So, the first day of 2007 is over, and all I did was sit around at home editing photos and watching college football. To be honest, it’s not all that different from past New Year’s Days. Last year my buddy Scott and I watched all 6 Star Wars movies in what we’ve come to dub as “Numb-Butt-A-Thon”. The year before that, a bunch of us watched all 3 extended versions of the Lord of the Rings movies in the inaugural Numb-Butt-A-Thon. This year Scott caught a cold and I kind of flaked on Numb-Butt-A-Thon, so we didn’t get to do a third.
The lack of an official Numb-Butt-A-Thon didn’t stop me from being a couch potato, though. New Year’s Day always has tons of college football bowl games on TV, so I opted for a huge dosage of sports. The two games that kept me glued to the TV were the USC vs. Michigan in the Rose Bowl and Boise State vs. Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. The USC/Michigan game wasn’t too terribly exciting, but it was fun to watch USC pound Michigan into the ground (I always root for Pac-10 teams in bowl games).
The Boise State/Oklahoma game, however, was unbelievable. BSU was considered the underdog going into the game, and not many people thought they could compete with the likes of Oklahoma. It was clear in the first quarter of the game that BSU wasn’t just going to lie down and give up. They fought relentlessly through the entire game and ended up winning 43-42 with a 2-point conversion in overtime. I’m not normally a football fan, but this game was simply amazing. Not a single dull moment, and I was actually on my feet for the last part of regulation and all of overtime. Gotta love it when the underdog wins such a big game.
OK, enough about football. The whole point of this post was to reflect upon 2006 and wax a bit about what 2007 might bring. As I look back on my blog posts from the past year, 2006 was mostly about photography and expanding my social network. Work had stabilized for me, so I could focus my attention to the non-career elements of my life. In fact, ever since I became a regular full-time employee at Amaze, I haven’t ever worried about work. It’s nice having a (relatively) stable job, so I don’t have to think about it outside of the office.
Photography has been a huge catalyst for me getting off my butt, getting out there and seeing new things and meeting new people. I got involved with the Seattle Flickr Meetup group and attended events every month. The first couple of meetups were a bit awkward for me, since I didn’t know anyone at all. I just decided it was time to get out there and meet new people and see what happens. It turned out to be a lot of fun, so I kept on going.
Just jumping in and meeting new people like that also gave me more confidence and guts to start dating again after breaking up with Mei. I did the whole online dating thing for a bit and actually met some nice women (and a few oddballs). However, nothing’s worked out on that front yet, but at least I’m out there.
I could go on and on about every little thing that happened last year and why it was cool, but I’m exhausted from a day of sitting around, so I’ll just pick some highlights from each month in 2006.
January: I bought Guitar Hero and discovered a new addiction. It would continue through the year until Guitar Hero 2 was released in November.
February: I attended my very first Seattle Flickr Meetup. We went to the Ballard Locks and nearly froze to death. We warmed up afterwards with beer.
March: 10 of my photos were selected for use on the new Washington State Tourism website. I actually made money with photography!
April: I added a photoblog to my site. I don’t do a whole lot with it right now, but it’s nice to have something outside of Flickr to showcase my work. I also paid out $6000 in taxes and dropped $900 on car maintenance costs. That part sucked.
May: I got my Sigma 10-20mm super wide-angle lens and kick-started my wide-angle addiction. Little did I know that it would lead to my reputation as a wacky wide-angle shooter. The month ended with me and Mei breaking up, so that was a bit of a downer.
June: I got a picture published on Nikon Stunning Gallery. I was dubbed “Camera Boy” by my little cousins. I got a Nikon 50mm/1.8 and an SB-600 speedlight. I turned 31.
July: I exploited the gorgeous summer weather and went on photostrolls about 3 times a week. I also jumped back into the dating game. The date was fun.
August: I was the featured member on Self Portrait Challenge. I haven’t done anything for SPC in a couple of months, but I do hope to get back on it soon.
September: I went on vacation to the Big Island in Hawaii with some college buddies. We hung out at the beach. We hiked on the volcano. We had BBQs almost every night. It rocked. I just wish I didn’t lose my luggage both ways.
October: I met Brittney and Benn on their first visit to the Seattle area. I bought a Fujifilm Finepix F30 to carry in my pocket. I won a pumpkin at a Seattle Flickr Meetup at Spooner Farm.
November: I got my new LC-A+ and was blogged on Lomography.com. Benn and Brittney move to Seattle, and we start hanging out a lot. I spent my very first Thanksgiving *not* with my family but instead with my friends.
December: Oh, so many things in December! 6 days without power thanks to Rainwindpocalypse ‘06. Lots of holiday festivities including Garden d’Lights at the Bellevue Botanical Garden, Snowflake Lane at Bellevue Square, ice skating in Bellevue Downtown Park, and, of course, present madness with my family. I got a Sigma 30mm/1.4 lens for Christmas. And I closed out the year with Benn, Brittney, and Sean with a pretty sucky fireworks show at the Space Needle but plenty of sangria and champagne to make it entertaining.
As busy as 2006 was, I’m fully expecting 2007 to be just as crazy. I know more people now than I did a year ago, and most of them are crazy, outgoing photographers just like me. That means more meetups, more photostrolls, and most definitely more beer. I’m still single, so hopefully I’ll go on some more fun and/or interesting dates. And, I hope to be able to pay off more of my debt this year. 2006 was an expensive year for me, what with my photography addiction and all, but I’m starting to fine-tune my shooting now which should hopefully reduce my spending there a bit. We’ll see though. ;)
Anyway, a belated Happy New Year goes out to anyone who bothers reading my blog. I’m not writing nearly as much as I did before, but I do appreciate the readership that I do get. Even if no one reads this stuff, I’m still going to write it. If all else fails, I’ll just post pretty pictures.
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