#305 - what happened in 2009?

ok so i rarely do year-in-review type things because i don't really like categorizing such dissimilar (and continuous) events into a single category (i.e. a year)... actually, that's not true, i LOVE categorizing things... but it kinda seems weird to do it by years when things that happen today would be categorized into 2009 but what happens when i wake up tomorrow will be categorized in 2010... and what if i stay up past midnight, then i'll have to decide whether to categorize those events in 2009 or in 2010, so you see the problem here.

anyway, instead of doing a "review," i just went back and looked through all my blog posts for the past year and i was surprised at how many things i had forgotten i'd done, or forgotten that i had done them just last year. things back in january/february seemed like an eternity ago... for example:

- roger federer was no. 2, and rafael nadal won the aussie open. then during the spring season federer smashed his racket on court! then proceeds to win the french open and wimbledon completing his career slam, breaking pete sampras' record by winning grand slam #15, and regaining the #1 ranking... phew.
- i was in a community orchestra... yikes, i'm not ashamed of it because i wanted it to be fun and cool, but it was very much neither of those things, so i quit. oh well, a learning experience
- i bought a piano... seems like i've had that thing for way longer than just a year, but it's still sweet
- in february i was feeling so overwhelmed with all my activities that i over-worked myself and got shingles! oh man, that was HORRIBLE. and it was only a year ago (not even), seems like a lifetime ago...
- dollhouse started on tv... and now, one year later, dollhouse is canceled. so sad.
- my quarantine (with shingles) led me to the big bang theory, psych, attack of the show and... OLIVIA MUNN! woo hoo!
- got my dino buddy
- i totally called kris allen winning american idol (and the rest of idol sucked)
- me being a neilsen "family" was sadly not enough to save terminator and dollhouse
- started playing on a tennis team with my sister's friends... weird, but i like playing tennis so it turned out to be awesome
- the second half of the year was largely dominated by geekiness, taking things easy, and the beach.. so, a pretty good second half of the year!
- almost made a go of it in the romance department, but it flubbed... oh well, better luck next year.
- oh, and can't forget my portland trip last month! see? that was only a month ago and i have to categorize it as last year already...

anyway, i guess instead of a "2009 in review" it's more of a "where were you a year ago?" kind of thing because i really only had to remind myself of what happened in the first half of the year (the second half was too recent). oh well. i think the biggest news story of 2009 for me was SHINGLES! man, that sucked. hopefully there'll be a much better headliner for 2010, but for now let's start off with... live in the now, don't worry so much about the future but enjoy the present. take stock of what's around you, what's in your life and what about you and your life is great right at this moment and appreciate. i got a lot of this inspiration from reading a book (yes, reading an actual book!) by steve martin called "the pleasure of my company." of course i would related to a main character who's socially awkward and has OCD right? anyway, it's a good book, if you're looking for one to start of the new year with, give it a read. i love the point of view from inside the main character's head (he makes an awful lot of sense) and i think gives a nice boost of reassurance in human worth. plus it's funny.