It’s been a year of so many zigs and zags I’m not sure what to make of it. On the positive side I release my first solo album, Will and I celebrated a decade of living together, and my Web developer career really peaked in terms of pay, control, and responsibility. It was a stable and productive year punctuated with a great trip to Burning Man.
However, he karmic balance was very expensive on the other side. The loss of Pronto really hurt – and continues to. The release of the album was something to be proud of but the lack of a promotional strategy was most certainly not. Ten years with Will in this house have been wonderful but there is a strong pining in both of us to break out of the routine, live some where different, see different vistas. And finally, the peak of my career also means there is nowhere else for it to go. Like it or not, Web design is a dead end for me. It’s well time I moved on to something that will challenge me and make me grow. That undoubtedly means a pay cut and some stepping beyond the comfortable bubble I’ve enjoyed for many years now.
This new year has then the feeling of holding one’s breath. Of ice ready to crack. Of pressure building for big changes in the next 12 months. We’ll see how that goes.
Trips
Of Friends and Family
- Will had an accident in his truck
- Chris and Dave broke up and Chris moved to Fairfax
- Tom and Mike got married
- Rob published his first book
- Mindy started her sewing company
Arriving
- Watson the dog
- Eliana Camille
Passing
- Actor Robert Culp
- Max the dog
- Painter Frank Frazetta
- Law & Order
- Actor Gary Coleman
- Actor Denis Hopper
- Senator Andrew Dyrd
- Uncle HF
- Fangorn the bonsai tree
- Pronto
- Mistletoe the cat
- Actor Tony Curtis
- Porn Mogul Bob Guccione
- Sony Cassette Walkman
- Actor Leslie Nielsen
- Director Irvin Kershner
- Basil the dog
- Will’s Dad’s Cat
In the World
- Both Hati and Chile suffered massive earthquakes
- Snowpocalypse! D.C., experienced two separate snow storms in quick succession that dumped 2-3 feet of snow. This is apparently is an event so rare it should happen only once every 300 or so years.
- Gay marraige spread to DC
- For good or boad (I’m not convinced either way) the U.S. passed sweeping health care reform.
- Water was confirmed to exist on the moon
- There was a massive oile spill in the gulf coast that took forever to cap and excessivly monopolized the news for months
- Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was ended – gays and lesbians will be able to serve openly in the US military next year.
- Wikileaks dispensed a large number of US secret documents via the Web.
- Massive flooding in Pakistan
- The US economy began to limp back to recovery. A very slow limp…
Films & Shows I’ll Remember
- Mad Men – season 4
- Lost – season 6
- Avatar
- Up
- Inferno
- Drunken Angel
- One Wonderful Sunday
- Downtown 81
- Rashomon
- The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
- The Naked City
- Surfwise
- The Lost Continent
- Getaway (1972)
- Bullit
- On the Beach
- Kiss the Bride
- Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam
- Classic Albums: Fleetwood Mac: Rumours
- Classic Albums: Steely Dan: Aja
- Classic Albums: Elton John
- Classic Albums: The Doors
- Classic Albums: Queen: A Night at the Opera
- The Lost World
- Tales of the Gold Monkey: Complete: Disc 1
- Mulligans
- The Sensei
- You I Love
- Vernoica Mars series
- Californication series
Books on the Night-stand
- Deeds of the Disturber – Elizabeth Peters
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson
- Bomb Power – Garry Wills
- The Odyssey – Homer
- The Future of a Radical Price – Chris Anderson
- Rework – Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson
- Grounded – Seth Stevenson
- The Last Camel Died at Noon – Elizabeth Peters
- The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution – Jody Zall Kusek
- The Power of Super 8 Film – Phil Vigeant
- How to Promote Your Music Successfuly on the Internet – David Nevue
- Fourth World Omnibus, Volume 1 – Jack Kirby
- The Eternals, Volume 1 – Jack Kirby
- Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life – Neil Strauss
- On the Road the Lost Scroll – jack kerouac
- The Eternals, Volume 2 – Jack Kirby
- Sex at Dawn – Christopher Ryan, Cacilda Jetha
- The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog – Elizabeth Peters
- Beyond the Moons – David Cook
- Into the Void – Nigel Findley
- Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life – Thich Nhat Hanh
Memorable Music in the Player
- Digital Dream – Neuronium
- Éléments No.2 ‘L’Eau’ – Tambour D’o
- MoonWater – Rudy Adrian
- The Boogey Man soundtrack – Synthe Sound Trax
- Gwendoline soundtrack – Pierre Bachelet
- Ringside – Ringside
- Quadra Station – Lorne David Thomson
- Constellations – Patrick Remy
- Turulences – Joel Fajerman
- Tra Scienza e Fantascienza – Moggi (Piero Umiliani)
- Synthetic Music – various
- Tame Impala EP – Tame Impala
- Innserspeaker – Tame Impala
- Take It and Drive – Smadj
- Love and Terror – The Cinematics
- A Time For Lies EP – The Hollow Hearts
- Trans Canada Highway – Boards of Canada
- Far Away Trains Passing By – Ulrich Schnauss
- Soundtrack From Twin Peaks – Angelo Badalamenti
- Synthesizers Dotcom – Collective 2009 – Various
- Out of Style – The Sobriquetes
- Cable Mounds – Three Oh Three
- Hawk the Slayer – Harry Robertson
- Loor Ambient – Loor Ambient
- Panamericana – Federico Aubele
- Synthomani – Marcello Giombini
- Contra – Vampire Weekend
- In The Wee Small Hours – Frank Sinatra
- The Lord Of The Rings – Bo Hanssen
- Saturn Drama – Miro Pajic
- Moondawn – Klaus Schulze
- Ylang – Robert Rich
- Record Collection – Mark Ronson & The Business Intl.
- a funneled stone – Streda
- Blind Threshold – Beats Antique
- Third – Soft Machine
- Honky Chateau – Elton John
- Rumours – Fleetwood Mac
- Transit Transit – Autolux
- Resistor – Micronaut
- Rules – The Whitest Boy Alive
- Dreams – The Whitest Boy Alive