Yearender, Oh Nine

What a year. In 2009, I:

- drank only one bottle of beer.

- enjoyed Fantastic Mr. Fox, Milk, The Hangover, District 9, Star Trek, Religulous, Watchmen, Julie and Julia, Zombieland, and Avatar.

- edited a foreigner’s manuscript; it was a worthwhile, educational experience.

- loved songs like Taylor Swift’s “Fifteen” (“When all you wanted was to be wanted”), Lily Allen’s “F**k You” (“So you say it’s not okay to be gay”), Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody” (“Waging wars to shape the poet and the beat”), Heather Nova’s “Ride” (“I need a stranger to tell me I’m beautiful”), and Brett Dennen’s “Heaven” (“What the hell is heaven?”).

- drew more, and belatedly discovered the inspiring DeviantArt community.

- discovered dozens of funny or touching drawings devoted to the perceived Jet-Zuko pairing, also by DeviantArt artists.

- couch potatoed and was entertained by Brave and the Bold, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Harper’s Island, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, 30 Rock, TMZ, Glee, Chelsea Lately, True Blood, 24, and How I Met Your Mother.

- got really bored with Fringe and Heroes.

- finally switched to DSL after years of using dial-up.

- was fascinated by Lady Gaga, and fantasized about designing crazy costumes for her.

- was irked and disgusted by religion-backed homophobia.

- looked at YouTube videos for hours, and was amused by the humor of Chelsea Handler, Kathy Griffin, Bill Maher, and Ray William Johnson.

- started a thread and asked high school batchmates on Facebook if there were times when they hated school.

- interviewed a few people, and now consider those with Sam Bradley, Kaskade, Alexander Skarsgard, and Miguel Escueta as some of my favorites.

- took down my Christmas tree in July.

- removed my college diploma from its frame, and replaced it with a cover of my old comic book and reviews of it printed on colored paper.

- lost weight, gained weight, lost weight, gained weight.

- read dozens of comic books.

- appreciated things I took for granted.

May 2010 be prosperous and peaceful. Thanks to all the wonderful people who made '09 pleasant. Happy New Year!