2009, we hardly knew ya

Dec. 31, the end of the 2009. The end of the decade to boot. I wish I had the energy (and time) to do a proper rundown of the past 10 years - it would also require me to be in the proper reflective mood, which I'm not this morning - but suffice to say it's been a largely wonderful, eventful and important decade for me. It involved my first (and still to-date only) "shacking up" relationship, as well as an extremely difficult dissolution partway through the 2000s. I changed careers, which was of course a momentous (and successful) decision. I travelled to a few destinations: England, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Japan, Argentina, not to mention visiting my favourite cities on a few occasions: London (England), NYC, Montreal. The love life was active after the break-up: I dated a number of different (and mostly terrific) women, had a one-night stand, and, as the decade draws to a close, found myself involved in what is probably the best romantic relationship of my life (with the lovely A.).

There have been some significant "downs," to be sure - the aforementioned break with M., which still haunts me from time to time (that's a whole other blog post), the constant mental battle I have of living a life that's "right and proper" (ie., kids, a mortgage, the white picket fence) versus one of my own making (and that tends to be disparaged, even by myself!) - but I feel mostly good and happy about where I am in my life. I really do feel I'm getting better as I get older.

This past year didn't involve any life-altering events. Well, unless you include a milestone birthday (ie., one that ends with the number zero), which I initially struggled with a few months before the actual b-day. In the end, it passed rather innocuously (and, thankfully, in NYC; it was a real treat to be eating a pie at John's Pizzeria in Greenwich Village on the afternoon of my birthday). But overall, the year was more marked by "steady as she goes." The highlights revolved, of course, around our various travels. Our two weeks in Argentina this fall, where we enjoyed much tasty food and wine and general fun and frivolity (particularly in Buenos Aires, which is now high up on my cities to revisit), were glorious. As well as a wonderful week at Sandbacks in the fall and a long weekend earlier in the year to do some serious snow shoeing. (That was a great discovery: how much I love to snow shoe! I'm actually looking forward to the first big snow dump of the winter to indulge.) It was also a generally good year for my body and health: no serious illnesses, thankfully, and I managed to keep up a fairly regular running schedule from early spring to early fall (after which it dropped off because of travel and time constraints, although I'm back up to running at least three times a week; that will go up in Jan. when I join the gym and can indoors). 2009 was also the year of the "big book" and of re-reading. Big books included Anna Karenina and Bolano's stupendous 2666, and re-reads included Roth's first Zuckerman books and Bolano's The Savage Detectives. I'm (hopefully) going to continue both trends in 2010. I have War and Peace awaiting, and I'd like to re-read some Haruki Murakami. My reading habits have improved considerably over the past year or so, for which I can thank my friend M. He's helped to rekindle my passion for reading, which had been somewhat dormant in the mid-2000s.

Not all is cookies and cream, of course. For one, there are still some lingering work issues involving my status (still on contract, still not making as much money as my colleagues, etc.), but I'm largely content with the job. Seemingly in comparison to many of my friends who can't stand their work: while out with D. last night for drinks, he said, "Aside from you, I don't know anybody that likes their job." And I'm disappointed in my lack of writing over the last year, whether it's here on this blog or in my journal or other endeavours. (I did manage to publish some of my work this year, however: some paid freelance pieces, as well as some work- and research-related articles, which are important to my career.) That's one of my "resolutions" (as much as I hate that word) for 2010: to better carve out time (which mostly means making better use of my time, which mostly means not procrastinating as much) and energy to write more. I'm setting a goal of getting a "creative" piece published in the next two years - wish me luck!

So I feel like the year is ending on a good and positive note, which I hope to carry through to 2010. Happy New Year to you all!