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.

A friend suggested I record a Christmas album this year. I’m lazy so I’m doing an EP instead.

Here’s the first track – “Carol of the Bells”

It’s a song I had always wanted to learn on piano but never owned the music. The next best thing is to arrange it for yourself, I suppose. I even added a new part in the middle to mix things up.

Hope you like it!

www.thebeatles.com
www.myspace.com/thebeatles.com

Would you believe in a love at first sight?
Yes, I’m certain that it happens all the time…

Given the day, I thought it would be appropriate to reflect on the various things I’m thankful for:

☺ The family
☺ All the great people I’ve met in San Francisco
☺ My band
☺ RedCandle, the research group I just co-founded
☺ Thread, the start-up I’m consulting
☺ The sacrifices made by the turkey community
☺ Harry Potter

That I can work from home post-layoff and not go significantly into debt is a nice thing. 2009 was tough but I feel I learned a lot. I just need to remind myself of all the great things in my life and I think I’ll get by just fine…

Perhaps, with a little help from my friends.

Happy Thanksgiving!

www.carlabruni.com
www.myspace.com/carlabruni

I know I already reviewed Carla Bruni’s debut album, Quelqu’un M’a Dit, but I wanted to revisit one of her tracks in relation with my trip to Vancouver. Before heading to the airport, I discovered and shared Bruni’s “Tout Le Monde,” knowing it would be the last thing posted for a week on my Facebook profile (yeah, serious business). It’s my favorite song right now as it reminds me of the moments I spent with my family in Vancouver, in limbo between employed and (what I would discover a week after returning) unemployed.

Vancouver is a pretty city. It’s got a great living balance between urban life and an appreciation for nature. They’re pretty good with keeping things green too (idling your car is a crime). The numerous mountains surrounding the pristine harbor create a really breathtaking view. And at night, lights high in the hills emit a row of faux stars floating above the city, confusing us for days until we finally figured out what they were.

Before I left, my friend, Elena, convinced me to write an essay for the book she’s publishing. I remember starting the essay in our dark hotel room, blessed with a view of Yaletown building lights. I started by writing about the quietness of the space – muffled street sounds perforated by rambunctious voices of late night revelers below – and included mentions of my parents, soundly asleep in the bed nearby. But I wasn’t able to finish the essay in Vancouver…

Just like the video, like going through a dark tunnel, is how one might describe traveling. When you’re in a plane, it’s as if you’re not a part of this world. You move between cities in a climate unique to your own. While it may be raining and dreary on the Earth’s surface, your existence above the clouds leaves you immune and bathed in sun or stars… in transition and above the storm.

My phone was off for a week. I don’t think I’ve ever had a phone off that long… No internet. No email. No Twitter. Totally free. It felt really nice. Checking my stream upon returning to the States was a little disheartening. I really don’t need to be hearing about the latest-upgrade-to-software-I’ll-never-use during all my waking hours, I discovered (no offense to you if that’s what you love to Tweet about). It was really nice being cut off. I can’t stress that enough.

I wasn’t able to finish the essay in Vancouver… Instead, I finished it after I returned, a few days after getting laid off. I think the multiple scenarios, time lapses and life situations in which the essay was being redrafted in really aided its development. It framed itself within a new perspective, reflected upon and transformed. And that it found completion during this period of uncertainty and confusion is particularly ironic given the focal topic of the essay project…

“Happiness.”

See the complete photo set: Facebook Photos – Vancouver
Read more about the places I visited: Yelp Reviews – Vancouver!

www.paolonutini.com
www.myspace.com/paolonutini

I’ve enjoyed Paolo Nutini’s 2006 debut, These Streets for some time now but only recently felt compelled to write an entry on it. Overall, a fantastic set of songs, it’s gotten me through many an introspective day with bittersweet tracks like, “Last Request,” “Rewind” and “These Streets.”

As I was going through some old Yelp pictures, I saw a photo I took of my own shoes. I was instantly brought back to that day, what I was feeling and how different things are now. From this inspiration, I’ve revisited a collection of past moments, as told via shoe, to serve as a reminder that it’s about time I grab a new pair…

☜ For the past four years, I’ve pretty much only worn Onitsuka Tigers. I still remember the first pair my ex-girlfriend gave me back in (what must have been) 2005. They’re affordable, stylish and really lightweight. They don’t provide adequate cushioning for the avid walker, as I discovered in Boston two years ago, so I enhance them with inserts. A simple adjustment and it feels like I’m walking on clouds. (2 minutes ago)

Some friends of ours are hosting the Pig Eat Fest to benefit the San Francisco Food Bank at Lake Merced. Two giant roasting boxes are filled with large, free range, local, sustainable, organic, et cetera pigs. I eat more meat today than I have in awhile. (07.11.09) ☞

☝ It’s Memorial Day Weekend. My original plan to fly to New York and spend the night wandering before flying back the next morning is foiled by the fact that all my friends there aren’t in town. Instead, my Family Plan sis, Tinna and I drive to Fort Bragg and leave our names (“keaneiscool“) in the sands of Glass Beach. Promptly after, Tinna shows the world that Keane, in fact, is not cool by stomping my name into sandy submission. (05.24.09)

I have to go to work on a Sunday?! Luckily, a couple of friends are coming along. We inadvertently discover the How Weird Street Faire right outside my office. It’s a nice surprise to spend the afternoon dancing in the streets with the slightly less ordinary. (05.10.09) ☞



















☜ This is Truffles, a friend’s dog. We’re at Crissy Field, celebrating a birthday with a sunny view of the Golden Gate Bridge. I walked a long way here, not realizing how far it would be from my place, but was able to snap a lot of great photos along the way. (04.18.09)



Those of us far from home can always find warm comfort in Dolores Park during the holidays. And nothing says, “Happy Easter,” like beer swigging hipsters getting high on a Sunday afternoon. I’m pretty sure there’s a goat here too. There’s always a goat at Dolores Park… (04.12.09) ☞




☜ It’s February. My Italian friend, Veronica, hasn’t been to the Museum of Modern Art yet, so we decide to visit today while she is in the city. The special exhibit is one that requires participation. Goggles, gloves, nets and brooms – we try them all. After, I leave with a poster of a lone bird that I decide to hang on my bedroom wall. (02.08.09)



☜ I am in Hawaii. It’s just before Christmas and I’m visiting the Honolulu Academy of Art with my mom. It’s quiet and beautiful. I keep myself occupied by capturing photos to bring back as a gift for a friend. They are, to me, both elegantly sweet and sad. It feels like I’m stuck in time, with growing feelings that will eventually consume me for the rest of the following year. (12.20.08)



☞ I quit my job at the Federal Reserve Bank a month ago and have been backpacking down the East Coast since. I’ve been to Boston, New York, DC, Virginia Beach and Greensboro. Now I’m in New Orleans, on a ferry between the French Quarter and Algiers. I do not know that I will get an internship with Performer Magazine a month from now. I do not know that I will join The Conversation Group a month later. I do not know that I will get laid off from that same job two years after I start…

I do not know…

And thus, I do not care. (08.21.07)