Last year I post my 2009 Year In Review , a list of my top songs released in 2009, in a timely manner before the first week of the new year was through. Unfortunately, this year due to a number of horrific computer issues that have at least seemed to have culminated in one of the fancy new MacBooks, and a residence connected to mass media exclusively through an 1980s-era boombox that seems to only pick up NPR (no complaints), my 2010 Year In Review is being posted just shy of March in the following year. My bad. Hopefully now, blogging will recommence in ernest, promise, scout's honor, stick a needle in my eye, and all that jazz. So without further ado, here are my top 20 albums from 2010 accompanied by my favorite song off the album. 1. The Morning Benders - Big Echo - "Cold War" 2. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening - "Dance Yrself Clean" 3. Baths - Cerulean - "Maximalist" 4. Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here - "Running" 5. Delore...

I love cowboys. Not in the imperialist, racist, manifest destiny sense, but I do love cowboys for their independent, pioneering, self-reliant, wilderness exploration spirit. It was a fantastic treat to go to swing through South Dakota on my way back from Alaska this summer, and see the many places that gave birth to American cowboy myths, like Deadwood and Badlands National Park . Though it was wasn't the hottest, driest, coldest, or most humid environment I've ever experienced, it was the harshest and most unusually beautiful. Read more about my South Dakota adventures in the On The Road journal entry, Day 52: Badlands National Park .

Some of the most serendipitous, spontaneous side trips I took on my trip were to national parks I stumbled upon on my way to other national parks. Unusual among the random was my trip to Wind Cave National Park , a random brave undertaking on my way to Badlands in South Dakota that required me to overcome my claustrophobia and fear of the dark. Despite my limited flash and camera capabilities, I did manage to capture a few glimpses into this cavernous underworld. Read more about my South Dakota adventures in the On The Road journal entry, Day 50: Wind Cave National Park .