people in my personal life who make it possible for me to do this: shep., who suffers my erratic hours, tendency to oversleep on work days, and questionable choices with more patience than I deserve; cee, who will always stop and kick my ass if I need it; t., who can out-worry even me; Pam, who knows that sometimes the answer is Mike Ness with a koala and sometimes it’s a Henry Rollins macro and sometimes it’s a butt-kicking; the lovely lady H., who has known me forever and still manages to inspire me every day; Lani, who’s known me even longer and loves me anyway; the Cowboy, who after everything still indulges my wildest schemes with the most interest, and who understands what it means to chase the things you can’t always have; and all the rest of you, who know who you are. I love you kids more than you know.