Twenty Oh Six

This isn't going to take long.

Last year was somewhat unremarkable, I think. At least, as I'm sitting here trying to figure out what to say about it, there isn't a whole lot springing to mind to write.

The highlights:

• Rehoboth: Who'd have thought I'd like to be at the beach? I guess, technically speaking, I'm still not quite sure about the actual beach itself, unless it's at night and it's not really freakin' hot. Jenn's constantly bemused remembering my complaints standing on the beach on our second day there: "There's too much sand and too much water and too many people." But I liked having five days of nothing to do, listening to weather radio (I finally bought myself one of them things), and sleeping pretty much whenever the urge struck. The best part, though, was being around Jenn's family without the stress of a holiday attached. While I love seeing her family, Christmas and Thanksgiving and Easter and all the rest are attended by a host of stress inducers that detract from enjoying the thing fully. But yeah... Rehoboth was cool.
• Charlottesville & DMB: Two different trips to see Dave this year, one to Virginia Beach (where it was ungodly hot) and one to Charlottesville. I always love going to Charlottesville, and every time I go I will always make time to go to Monticello. Every time I go, and every time I go on my Jefferson benders immediately before and after the trip, my oft-waning faith in America is restored a little.
• Selinsgrove: Spent the night up there for the first time since 1997. Jenn and I stayed at Phillips Motel, which has come a long way since I first stayed there in 1995. It's really a beatiful place. After two full days of hanging out on campus, two complete meals at Perkins (which, no matter how much it changes, will always have the best coffee on the planet), and running into a bunch of people I haven't seen in a decade, I readily remembered why I loved it so much there. There's a quiet, seductive charm to that part of the state, and being back there reminded me of a time in my life when I felt completely at ease with myself and the moment in which I lived. I've tried to bring some of that peace back with me. Some days I'm more successful than others.
• Work: April arrived, and I got back into the swing of things, pulling a couple of 60-hour weeks (something I'm nearly doing again right now) between Woolly and Brookings. At the theater, I've been progressing toward that ever-elusive goal of completely supporting myself with a job in my degree. The thought of giving that up - something I was forced to consider earlier in the year - rubs me the wrong way. I set a goal for myself back in 1994, and the fact that despite all the derailments and all the bullshit and all the life that has intervened, it's still a goal well within reach.
• Home: I simply cannot wait until there's some sort of Matrix-style, downloadable program for "tidiness." Because man, I need it.
• Jenn: I think the worst thing I did this year was, for a brief moment, realized that I'd sort of taken her presence for granted. This was, in many ways, a very tough year for us. We're so close to making an actual life for ourselves, and we have so many plans once that finally happens. It's just really frustrating. We weathered that, and are still weathering that, none the worse for wear, I think. As I keep telling her, it takes time to turn the Titanic around. (And yes, I'm well aware that that is a piss-poor metaphor, but you know what I mean.)
• Politics: I payed progressively less and less attention to what the folks down the street were doing (to us) through the course of the year. I spent a good part of 2004 & 2005 making my rationales. In 2006, I tested them against reality and found them to be true. I know where I stand, and I know what I believe, and I know to always & humbly ask "Am I wrong?" I was just hoping everyone else was going to come around. They did.

I was really busy just kinda living my life this year, so I don't have a lot in the way of book, movie or music recommendations to make. I spent an awful lot of time thinking about those damn robots, and I anticipate doing much of the same this year, what with that celluloid thing coming out in about 7 months.

I got progressively grumpier as 2006 wore on, and that trend has continued into this year. I can't quite pinpoint the source, but I suspect I just need to get shit done and start feeling better about myself.

To anyone out there who's still reading... first, how's the new look strike you? Second, I'm really sorry about the not-writing thing. I've just been uninterested in sharing my uninteresting life with folks. I can't promise it's gonna get better in the near future. The trend doesn't look good (my blog stats for 2006).

I'm really hoping for a breakout year this year. I feel like I'm due. In one way or another, the past four years have all sucked in major, fundamental ways. I'm hoping 2007 breaks that chain.