Based on my standard time zone, this is the last post of 2009; but in Iowa, we're already almost an hour into 2010. I rang in the new year watching some SNL highlights of Will Ferrell downstairs with my brother, his friend Logan (best friend from high school/college roommate), and Logan's girlfriend Sammi; nothing super exciting, but since I'm usually home for new year's eve, that may have actually been the most I did on a new year's eve since the one where Katie and I rented a hotel room in Des Moines, went to a big party, and got raucously drunk.
The rest of the day was laid-back as well; I made the treacherous walk out to the mailbox to drop my Christmas cards off for the postman, and I packed my suitcase for my flight back to San Francisco tomorrow. My mom and I watched the Stanford game, which started off great but ended in heartache; we watched the same second-half implosion with the ISU/Minnesota game after that, but ISU held out and ended up winning their first bowl game in a v. long time. Logan and Sammi came over around six, and ate dinner with us before going downstairs to play games and watch tv, but I hung out upstairs so that I could book tickets for an upcoming trip to India (yay!!) And I periodically looked at the moon -- the blue moon on New Year's Eve was perfect here, lighting up the snow like it was dawn rather than midnight.
Theoretically, I should be more than happy to see the 00's go, and eager to welcome the 10's. And yes, there have been all sorts of calamities and disasters. But, there are always calamities and disasters; I think the internet and the 24-hour news cycle just makes it all feel more urgent and traumatic and unending. And I had some wonderful years in the 00's -- I wouldn't want to sacrifice my twenties, even if they didn't go exactly as I planned at the outset (I thought I would have a PhD and be married by now, not that I regret that those things didn't happen). I loved college, got to live in India and Ireland, have a fabulous group of friends and a wonderful family, wrote a book, and did tons of fun things. I'm not really excited about my thirties, although theoretically I will come closer to figuring out my life, and that would be a good thing.
Anyway, thanks to all of you who have been reading over the years. I blogged for most of the decade -- starting in 2003 with the xanga blog back when xanga was cool, and then on Blogger starting in 2004. This makes my 374th post of 2009 -- if you've read it all, you deserve a medal! I've learned so much about myself and people and life in the past ten years, and a lot of that distillation process has happened here, even if I don't regularly write all the behind-the-scenes drama going on (although there hasn't been much drama recently -- maybe I need to go out and incite some). I will aim to keep this up in the 2010s, but more importantly I will aim to talk to my friends more; blogs aren't a substitute for real interaction, even if four-minute posts are easier than going out for drinks.
Happy new year, everyone! May the next decade bring all sorts of fun and happiness for all of you.
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