less than 10 hours until this year is entirely gone. I suppose it’s time to update my timeline. 😛
2001: a new job and yet another place to live. I finally finish a complete draft of Aila, although the group that helped me get there spend most of the year crumbling in various ways. I begin to “blog.” I buy a car, get my driver’s license, and get hit by a semi – all in the same season.
new computer stuff: ‘blogging, web standards, PHP, Illustrator, SQL
and there’s my year in one tidy paragraph. <whew>
perhaps it’s a good time for a little more depth.
this year I discovered some music that was new to me, at least. like the Moby I’m listening to right now. read quite a few books I’d never read before. Foundation sucked me in, even if I found it pretty sexist in the original trilogy. I went without TV for several months at the end of last winter, which I think was good for me. The Simpsons continued its slow decline; I only saw Buffy & Angel sporadically, but became addicted to 24. (don’t forget the Saturday morning cartoons on WB!)
speaking of addiction – this was the year that brought me to MetaFilter – oh joy!
movies? lots of silly ones, like The One, Iron Monkey, or Rush Hour 2. plus a few brilliant ones: Moulin Rouge, Shrek (which I didn’t see until DVD), and Lord of the Rings. (Harry Potter falls more towards the silly side.)
I tried to write a fantasy story and fell on my ass. went on a haiku jag this summer/fall. and, yes, I completed that draft of Aila. I’ve grown more in my craft, with lots of help from great writers like Matt, Bruce, Barry, Kat and Joe. alas, the Q group broke apart shortly after the beginning of this year, with me, Matt, Bruce & Barry sticking it out at least until very recently. I managed not to lose any friendships in the process, and to keep on writing.
no femme fatale in 2001. no homme fatale either, for that matter, although I did have several weird dreams about mathowie. and Chad is still my partner, my lover, my friend, and probably the cutest boy I know. at the end of this strange year, I feel as though we are closer than ever.
reconnected with two people who were once very special to me: Irina, after sept. 11, and K – because he used my web comment form. very, very happy to have those connections again.
I keep falling in love with the web. (broadband helps.) I keep learning, and expanding my horizons, and I’m hopelessly, ecstatically grateful to have a job and a life that gives me a chance to play in what is becoming my favorite medium.
I’m happy to be alive.
sometimes, that feeling alone is fucking miraculous.
check out this cosmic calendar (a la Sagan), read this poem and go outside, whatever the weather, and marvel at the fact that you are in the world, and consious of it.