Since I desperately wish to be fashionable, I’ve decided to do what just about every blogger in the universe is doing: a 2009 year-end review. However, since I still want to be a bit rebellious, I will not be posting any resolutions because the only resolution I ever stuck with was to stop drinking soda. That resolution was in 2006 or 2007 and I’ve stuck with it (with a few alterations–I’ve had a couple natural sodas in the last few months; these sodas had no high fructose corn syrup and no artificial colors or flavors–so, obviously, they are more like juice than soda, right? Besides, I drank these after I started my new grocery store job and I consider the taste testing part of my job description so I can better serve my customers. There, it’s justified!). I took on that resolution because I was too lazy to alter my eating habits to something more healthy and needed something smaller to start with; so while I eat that entire bag of sour gummy worms, I can rest assured that at least I’m not drinking soda with it.
Here are some things I did in 2009, in no particular order:
1. I graduated from my Master’s of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program. After many many nights of camping out in the living room, half writing a critical thesis and creative thesis and half listening to Toto and Journey to keep myself awake, I actually “defended” my work and they actually sent me a diploma. This still baffles me.
Side story: On one of the days that I locked myself inside to do nothing but work on my thesis, I took a ten minute break to go to Safeway to buy some Doritos (which, by the way, were gone in less than 24 hours). In the tiny window of time that I was outside, A PIGEON POOPED ON ME.
2. I spent 3 months unemployed, applied to over 100 jobs, went on a few awful interviews, and watched 8 seasons of Law and Order SVU.
3. I got a job at a grocery store and an online job as a teaching assistant. Neither are my dream jobs, but they pay the bills and give me some hilarious stories.
4. I started 2 amazing volunteer positions (and, yesterday, went to a meeting for another position that I start in early January!) with some amazing non-profit organizations. Through this volunteer work, I feel that I’ve actually found my passion and ideal career path, which is something I didn’t feel when I was in graduate school. While I’m still fine-tuning my career goals and still feel a little directionless, I feel like I have more direction than I ever have before.
5. I visited my family in Missouri! It was nice to be out of the city for awhile and back in the rural Wal-Mart dominated land. I missed it and its mullets.
6. I climbed to the top of Seattle’s tallest building as part of a fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society called the Big Climb. That’s 69 flights of stairs (1,311 steps). I trained like crazy and wasn’t even sore the next day! Bryan, on the other hand, did not train and then took a huge nap when we got home. We’re participating in the event again in 2010. This time my friend Kirsten will be joining us. Would you be so kind to donate $1 to my fundraising efforts?
7. I hiked on Mount Rainier. See, here’s the evidence.
8. I moved to a new apartment. My old apartment had a fantastic view of downtown:
But it also had a view right into my neighbor’s apartment. She liked to walk around her apartment without pants. Or underwear. We were also next to the laundry room, which made our closet doors rattle at all hours. We also had a leaky ceiling. It leaked directly onto our bed. And the kitchen was closet-sized. We also had to contact management about how to manage their apartment complex.
We no longer have a stellar view, but we have a better apartment and pay less for it. We only have to walk two blocks to get a view of the downtown cityscape and Elliot Bay.
9. I found the gum wall.
gum wall
10. I had my first celebrity sighting.
Tobey Maguire
That’s Tobey Maguire standing in front of a Blockbuster in the lower Queen Anne neighborhood. We only got pictures of his back and this one of him waving. He was apparently filming scenes for a movie called The Details.
Sort of side story: They were filming inside the Mecca Cafe, which is a dive bar and restaurant I’ve sort of been wanting to go to for awhile, but I’m also afraid of it because all the reviews call the bartenders classically rude. Some of the reviews also say that the place perpetually smells like vomit. I’ve seen the same old man with a walker go into the place at 7:30am on some mornings.
Side story 2: Before we got the picture of Tobey Maguire, we were standing around wondering what the heck was going on with all the lights and cameras. We happened to be standing in front of a tanning salon. At one point, the owner popped out and mentioned that her young son was standing across the street waiting to get an autograph–he loves the Spiderman movies (he got an autograph, by the way, and we all clapped and cheered for him). Anyway, the owner was one of the scariest-looking women I’ve ever seen. She had very brown-orange-leathery skin and really badly-done tattooed eyebrows. That can’t be good for business, can it?
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I know there’s more, but I’m ending it there. I’m sweaty. All that reminiscing is rough. At least that takes care of my workout for the day.
