Year in Review

I suppose it's time for the year in review posting. It was an interesting year. As customary, the exciting times tended to be less fun than the boring with the exception of a trip to Kenya.

The year began rather suckily, as Ericka began dating someone else. In the end, I think we're all much happier now than we were a year and a half ago, but it was a painful experience that I'd rather not revisit. Suffice it to say that most days I'd like those three-plus years back. It has made more of a man of me, and that is good.

Another good thing is that it inspired my later trip to Kenya and increased participation in Bible study, which has improved my social life considerably. This is welcome, as for several years I didn't have any consistent peer group. I was enriched in many ways this year, and they're a significant part of it.

January marked my second year officially out of graduate school (third year now). Reflection on graduate school is always bittersweet, and I needn't spend time on it now.

I spent some of the year, beginning in January, teaching some private karate lessons for K. Teaching is probably my favorite thing to do, for both good and bad reasons. She is my first student, and I'm glad to say that it's been helpful for her as she pursues her future studies in opera.

I picked up a Nikon D40 in February. It's my first SLR, and I love it. There's just no comparison between it and my old Sony Mavica, which burned images to CD. I picked up a 55-200mm zoom lens in May, anticipating the Kenya trip; it provided me some phenomenal shots at the Masai Mara game reserve. I guess I'm getting ahead of myself.

Emerging from February, we had a breaking clinic in which I hit the climb for the second time. The clinic was the first real action that I got with the D40; it also motivated me considerably to get faster glass and/or a faster flash (both of which were realized at Christmas). I'll be trying the climb again this coming February at a cub scouts meeting.

April through June were fairly boring, though I settled in more at work and was rewarded with an almost 10% raise at my one year anniversary and a pretty substantial bonus at year end. It's funny to me that I've gotten these benefits; I've never associated financial mobility with small companies, for starters, and nothing like this was promised or much suggested to me at the interview. But it's basically one of the big sales pitches I heard from IBM in graduate school and later from Cubic.

M came to visit over Memorial Day, and that was a good time. He's one of my best friends, and certainly one of the only reasons I was remotely sane during school. For all of our many differences, and there are a lot of them, he is a good and true friend, and one I wish I had more time with.

July was dan testing. I judged and worked out during the day. There's much less pressure on that side of the table. B sprained his MCL during the second day's round of one-on-everyone, so we haven't seen him much since then. That's a bit disappointing, I confess; he keeps people in line and has a good martial spirit.


31 July was my departure date for Kenya. I wrote about the trip elsewhere, so I won't recap it overmuch except for some highlights.

First, it was good to see family. I've always enjoyed the experience of being shown around the 'hood, so to speak. Having a personal guide is one thing, I suppose, but it's special to see the haunts of family and hear their stories. My uncle is a grade-A story-teller, and he told me a lot of them. He's more African than American, and it was pretty cool to hear him speak Swahili fluently.

Of course we went to a game park, this for a few days. I saw lions on my birthday. That will be one of the memories I keep with me for the rest of my life. The animals were incredible, simply marvelous. The roads, not so much. Driving there is a full-contact sport, and just as dangerous.

Another experience was the slums. Since the elections this past week, the slums have been rioting because of suspicious voting irregularities. The poverty is incredible. There is no electricity, no running water, no sanitation. The ground is mud. People find food in troughs that carry away waste and refuse. Houses are smaller than my bedroom, little shanties that might hold ten people with roofs of tin. Their homes are so tightly joined together that from a distance they look like scales on a serpent.

Despite the horrific living conditions, the people we spoke with were generally upbeat. They seemed more focused on getting out than wallowing in despair. I'm sure that part of it was a game face, but it was nonetheless amazing to me that they seemed so resilient.

The last thing that really stands out were the conversations I had with some of the marketeers in Nairobi. When I was able to finally convince them that I didn't have money, they opened up and told me how business went. One asked me why I was wearing women's jeans, which confirmed my suspicions that dark blue boot cut jeans are really not for me.

All in all it was an amazing trip. It's definitely whetted my appetite for more travels.

After I returned, the rest of the year is fairly boring. I celebrated my birthday after I returned home, marking the beginning of the back nine of my 20s. I'm steadily losing more hair; I expect it'll be mostly gone by the time I'm 30, and then God and I will finally agree on one thing (i.e., the count of hairs on my head). Of course, this virtually ensures a Picard look.

September through November were football season, a generally enjoyable one with a lot of unexpected twists and turns. Not the least of these was the OSU-Illinois game, after which it was revealed that the officiating crew head had a rap sheet. Included in his offenses were gambling debts. For some reason, a disproportionate number of people bet on Illinois in that game. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

December was a good month, mostly full of family and detailed in previous entries. It was excellent to see so many of them, and so many I hadn't seen in several years (viz., the group in Michigan). W's 90th was a pretty substantial gala, and it was so good to see Gram over Christmas.

I also got an OLPC laptop. I'm using it to write the post.


On the balance, the year was very good. I have more than I can rightly ask for, and I've learned and gained much this year. If I can complain of anything, it is that my bed is cold at night and looks to be that way for some time to come. These are not trifling matters, I suppose, but all the same I trust they'll be resolved in their proper time, and perhaps best with changes to my disposition.

I am content. I am well cared for in all respects and blessed beyond measure. I expect the coming year will see me finding a new place to live, since I have presumed too much on my parents' generosity. Other than that, I expect life will continue much the same.