2009

a year in review is not required, and looking at the archives it isn't even a tradition for this blog, but i feel like writing at least a semblance of one anyway.

2009 was one of those years that pretty much fucked everyone over.

i should probably amend that. the last part of 2009 really sucked. the first part, for me at least, wasn't too damn bad. i enjoyed the hell out of my last semester of college. i was accepted to multiple graduate schools, and despite serious consideration of my options, i knew where i was going as soon as i opened that envelope. by year's end, i am only more convinced that i made the right choice. i defended a thesis that i'd put two years of hard work into. i organized [and performed in] a freaking drag show that drew hundreds of people and raised over a thousand dollars for our charity. i studied, i slept very little, i had adventures, at more and less appropriate times. i solidified the best friendships i've ever had in my life. and then i graduated--yay!

the summer was amazing. i don't necessarily remember very much of it. it was a much-needed break for me, and i took it, for all it was worth.

then the fall happened. between school and jobs and G20 and the swine flu and new coming-out processes, i think it sucked for most of the people i know. grad school is hard, and that excites me, but there have already been times when i seriously questioned the benefit of completing this program on a full-time basis, if at all. my thoughts on the G20 and its effect on pittsburgh are already recorded elsewhere. i'm still pissed off that nobody has bothered to pay any real attention to the abuses of power that occurred here. i did get H1N1 in october--i never got tested, but i have no reason to suspect it was anything else--and it knocked me out of commission for a full week, which is a LONG TIME for me. and then there's the ongoing saga of "my boyfriend's a tranny" and all associated drama (mostly tangential, for me). i think the best thing that happened to me this fall was realizing just how awesome my family really is, even if it had to happen by comparison to some others that definitely aren't, at least in the ways i would need/expect them to be.

so on thursday night i was all too happy to watch the ball drop, toast the new year with ginger ale, and kiss someone i am still desperately in love with. here's to 2010: may i be less sad to see you go than your predecessor.

also, here's to living in the future, where we have both wireless internet AND pirates on the high seas!