[A brief break from the musical decade overview posts...I will be finishing off with 2009 later today.]
Hoo. Weird decade, this. Lots of good, a good wallop of AWESOME, and a lot of
GEH! to even it out. And a bit of sheer pissed-offery for seasoning. As I know I've posted most of this before, I'll just dispense with the highlights like
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maps_or_guitars did.
2000: Unceremoniously not-fired-but-talked-into-quitting from HMV after four years of working there. Ironically the US chains would close two years later due to bad business sense. Luckily found a job soon after at Yankee Candle, whose products would make my clothes stink for the next few years. Finished
The Phoenix Effect around this time, I believe, and its rewrite
A Division of Souls started. Met good friend and eventual jamming partner Bruce.
2001: Bruce and I the first people to test the new equipment when we moved to the newer and much larger YC warehouse. Start jamming with Bruce and Eric in
jeb!. The continuation of roadtrips to Showcase Comics on a weekly basis, the start of roadtrips to Newbury Comics in Amherst on a weekly basis. Savings don't quite suffer, but much space taken up in the process. Freaked out by 9/11 terrorist attacks...and had the sinking feeling that the state of US politics was going to get uglier from here on in.
ADoS finished. The start of going down to the Belfry almost every single night and writing for two hours.
2002: The Year Jon Bought WAY TOO MANY CDs. Great year for music, though. My department at work wins MVP of the Year for kicking ass during a major chain rollout. Probably the last year where working at YC was actually a lot of fun. The start of finally taking politics a little more seriously when I start having conversations with one of my managers about it. More writing done...
The Persistence of Memories started and finished in exactly one year and a few hours' change.
2003: Kind of a blur...work frustration, not as many (but still too many) CDs bought. More jamming with
jeb!, and started in on
The Process of Belief soon after
TPoM is done.
2004: Had a very strange dream about having a female vampire as a girlfriend, and
Love Like Blood was born, which would go through various versions and finally get finished 3 years later. Cursed very loudly out the window of my car when NPR states that Kerry lost.
head58 and
lynxreign play matchmakers and introduce me to
emmalyon, and the rest is history. :)
2005: The Year Jonc's Life Changes. Quit YC, moved down to NJ to be with Emm, Lynx and
inochinoakari, went to WorldCon in Glasgow, got married, moved to San Francisco. And during all of this, made the insane choice of getting rid of most of my music collection that I'd amassed over the last two-plus decades. Successive temp jobs give me ample time to follow politics even more closely, and realize I'm more frustrated at GWB and his team than I thought I was. Work on
TPoB falls by the wayside due to way too many life changes going on as well as frustration with the story. Plusses DEFINITELY outweigh the minuses this year, though.
2006: Start the year workin' for the Man at BofA, first as a temp in one department but switch to full-time by being Your Friendly Customer Service Rep in the CD/IRA area...where I come up with the mantra "'Yes' is NOT an account number." Bought an eMachine to replace the Dell that was slowly crapping out on me, and Belfry 3000 was born. Some writing done, but not nearly as much as I'd hoped. Finished
LLB on New Year's Eve, and celebrated with a bottle of Vampire wine.
2007: Transitional year, I suppose. Started rewrite of
LLB, and tried writing some other stuff, but didn't get too far. Finally made myself purchase Fluff online after jonesin' for it for a few years. Not a terribly exciting year, but ended on a good note when I got hired to my present position and ran away from the phones for good and avoided another year of working IRAs during tax season.
2008: Very interesting year, much more exciting/weird/frustrating than '07. Another dream, this one of me and one of my sisters visiting our parents' house years after everyone's moved out and meeting the new owner...and
Can't Find My Way Home was born, and completed a full outline for it. Was working at home the day McCain named Palin as running mate and immediately felt it was more of a chessboard move than a political plan. Stared in wonder and excitement when Obama won. Got pissed off when Prop 8 lost. Looked forward to seeing what '09 would be like.
2009: Personal? Great year, things went well. Moved to a new apartment across town, competely on a whim. Work? Frustrating, but made peace with it. Music? Not bad, actually. Writing? Picked up
The Process of Belief after posting the entire trilogy on an extremely friends-locked LJ, and feel right at home with it again. Political? Well...'09 was the Year of You Can't Make This Shit Up, and the year I really started to wonder just what the hell some of these people are thinking, if at all. Still, I refused to let the year/decade end on a sour note and promised myself that I wouldn't let the bastards keep me down. Ended the year by buying a Gateway when my eMachine started crapping out.
All in all...very strange decade. A lot of great, a lot of YAY!, a lot of anger, a lot of
WTF?!??, and a lot of good ol' fashioned creativity. Although there was a lot in it that I wish had turned out differently (and most of
that was world events), there were enough plusses in my life that kept it all sane and worth going. I'm looking forward to the next year and decade, no matter what it throws at us. And if I can be a part of it in some significant way, either by writing or other way, so much the better.
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