A new year begins, and an old year ends. It has happened on every day that has ever been one year after any day like it, for as long as there have been years. New Years Day is the one we have picked to think about it, to keep us from going crazy.
In the elevator the other day, I heard a remark, “I can’t wait until all the new year’s resolutions are over. The gym is too crowded at this time of year. I thought it might be nice to express my own thoughts about the New Year.
Personal Developments
2005 was a very unusual year for me. I moved several times. I left, returned to, and then graduated from college. My best friend and his wife have had a baby. I worked a variety of odd jobs: a night job doing tech support, a farm hand, a freelance web designer, and now I’m a business writer for a prominent investment firm. I went on an incredible, surreal adventure to the heart of West Virginia for the infamous “Red Party“. Oh, and I moved to Baltimore, yes, Baltimore, instead of New York. It was a diffficult choice.
I turned 25 years old in 2005. Maybe that explains why I have no idea who I am, at the start of this year. I exaggerate. I have some idea who I am; it’s just that the idea an unclear one. Ah, but whose isn’t unclear?
No Categories
None of the previously mentioned personal developments are mentioned anywhere on this website. What kind of blog is this anyway? Where are all the self-congratulations, and the “you-had-to-be-there” anecdotes? Where is the personal touch? The truth is, I’m not sure you care to read them, so I’m not sure I care to write them.
The biggest development for NoCategories this year came from the time I spent as a freelance web designer, this summer. I moved the site to a new, roomier, server. I had plenty of time to tinker with NoCategories, in order to figure out how to do things for clients (by breaking my site, not theirs). In some ways, I feel like that’s all I’ve done this year, tinkering, but I had fun with that, so be it.
I’m now a member of MetaxuCafe, a website devoted to highlighting the best content from the community of bloggers who write about books, writing, literature, etc.
Towards the end of the year, it seems like NoCategories has met with some kindred spirits, the physicalists. The physicalists seem to have an affinity for ideas like the ones that inspired this website in the first place. I anticipate that 2006 will see some fun things to do with that new friendship.
Speaking of fun things to do at No Categories. . . I intend to rebuild the no categories forum, by popular demand. When the site began, there was a forum for hanging out and heckling in, and now that graduation has spread my school friends afar like so many grains in the wind, and I’ve moved from my hometown, it might be nice to recreate the feeling of sitting at the pub, talking.
Writing
At the very beginning of 2005, I met with a programmer, my friend Chris, to discuss an extensive revision of the electronic novella I wrote for me senior thesis entitled, “To Win, Simply Play“. Chris showed me how he could make the text flow more easily: how the presentation could improve, and how the structure could be clearer. I was very excited about all of this at the time.
A year has passed now, and in that time my friend Chris has managed to record an entire album for his band the N.U.R.B.S.. The band performs on a regular basis all over the DC/Baltimore area, packing up their gear, practicing, writing songs, perfecting them. I think my friend Chris would have entirely forgotten about my silly little electronic novella. I’ve done nothing with it. It would have been nice to accomplish everything it seemed so likely to do a year ago, but it hasn’t happened.
I haven’t written any short stories this year, again. I do have a meager handful of poems. That’s something.
2005 was the year I “returned to the stage” so to speak, with a variety of spoken word events. Speaking of the N.U.R.B.S., my first performance was with another member of that band, Kurt, who had provided musical accompaniment for some of my earliest and most adolescent poetry readings, in the mid-90’s. I hadn’t done very much public reading since then, with the exception of a few readings in college, and a tour of the poetry slams in Boston. With the help of Kurt and company, I was able to get back into the swing of things in no time.
We’ve got plans to record some spoken word and release it to the world, sometime early this year. I’ve been taking notes about the spoken word project.
Since summer, 2005, I’ve been brewing an idea to act on my fascination with the almanack. I was going to write one, myself! But New Years 2006 crept up on me, and I never did it. It occurred to me that it might be easier to do in monthly installments, so that it would be naturally finished by the end of the year. I wonder, are there any interested contributors out there?
Books
At the end of 2004, I took the senior level literature class, which proved to be one of the most challenging classes I’d ever taken, (aside from third grade math and eigth grade biology) The class was “The History of the Novel”, and we read so many novels, and so much critical writing! Half of 2005 passed before I felt like picking up a book again, and I wondered if I ever would. I felt burnt out, but I recovered.
I’ve read several books about the sea. Its amazing to me that so many novels have chosen this as a subject. Notable favorites: Moby-Dick, Billy Budd, Sailor, The Old Man and the Sea, and Typhoon.
Material Minimalism
In 2005, I tried to get rid of things. I really hate having so many objects cluttering up my living space. It makes it difficult to move, difficult to clean house, and besides its just a lot of junk, mostly!
My most successful attempt was my assault on the piles of paper. I’ve also managed to scale down on the number of old audio tapes I have floating around, by downloading digital versions and giving the tapes away to friends. My old Nintendo games have been replaced with an emulator, and some ROMs. Wouldn’t it be great if I could digitize my book collection?
Unfortunately, there’s no way to “download” your clothes to get them out of your space, and I’ve yet to get the energy to sort through them. I have entirely too many clothes.
What a long, Strange Trip its been
Of course, I couldn’t have survived without the help of the people who pull my ass out of trouble every so often. Special thanks to everyone I know who owns an automobile, especially Nathan, Anna, and Alex. Thanks to everyone who let me couch surf at their place, since this year was very nomadic for me. Thanks to everybody who helped me find work to do while I was freelancing. I actually managed to stay alive! Can you believe it?
Ok, deep breath, 2006. . .