Top 10 events in my life I didn't expect in 2008

Phone the neighbors and wake the kids. Or is it, Wake the neighbors and phone the kids?

Well, either way, get ready, because here are the top 10 events in my life that I didn't expect in 2008.

Hang on to your wigs and keys. Here we go.

10. Getting a Hollywood vet as a boss.

An upheaval last year at the leadership of the Foundation for Biomedical Research resulted in the hiring of a new vice president. Fresh off of a year working for the U.S. government in the literal war zone of Iraq, Paul McKellips was one of those larger-than-life figures who's compelling from the moment you meet him. Like him or hate him, this cigar-chomping font of creativity who for years labored in Tinseltown sure commanded one's attention. Ignoring Paul McKellips is impossible. In my case, I approached him with caution, but the moment he said he worked as an uncredited crew member for the hit TV show "Moonlighting," a favorite of mine when I first idolized Bruce Willis and had a crush on Cybill Shepherd, my suspicion of him immediately subsided and I resolved to myself, "You know what? I'm gonna like this guy."

He had impact on me, but so did the four guys I saw in New York City early this year in something I could not have foreseen last year ...

9. Seeing Clapton, Winwood, Shaffer and Letterman all in one day.

There may never be a 24-hour period with more influential celebrities, and if there is, I don't know how I could handle it. One day in February, my brother and a nephew and I hopped into a car to take a train in New Jersey up north to Manhattan for an evening of entertainment. I'd nabbed us a trio of tickets to Madison Square Garden for the first of three performances by Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood, reunited onstage for the first time since they were Blind Faith bandmates in 1969. To make the excursion even more wild, I somehow also acquired tickets to the same day's taping of "Late Show with David Letterman." Both Paul Shaffer's CBS Orchestra and the Clapton-Winwood band played "Them Changes" by Buddy Miles, who died the very next day. Also appearing in the Clapton-Winwood band was Chris Stainton, whose piano playing for Joe Cocker's Grease Band was nearly as influential to me as a young keyboardist as both Shaffer and Winwood turned out to be. Clapton was an early influence on my singing. And Letterman? Well, I'm writing a Top 10 list, aren't I?

Which brings us to ...

8. Stepping into the unemployment line.

The boss and I were lock in step when we simultaneously realized how uninspired I was in my senior writing position for the Foundation for Biomedical Research. I had just come off a weekend of leisure in which I wrote morethan 2,500 words all about music when I realized that it is my passion and it would be great to pursue a career in that passion. My boss told me the same thing. He let me go but did so compassionately, offering to help me reestablish myself under his guise. He told me about how he drove to L.A. without a job and conned his way into writing for a TV series. Inspired that dreams do come true, I spent the rest of my summer trying to figure out exactly what my dream was.

So then, there was ...

7. Checking out Nashville.

I did a lot of exploring this great land of ours this year, and most of it was in the Central time zone. I endured some awful Greyhound bus rides to spend some time in Music City. Using some contacts I had there, I always had a place to stay and friends to show me around. Plus, I didn't mind jaunts by myself. I even became a regular at one of the honkytonks on the main drag. PBR was affordable and surprisingly tasty to this beer snob. I checked out the Nashville music scene and dispelled any notion that it was all about country. Hank Williams and Johnny Cash are important but more out of a debt owed to tourists expecting them. Otherwise, it's just all about making good music, and doing it well, rather than strict adherence to any particular genre. When I interacted with most of the musicians I saw, to find out to what extent I would fit in if I moved there, I discovered three concrete skills or traits I would have to develop to blend and be competitive. That would take time. So while I didn't entirely rule out making a living as a career musician, I decided against moving to Nashville, at least for the time being.

One of these trips helped me accomplish another unexpeccted feat of 2008 ...

6. Seeing Robert Plant and Alison Krauss five times.

Five times all in the span of April through July, I saw Led Zeppelin's lead singer teaming up with the bluegrass sweetheart aided by a band of some of Nashville's best. And that band gelled as time went on, much to my pleasure, witnessing a better concert each time. Plant, who may have been a tad intimidated at first, was really coming out of his shell on that tour. I'm sure he was soaking it all up and making the most of his time. It was great to see this firsthand and report my conclusions to the folks reading me at www.LedZeppelinNews.com. Even if it wasn't the best news for anyone wanting to see Plant fronting the world's best rock band, it was great for those of us who loyally followed him. In doing so, I made my first voyages into Knoxville, Chattanooga and Atlantic City. My second time at Merriweather Post-Pavilion was Plant's second time performing there; the first was in '69, the only time Zep shared the bill with the Who).

My summer of exploring also turned up one other unexpected discovery ...

5. Falling in love with a woman who has four kids.

Now there's a big surprise. I've always been open to falling in love but never quite open to kids. My biggest fear of raising kids, though? Changing diapers. These kids are all out of diapers! They're too old for them! The youngest is 8, and the oldest is twice that. Sounds great! Not only this, but I got some new grandparents out of the deal -- great news since last year my own supply of parents' parents depleted for good. And the girlfriend? Her name, Layla, helped attract me to her, but it was everything else about her that drew me in and made us inseparable. We just spent a few days in the Florida Keys this month. I hadn't been that happy since Election Night!

Layla and I met at a conference in August that also provided another unexpected highlight ...

4. Performing "Abbey Road" and "The Dark Side of the Moon" in their entirety with an amateur group that sure seemed professional.

A little bit of coaching via e-mail and long-distance telephone, plus one long onsite rehearsal, was my method of getting this ragtag group of garage-band building scientists, who meet annually at a conference anyway, to practice up a prescribed list of tunes they like. We worked out and ran through a bunch of crowd favorites from the Stones, Bob Marley and, of course, Derek & the Dominos (added at the last minute to help me impress Layla). They were also game for pulling out two complete albums, and neither is all that easy: "Abbey Road," the Beatles' best studio set, and "The Dark Side of the Moon," Pink Floyd's most popular. Our performances of these took place in front of 100 or so lingering partygoers. Each was a highlight of my summer. That sure set the stage for what transpired in December ...

3. Performing "Houses of the Holy" in its entirety with a professional group.

Led Zeppelin is my favorite group of all time, and that's no secret. Whenever asked what my favorite album of theirs is, I often reply with "Houses of the Holy" (that is, if the "Complete Studio Recordings" box set doesn't count). The variety and expertise on that album are second to none. So when I was asked to join up with Classic Albums Live for a six-show performance of the entire album and a slew of other Zeppelin songs, I jumped at the opportunity. There was no reason to be nervous; I was made to feel right at home within the band because I was a good player and exuding the requisite amounts of professionalism, aptitude, confidence and likability. Those shows were amazing. Best of all, I've been asked back.

2. Moving to Florida.

My six years in the D.C. area were great, but there are cheaper places to afford rent. I had already decided to move when I met my girlfriend over the summer. Since I had just ruled out my first choice of Nashville, I was back to square one. She was living in Boca Raton, FL, so I decided to visit a few times to check it out. Good excuse to spend some relaxing time in a state I'd been in three times previously but only for business trips. When my second investigation concluded that indeed I liked the Sunshine State -- surprise, surprise -- my next move was to cut the distance between Layla from 1,000 miles to four. And so, I headed down I-95 by myself on Halloween night with a U-Haul full of everything I could fit into it. The plan was simple: Florida would work so long as I could afford to live there. Rent was cheaper in Boca than in D.C., so what's the problem?

That's what I found out when rent was due ...

And the No. 1 event in my life I didn't expect in 2008:

1. Paying double the rent.

One little unresolved problem up in the nation's capital was the issue of my lease, which was valid through May 31, 2009. I couldn't just leave on Oct. 31 without paying November rent unless somebody else was taking over on Nov. 1. But that wasn't possible since the management company insists on renovating the house between tenants and doing some other maintenane work. Once all that was done, it was December, and few likely tenants emerged, with nobody sealing the deal for an expedient transfer, freeing up my end of the deal. I'm facing the proposition of paying my third consecutive month of paying for rent in two parts of the country, all while unemployed and making virtually no income. Yay! But it all works out, doesn't it?

All right. Take care, folks! Have a happy 2009! Hope it is an interesting one!