it's pretty much a universally accepted fact that 2008 was a terrible year. politically and financially everything pretty much went to pot. pretty much the same on a personal level. while it is ending on an uptick, there is quite a bit to be said for rolling that clock past midnight this year.
it was a year of severe challenges, upheaval, dry heaving, self-loathing and self-destruction. 2008 was the year of 'do whatever the fuck you want and tell the consequences to bite me' which as it turns out wasn't necessarily the best strategy as the consequences did exactly that. it was a year of taking a sledgehammer to everything in the hopes of building something better but not really getting around to the construction phase.
'08 started out with me standing in the baxter cafeteria watching a ball drop while preparing for a 14 hour session of viable air sample collection, standing more or less alone in a near sterile room watching the time tick away on a counter. that should have been an omen, or at least should have been a clue to the tone for the year. for indeed this year felt like it took a lot of work to survive.
i don't know where i'll be when the ball drops but i know i'll be laughing with people who love me. and in the morning alicia and i are going to run 3 miles, jump in an ice cold lake and run the remaining .2 miles. it's called the resolution run and it seems like a good way to get ohhhhh nine going. from there my only resolutions for the year are don't eat meat, don't drink hard alcohol and don't forget to live.
