I wrote this a few days ago, but for some reason it never posted on WordPress. I will be having a discussion with the modulator of the Tubes posthaste. -J-
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As Mr. Burns once said “It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times.” There were many ups and many downs, but the net average reminiscent feeling about 2008 is a resounding “meh”.
Indeed this year was full of many different things that left a mark on my life.
For starters, one of the greatest moments of my life happened this year. After many years of trying, I finally got my diploma from Washington State University. I received the official title of Bachelors in Arts in History, which means very little other than I have solid backing in seeing that the way we are all going is the wrong one… and that I can’t get a real job. I walked that stage and flipped that tassel and almost fell over the person before me in front of thousands of people and sipped off the flask full of Burbon in my pocket like a good Coug and I have never felt more accomplished in anything I have ever done, or probably ever will do, in my entire life. It was something that I honestly never thought would happen, and it did and I have never been prouder.
Music was another sparkling aspect of my life this last year. I got to see Tom Petty (at the Gorge), Alex Smoke (Twice), DeadMau5 (who is now a douche bag), Guy Baratto (hottest girlfriend ever), Tool (again), Reid Speed (hotness) and way too many DJ’s to possibly name… Camaro Hair, Mike Doughty (Twice) Stone Temple Freaking Pilots and a bunch of other bands.
Let me say that again.:
Stone.
Temple.
Pilots.
I played a bunch of shows in a bunch of clubs in a bunch of cities in a bunch of states on a bunch of media for a bunch of people. I grew my music collection by leaps and/or bounds and lost a bunch of music at the same time. I found a whole new style that fits my personality like a glove, and has a tendency to make the people on the dance-floor put their hands up and go “uhhn.” I plan to continue on this tack for the next year as well, as the musical aspect of any year is the one that keeps me sane through the bad times (read: not jumping off a bridge).
I danced in the desert and in musty basements and in kitchens in socks and on balconies and in the middle of the street and in packed clubs and in empty clubs and in my bedroom and in other bedrooms and in the snow and in the sun and in living rooms and in airports and on the train and at work and on a 15 million dollar yacht and with people and not with people and when no one was watching and when everyone was watching and behind turntables and in front of speakers and to 5,000 watts of sound and to the sound inside my head and everywhere in between and everywhere else.
I smoked a bunch of cigarettes (ew), and drank a bunch of beer (very not ew) and did a LOT of hanging out with a LOT of good people.
For everything else that happened, I damn sure fed my soul this last year.
It hasn’t all been roses and unicorns though. With the ups you have to take the downs. I have lost some friends this year… Some ’cause of me, some ’cause of them, and one simply because he moved away (though thats not really a loss since we talk all the time). I Lost a car to detonation (again) and am stuck in the rut of north-Vancouver non-mobility. The economy has hit me as hard as it has hit any other of you; though I do have a job, which is more than some have these days, unfortunately.
This year also held many things for me that were both best AND blurst. A beautiful experiment conducted for the betterment of various of my things exploded in my face. This was not the neat little multi-colored mushroom cloud that emanates from the Evil Scientist’s beaker when he mixes a drop of Solution A with a drop of Solution B, but rather the Earth-shattering kaboom of the Eludium Pu-36 Explosive Space Modulator, vaporizing those things which had been hopes/dreams/desires of the highest caliber and clearing the way for a nice view of Venus at the same time. (For those of you who don’t get the metaphor, go back and watch your classic looney tunes.) This played out to give me the highest highs of my life, and the lowest lows… and that low is where 2008 ended and this year began…
I graduated, danced a bunch, always have music somewhere in my life and actually got away with spending almost the entire summer – including at work – in sandles, but I lost and dealt with a few things which may have been of a greater total worth than the good things I haven’t decided yet… and I am really worse off than when the year started.
SO: Best of times + Blurst of times = Meh.
Bring it on, 2k9. Lets tilt that balance in favor of the woo-hoo’s.
Happy New Year everyone
-Jeremy-
