Posts Tagged ‘2009’

I’ve been reading a LOT of friends’ updates on Twitter and Facebook grousing about 2009 and looking forward to its passing. Perhaps even more have done the same for the decade in general (although you guys DO get that the decade really ends next year, right?).

I’m one of those people who believes life is what you make of it. The first half of the Oughts didn’t rock for me compared to the 1990s, but it had nothing to do with external forces — it was all because of personal decisions I made and was forced to deal with. The latter half, meanwhile, sucked way less and it’s because I took active control of my life. I put out awesome, and got awesome back. Go figure.

Of course, external forces are inescapable for a lot of people. The economy took a dump. People lost their jobs — good friends, especially. People lost their homes. Family members and loved ones die. These are all pretty good reasons to call out a year or decade or century or whatever for sucking.

But we have to remember that some of that stuff is — and forgive my bluntness, but this is me here — our own damn fault. Economic crisis? We made that, my friends, we bought into the myth of quick returns, sure-fire investments and “declared income” mortgages. “Declared income?” What the hell is that? “Why yes, Mr. Lender, I absolutely make $100,000 a year walking my neighbors’ dogs!” Our national savings rate — you know, the percentage of our incomes we stash away when not making bad investments or buying toys we don’t need — actually dipped below zero at one point. I mean, you wouldn’t think that’s possible, but it happened.

So was 2009 overall bad? I don’t know. I guess it depends on your perspective. Depends on whether or not your political party won offices. Whether your favorite sports team won its respective bowl/championship/series. Whether you bought your house this year or in 2006. Whether funding for your gender reassignment surgery came through.

Me, I like to spread around the awesome. It’s easy for me to say 2009 wasn’t as awesome as, say, 1993 or something like that. But I was 16 in 1993. So really, nothing beats being a teenager with a car and a job and parents to take care of all the real sh*t while you just spend your money on coffee and music and leather pants (maybe that was just me?) and your free time playing music, chasing girls and sleeping in until 3 p.m. But overall, it didn’t suck. And I guess, a month or so late, here are the things for which I’m thankful from the year of someone’s lord A.D. 2009:

• The fabulous Miss Sara surviving another year living with me. She is obviously as insane as she is awesome.
• Despite losing a member a few months ago, celebrating two years together with my band, As Yet Unbroken — the second-longest relationship I’ve ever had.
• Meeting all sorts of new people via Twitter (for better or for worse)
• The birth of my awesome nephew, Zack Attack!
• Editors still not figuring out that I’m a hack writer
• Making comic books — and people actually buying them!
• Traveling, even if only to San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orlando and central Michigan
• Seeing my best friend from my freshman year of high school for the first time in 18 years as a result of said travels (and the magic of Facebook)
• Buying Casa Awesome
• Not dying

Those are just the highlights, I guess. Mostly, I’m pretty lucky to be surrounded by so many smart, caring, entertaining, driven and plain awesome friends. You people are the ones who keep the mayor of Awesome City going! So yeah!

(Also: Exclamation points. I could not live without them.)

So 2010 should be even radder. But all of us need to pull together. We need to focus the awesome. Hone the awesome. BECOME THE AWESOME. etc etc.

I’m going to Santa Barbara for a few days, to start off 2010 right: near a beach, possibly in pajamas, possibly crunked.

Be safe tonight, kids. And see you on the other side.

FISTS HIGH!

In case anyone was wondering how I booted 2008 while welcoming 2009, wonder no more. In seven minutes, you’ll witness Robbie Maddison’s death-defying leap atop the Paris Las Vegas’ 100-foot-tall Arc de Triomphe replica, DJ Jazzy Jeff spinning funky beats, a concerning lack of champagne at midnight and a whole lot of me shouting at people. A lot. Like, an overwhelming amount.

When you register as a member of the media for the Consumer Electronics Show — hitting Las Vegas this week, in case you forgot – apparently your e-mail address is disseminated to every tech-related public relations agency in the universe. (No, really, the universe – I’m pretty sure a few of these e-mails came to me from Mars or Pluto or something.)

The takeover of my inbox by CES exhibitors, guests, speakers, etc. began in November, at which point I took action: In Gmail, I created a label “CES2009″ and filtered all related e-mails to that label, also immediately archiving them. So they’d show up on my Blackjack II but not in my inbox, leaving me to deal with them at a later date.

Well, that later date should probably be soon, as the official show kicks off in three days.

So to those of you out there who generated the 200 or so unread CES-related e-mails awaiting my perusal: Sorry, I swear it’s not personal. I’m sure your DLP projectors, disaster proof disk drives and GPS navigation systems are awesome technological advances without which our society would still be banging rocks together just to light fires. I’m just really slow to get to these things, and as I’m not working on any specific deadline for coverage of the show in post, I can slack a bit.

However, I will get through these the next day or two, because vendors I specifically want to check out such as Gibson and Roland (musical instrument manufacturers for the unfamiliar) will be at the show, and I want to map out my booth stroll to maximize time at the cavernous Las Vegas Convention Center.

… I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face!

Thanks, Bruce. But not really.

So I started typing up a long-ish post about goals I set out for 2008 and how many were or were not acheived, and why, and what needs to get done in 2009. And then I realized, after writing about 650 words, that the committal of words to screen isn’t what’s important — it’s the mere exercise of assessing one’s present in order to map out one’s future.

Or, you know, a reality check.

2008 went well. Hell of a lot better than ’07. Got a sweet iMac. Paid off some credit cards. Got the band out of the bedroom and into the clubs. Drank less, ate better. Convinced a beautiful woman and her two silly-but-sweet dogs to live with me. Moved into a great old neighborhood and learned to love Las Vegas again. Didn’t pass out in a nightclub men’s room stall even once.

Obviously, 2009 is looming. In some parts of the world, it’s already here. What needs to happen? Well, things could maintain and I couldn’t complain (though, I would), but let’s see …  Sell this comic book series that I’ve actually finally found time to write. Polish up and send to my agent the TV series treatment. Revisit and rework Bleeding Neon book proposal for non-commercial publisher. Take the band out of town. Record a full album. Go to Wonder-Con. Pay off the rest of my credit cards. Buy a bicycle. Eat more fruit. Take more naps. No, more.

Tonight, I ring in 2009 from the Paris Las Vegas hotel & casino. I’ve lived in Sin City for half my life and have never spent New Year’s Eve on the Strip. First time for everything, I guess, huh?

We’ll leave 2008 behind with a totally random clip from when Saturday Night Live was still funny: