tags: 2009, 2010, End of a Decade, New Year's Eve, Retrospecticus, Thank God, Yelp.com
I’ve been asking people how they felt about 2009. Almost all of the responses expressed sentiment ranging from apathy to discontent. Personally, I’ve never wanted a year to end more. While I wouldn’t say it was particularly bad, it was definitely overwhelming in terms of emotional and career changes.
I used to wonder why people placed such an emphasis on a changing calendar year. It’s the end of a pretty big decade, when I think about it. College. Working professionally. Finding a new city as a home.
But does life really change more from December 31 to January 1 than with the transition between any other two days in a year? Yes, it does. If you want it to. Just as a graduation ceremony signifies a transition or the Eucharist cracker brings a Catholic ritualistically closer to God, the changing calendar digits offer us a symbolic chance for change. It’s a spiritual renewal… I mean, if you want it to be.
My Key Moments of 2009
12.18.09: Visiting home for Christmas.
12.16.09: Watching a noisy action movie while wrapping Christmas gifts with friends. A really nice send-off before leaving San Francisco for the holidays.
11.26.09: Spending Thanksgiving with a friend’s family.
10.31.09: An exceptionally adventurous Halloween. Lots of house parties across multiple nights. I was an “80s action hero.”
10.02.09: Got laid off. What a downer. Luckily there’s a Yelp Elite Event the same night. It’s a nice escape to be on a boat with an open bar amongst the stars and city lights. And I’m not sure how it happened but I’m apparently nominated as prom king (the event has a prom theme).
09.18.09: Going to Vancouver for the first time with my family for my cousin’s wedding. It was our first family reunion in over a decade.
08.26.09: Riding the duck boats and pretending to be tourists.
05.30.09: Performing at Slim’s with Festizio. One of the first shows I had ever seen in the city was at Slim’s, so performing here was particularly meaningful.
05.23.09: Memorial Day weekend trip to Fort Bragg and Fort Ross with Tinna. We both needed an adventure and found it in the most unlikely of places.
04.20.09: Our studio album is finally released. We celebrate at Hemlock Tavern, our favorite local bar.
02.14.09: Valentine’s Day Pillow Fight, but none of us actually jump into the fray. Went to a bar instead.
01.23.09: Starting the year with heartbreak, the kind that feels like it’ll consume you forever. It was honestly the worst I’ve ever felt. I used to wonder if I could ever feel like I would want to marry someone, truly. Now I know.
12.31.08: New Year’s Eve 2008, my first time ringing in the New Year in the city. We spend the night at a friend’s place, counting down to 2009 in the middle of the street. Now, I can’t recall how I felt about the coming year…
But I have a good feeling about 2010. For me, it’s about utilizing the change and troubles from 2009 and working on moving forward. The sense of security I had last year has gone and I’m pretty much unsure how things will play out this time around…
Honestly, I prefer it that way.
