Like Everyone Else (2006 in Review)

[jakebe]

January
Since tooth stuff happened first, I'll start with that!

Started off 2006 by creating and maintaining the napoewrimo community, and writing 30 poems in 31 days. Also started writing a short story (that I've since forgotten), started running a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, continued with arlekin's Werewolf game and stressed about work and my dental problems. Participated in Rabbit Hole Day for the first time ever.

February
Total dental bill? $2400.

Fretted about dental bills. Resolved to give up fast food and a good deal of sweets for the next two months, so my love affair with cooking began right here. Odis' Gummi Bears game began, forcing me out of the last Super Bowl party I would have been able to make in Arkansas. Went to see Billy Collins give a reading. Watched Pi and Requiem for a Dream with Daroneasa for Valentine's Day, and got chocolates, tea and poetry from toob. My D+D game was going great. Dental work began with the first three cavities being filled.

March
dakimov is here! YAY!!

Dad came down to visit for the first time! This year's Oscars were very surprising -- "It's Hard Out There for a Pimp" wins Best Original Song, and Crash wins Best Picture, causing E. Annie Proulx to throw down her stylish tam and hop up and down on it repeatedly. Discovered I am inclined towards bruxism when I sleep from Dakimov's visit. My D+D game started to show signs of implosion, then did so, in spectacular fashion. Plans for the move out west begin to congeal. The stress of social commitments and the impending uproot makes me grumpy. daroneasa welcomes her dwarf rabbit Niuk into her life, awakening parental urges in me I didn't know I had until then.

April
A lot of people tend to make jokes or play pranks or post fake journal entries about a crisis or problem that really isn't happening today.

Envisioned a different way to celebrate April Fool's Day. Milla Jovovich became my Super Best Friend. Fallout from the Great Oak's Home Train Wreck continues, leading to a rough patch amongst several friends. Got between bamboofae and belly4you in hopes of resolving a dispute, and it backfired horribly. Found out about pay disparity at the Bookshop, asked for a raise, got one. Time amongst local friends becomes very limited in more way than one, making everyone stressful. Joined the Changeling game of fisherking and the D+D game of daroneasa.

May
In other news, with all the talk about United 93 I thought I would just have to go to the movies last night. So we daroneasa and I) went to see Akeelah and the Bee.

Resolved to give up drinking, celebrated by drinking a lot. Realized how badly I had been pushing people away, tried to repair relationships while I could. Read Sight Hound by Pam Houston, The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, started but didn't finish Godel, Escher, Bach.

June
To everyone who's going to Anthrocon (and probably won't be reading this because they'll be in the reg line for the next two days), have fun!

Dan, my Gurahl in arlekin's Werewolf game, outs himself by having sex with a Kitsune. Went to see the stage production of The Lion King and afterwards we ate at the Spaghetti Warehouse. Which is a WAREHOUSE. That serves SPAGHETTI. (Yup, still funny.) The cold war with the roommate (since it's easier than being sad) reaches its chilliest yet. The realization of how much my life will change fully hits at the end of the month.

July
Thank you, delphinios.
As I was bitching last night after Cy's Werewolf game about not being able to find a ride into work today, Delphi recommended that I walk.

Thanks to Delphi, I discover walking to work is really awesome exercise. Spent the 4th of July in the company of belly4you, shiftyjoe, Matt Dragon and Cilian Murphy. Final preparations for moving are in full swing. Insecurities about moving from Arkansas to California creep up in shallow ways. More movies with belly4you and the most awesome pot of red beans and rice ever indulged in by man. After four years, my last day at the Dickson Street Bookshop was on the 29th.

August
Annnnnnnnnd I'm off! Next time I see you guys, I'll be in Austin.

THE BIG MOVE. From Fayetteville, AR to Austin, TX to Roswell, NM to Phoenix, AZ and finally to Santa Clara, CA. Thanks again to everyone for their generosity and hospitality, and to arlekin for letting me turn his great road trip to a shuttle service. Spent the rest of the month watching Project Runway, making a crappy resume, applying to SJSU (and being rejected for every job) as well as Bookbuyers, Inc. Saw Snakes on a Plane and When the Levees Broke. Started jogging regularly.

September
Today was pretty difficult. My breath was all right, that's almost never the issue, but the old legs started burning about 10 minutes in.

Got the job at Bookbuyers, Inc. Went to Paramount's Great America with duncanroo and toob, where my reputation as a fun roller coaster partner solidified. Started biking to work regularly. Steve Irwin died. Saw LOTS of movies, started 2guysreviews with Toob.

October
A brief explanation: Now that I've been working for about a month and have (finally) received my first paycheck, the time has come for me to sign on with a bank and/or credit union for a checking account.

Got my first (short) paycheck, and an account with the Valley Credit Union. Saw the awful play Dessa Rose, and one night later got to meet one of my writing idols, Peter S. Beagle. Bush signs the Military Commissions Act into law, further stripping away the rights of the U.S. Constitution. Finished a short story I'd been working on, but deemed it too horrible to be shown.

November
Happy birthday to fisherking! May all of your signs be easy to stick, and your tea at McAllister's cold and sweet.

Fell into the new season pretty handily, with Jericho, The Nine and LOST taking up Wednesday nights. Voted in my first California election, and was bewildered when Schwartzenegger won in a landslide. However, Democrats won a majority in both houses and the Governor's mansions around the country. Flew in sparky_d's super light aircraft to Tahoe and back, so we could meet him and the missus and the family. Went down to San Diego to visit clipfox, geddcoon, theottsel and bfdragon and go to Disneyland! The Tower of Terror was so much fun it had to be ridden twice! The drive down was one of the most amazing I've ever enjoyed. Had a very neat dream in which I was the shrunken mayor of Furrytopia, and the green eyed monster attacked once more. Predictably, politics was on my mind quite a bit.

December
Why are sports such a big deal to so many people?

Settling into California continues; job is less than ideal, but it pays the bills at least. Zazen is restarted for the first time since moving, and spirituality begins to occupy more of my thoughts. Eventually clarified my position with Rabbit. There are a few vivid and memorable dreams. sailor_atma announces he's starting a Dungeons and Dragons game, in which I join to play a forest gnome cleric. toob leaves to spend the holidays with family in Arkansas; it's the first time we've been apart for long since the move. The otterless nights are filled with writing, The Sopranos, and two small parties in which poker and good friends play center stage. Begin making preparations for NaPoeWriMo 2007. My one resolution is to be more present with the people I communicate with. Closed out the year with Mat, Harlkyn, Rikoshi, Tealfox, Seamus, Exactly, Mikaila, Chefox, Baja Hyena and Brokken T. Wolf. There was much raising of glasses and hugs. Broke in the new year with three games of a fun party game called "Werewolf", more conversation and hugs.

So that's it...my year in a nutshell. A sincere thanks to everyone who's been a part of my life up until now, and for putting up with my flaws, insecurities and attitudes. All of my friends in Arkansas, California, and across the country have been...simply tremendous. Here's to a much better 2007 for all of us. :)