I woke up with “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” running through my head. I woke up when Abulafia sent me a text about the bombing in Pakistan. I should have called in.
Day: December 27, 2007
One of the things I want to start doing next year is using this space a bit more frequently. I have probably three or four ideas a day for a halfway decent update, but never really force the time to write them down, since my job is such a madhouse, and by the time I get done with 10-12 hours at a computer, the last thing I want to do is spend more time at a computer. Sometimes, I admit, I do get on again, but usually to play games or pursue other projects – I try to avoid LJ because it sucks away so much time.
Many people have been posting year-end reviews of this and that. This year has been pretty tumultuous for me, and I don’t really think a bullet point list does it justice. I caught up with a friend of mine earlier last week, for the first time since July (!) and I realized just how much had gone on in a relatively short period of time.
A year ago, I was still living in Washington Heights. I was getting ready for a thin Christmas, and preparing all kinds of food in anticipation of the get-together at my folks’ place. Year end is always rough for non-profits, but I had the upcoming prospect of a week in Puerto Vallarta to help me get through it. The first month of 2007 will always click mentally as the most amazing wedding I’ve ever been a part of. I had a blast, and lost a camera. After my travels, I started interviewing in earnest for a new job, and did some major work on my personal data miner/bot Abulafia. Many of those changes have kept me ahead of the curve throughout the business that has been the rest of this year, and I am very glad I went back to revisit an otherwise fully functional battlestation. The month ended with Boston going ape shit over light-brites, and me definitely not getting a kick ass job.
February, I went back to interview for a lower position at the company I interviewed with previously. Simultaneously, I looked into working for a longtime consulting client full time, and taking what would eventually become my new job. I got a replacement camera – quite a steal for what I paid for it. I saw My Chemical Romance, who rocked, but learned (sadly) that Rise Against had sold the fuck out and gone suck. I landed my job, I gave notice, and started on one of the paths that got me to where I am right now. It snowed orange in Siberia, the Colts beat the Bears, Obama declared his candidacy, and the month ended with the biggest dow slip since 9/11.
March, I saw Will Smith when they were filming “I Am Legend” at the Museum. I saw 300, and was happy walking out of a movie for the second time in my adult life. I finished watching my 365th movie since getting my netflix account in 2000. I started my new job, which meant that, for at least the next three months, I was in probation-land. I managed to not only survive that, but flourish. Switzerland accidentally invaded Lichtenstein, Jaques Chirac said he was hanging up his hat, science figures out the link between brain and emotion, and the month ended with Iran holding british Naval personnel.
April was taxes, reflection, and my first paycheck at the new gig. I converted my laptop to linux, and started developing more back-end portable options for my RSS creatures. Zum Schneider was saved from lease loss, and a good time was had at their celebration, despite racist comments. The V150 broke land speed records, Virginia Tech learned what a crazy with a gun could do, and the month ended with Boris Yeltsin’s funeral.
In May, the AACS code/scandal got me hot and bothered. I went to a neat fund raiser dinner for the Brooklyn Bar Association, and started the process (which still is not finished) of a giant software migration at work. I launched the beta of the free wifi thing at work, and Starcraft II was formally announced, both of which caused me to poop my pants a little. I got into twitter, and booked a flight to Maine, so I could go fishing. Rupert Murdoch started the process of buying the Wall Street Journal, the Alaska bribery scandal started up, Gordon Brown accepted Tony Blair’s endorsement as a successor, Andrei Lugovoi was named as the chief suspect in the Litvinenko case.I had a conversation with my ex-roomates which led to much of the upheaval which spread across the summer. They say they are in for one more year, but, in reality, will move to San Fransisco within a month and change.
June opened with a huge “terror plot“, which, unfortunately, did not lead to a TSA ban on airplane fuel. There were some crazy b-day parties, bbqs, and shenanigans. I flew to Maine for my daily’s annual fishing trip, and got stopped by a drug dog on the way back because my rental car’s ashtray was full of resin. While I was in Maine, my roommates decided they were leaving. This led to the fourth housing crisis I have dealt with while in Maine. L. and I decided that we were not going to continue to live together, which led to much tumult and angst, as well as more than a few hurt feelings. Wifi went live, more crazy meetings with consultants, and house-hunting aplenty. Scooter Libby got convicted, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals weighs in on “enemy combatants“, Mike Nifong gets disbarred over the way he mishandled the Duke lacrosse scandal, and the month ends with Gordy Brown taking over, while, much to the chagrin of mother church, science manages to replicate the book of Genesis.
I took out a loan in July, and put a down payment on a place next door to some good friends, and move three weeks after I found out I had to, so I would be in my new place before I had to go to Buffalo (if only I had known). I won a happy hour at Off the Wagon, pulled off some crazy victories at work, and my eldest uncle died – which put the kibosh on my trip to Buffalo. This led to a week of driving, emotional family discovery, personal introspection, and led me to make some pretty serious life commitments. I reconnected with some people from my past, one of whom is pretty significant these days. Canada turned 140, I learned a lot about PGP encryption keys, the octosquid is discovered, the Nebo-Sarsekim Tablet was translated, and the month ends with Chief Justice John Roberts having a seizure.
August was all about rebuilding, just not in my kitchen. I lost two fridges in a month, which was damn expensive, and really frustrating, particularly in the wake of moving financial costs. July culminated with the formal dissolution of my relationship with L – though it was my hope that we would remain friends, that has definitely not happened – a big regret of 2007. I went back to Ikea during a water emergency, ate at the most jersey place I’ve ever been to, and _still_ don’t have the godsdammned hardware for my coffee table. I went to a corporate box seat Mets game (an experience far inferior to the corporate box Yankees game I went to), and met Mr. Met. I went to the beach. I got an xbox 360, and Bioshock. I lost another friend to the left coast, and two other friends to Europa. the I-35w bridge collapsed, scientists documented an impressive galactic crashes, and that we don’t know as much about the history of our species as we like to think, Hurricane Dean fucked up the Gulf Coast, and the month ended as the Larry Craig mess started to heat up.
In September Steve Fosset disappeared,Madeleine L’Engle died, Robert Jordan died, Russ tests The Father of All Bombs, and the month ends with a massive beef recall, which ends the fortunes of the Topps meat company. I managed to lose, then recover my phone with the help of some friends. One of my good friends gets married, and the world is never the same, as a result.
October brought sudden brokeness when my debit card was erroneously charged about what I pay in rent (it took quite some time to get sorted out), the Yankees got their shit kicked in, I saw Oliver Sacks live for my third time, and got his new book for free. I saw a Charles Mee production (Iphigenia 2.0) and was really impressed by it, the DOW went wonky on the 20th anniversary of black Monday, and I survived a crazy hallucanogenic fever. I started doing advance reader reviews for Librarything, decided to do NaNoWriMo, and work got tougher, as my superuser moved on to greener pastures. I missed the damn Halloween parade for the first time in my life that I planned on going, but made up for it with an awesome party and some hysterical pictures. It was the fiftieth anniversary of Sputnik, the Dali Lama gor the Congressional Gold Medal, California almost burns down (nobody I know died, but a couple people lost houses, and one of my best friends flew into it!), the Mexican embassy in NYC was bombed, and the month ended with the ISS solar wing getting torn and the fed cutting interest rates again.
November was hectic. I went to a conference in South Carolina, I got served with jury duty, and I landed _another_ big profile job at work. O&A got my hopes up about Tom Brady using dope and getting suspended, and I had a major presentation (which I would not end up giving in 2007, despite preparing it by the end of October) rescheduled on me innumerable times. I began working 50 hours standard to get shit done, and did a major conversion from Exchange to Google apps for one of my cients. I went to three Thanksgivings, and learned that three Thanksgivings in one day is one too many Thanksgiving. I tried but failed at Nano (first time that ever happened – too much going on). Musharraf siezed power, the Hang Seng “corrected” about 5%, IBM bought out Cognos, Barry Bonds was indicted, the trains stopped running in France, and the month ended with everyone wondering why nobody in the Sudan has any sense of humor/perspectve about teddy bears.
December has been quite a slog, and is wrapping up faster than I want it to. Most of my posts here have been birthday wishes. Went to a couple great parties, went to too many forced holiday parties, and found out who is going to finish where Robert Jordan left off. Christmas was nice, and I cooked with a microwave for the first time since I moved into my place in August. The second confirmed case of human bird flu was released in China, Bush outlines a plan to freeze mortgage rates, remains suspected to be the Quedah Merchant are unearthed just off the coast of Catalina Island, the New Orleans city council continues to gentrify the ruins of New Orleans with bulldozers, and some folks in San Fransisco got exactly what they didn’t want for Christmas – a tiger attack.
The year was best summed up last Friday, at one of two holiday parties this season that I actually did want to attend (but was horribly late to). The host was going around the room asking everyone to toast memorable events and accomplishments of partigoers (as individuals and couples). I was kind of anxious as things were getting to me, and I was going to lean all the way back to my job, but the host was kind enough to not put me on the spot, and jam in a laugh. “He’s been through a lot of shit – glad he’s still here.” I think that is a fitting ephitet. Certainly not the worst year I’ve ever had, but definteily a lot of bouncing around.
I hope to get back into the swing of things here a little more in 20 aught 8. This seems a daunting proposal, given I rarely have the time to reply to personal e-mail the way I want to these days. Despite that, I’m going to try.
I think this is one of the best pictures I took in 2007:
