This Is All Andrew's Fault

As I sit listening to the dull whine of my video camera playing back a tape and sending its digital signal into my computer via firewire cord, I am taken back 365 days to a cataclysmic event; an event which future generations will, no doubt, regard as a turning point in mankind's tumultuous history; a date when the great mysteries of life slowly but surely began to be solved, the answers compiled for the benefit of all the world, leading to a brighter future and a better tomorrow.

So I started my blog a year ago today. This is, naturally, cause for a minor degree of celebration, because I've never kept a blog going for this long before (frankly, it's hard to believe a whole year has gone by since one Andrew Clark finally persuaded me to join his sinister blogging ring).

I also find it poetically fitting that on the birthday of my blog, a faithful sidekick of mine for this first year of bloggery finally went home to be with the Lord. The adapter to my laptop power cord died today, after a seven month fight with internal wire degeneration. Frequent repositioning of the cord and electrical tape therapy helped stave off some of the symptoms of the disease, but the end was inevitable. In a desperate attempt to save the cord's life, Dr. Chris performed an experimental soldering surgical procedure, but alas, the miracle we hoped for was not to be.

It is with a heavy heart that I lay my adapter to rest; this was the adapter that came with the first laptop I ever purchased, the laptop that came to my rescue in a dark hour. It was early October, 2008, just hours before the official start of Fall Break. As I made my way ponderously back from class, anticipating the freedom offered by a long weekend in Damascus, Maryland, little did I know that while I was gone, my beloved desktop had gone into cardiac arrest. It died shortly thereafter of power supply failure, sending a surge of electricity through the entire machine and frying everything in it, rendering it completely unusable. Unfortunately, time stops for no grad student, and I had assignments to finish. It was necessary to purchase a laptop to help me get through the rest of the semester, so after a long and thorough search (aided by the wisdom and car of Danny Latin), I decided on a shiny new Toshiba. At that point, I intended for it to be my primary computer for the rest of the semester, until I could get my desktop fixed. I was unaware, however, that my desktop would have to be completely rebuilt, and because of that, my laptop became a constant companion for the rest of the school year.

The good news is, the laptop itself is not dead. Right now, it's in a medically induced coma, patiently awaiting an adapter transplant. Thanks to the marvels of modern technology, the new adapter should be here within the week, and my laptop will be restored to its vibrant life once more. Fortunately, my deceased desktop has since been rebuilt, and although its original innards are no longer functional, the case still stands as a monument to its four years of selfless service. It is with that desktop that I type this blog. This is as powerful a computing machine as I myself have ever possessed, and it is superb for video editing, but I've grown accustomed to the sleek keys of my laptop, so typing on this mountainous and klackety keyboard feels about as natural as doing calligraphy with a crayon. For that reason, I'm gonna hold off on any more blogs until I get my laptop up and running again, but I wanted make sure I documented this simultaneously joyous and solemn occasion.

Finally, to bring this post full circle, I'd like to give a big shout-out to all the girls out there who make life so utterly, obnoxiously confounding with your irrational, impulsive, emotionally driven disregard for practicality and common sense, and most of all, your impetuous inability to recognize real value, tangible or otherwise. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have nearly as much to write about, so this blog owes you all its deepest thanks.

2009 From One Month Removed (With A Foreword By Me)

Foreword:
I seem to have a problem getting posts started because I get bogged down in these long-winded introductory paragraphs that end up going nowhere, and then I abandon said posts with frustration at my inability to concisely express my thoughts.

Well, I solved that problem.

I wanted to start this year with a look back at the year that just passed, but I haven't gotten around to it until just now. Yes, we've already ended one month of the current year, but if you don't like the fact that I'm doing a retrospective in February, you can shove it. This is my blog, and I'll do what I want with it.

So without further ado, I present to you "2009: The Year That Was Last Year." Enjoy.
-Bill


2009 was a dynamic year; a year of firsts and a year of lasts; a year of endings, and a year of beginnings.

Unfortunately, all the beginnings have pretty much sucked so far. But hey, that's life, and I guess life would be pretty bland without a little suck sauce every now and then... that's the secret ingredient that makes the good parts that much better. Anyway, before I wax poetic again, let's get on with the meat of this post.

Truth be told, 2009 was one of the wackiest 365 day periods I've ever experienced in my 23 year tenure as a human. Every year has its ups and downs, but it's not every year that your plans for the rest of your life are thrown completely out of rhythm (thanks, Boyd). Don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming my life has been ruined or that I can't go on to do what it was I had always planned to do (whatever the heck that was). That's why I used "thrown out of rhythm" instead of a more drastic choice of words like "plunged forevermore into the infernal abyss." To paraphrase my man Morpheus in The Matrix Reloaded, I'm still truckin, so it's all good. Still, a lot has changed in my life as a result of the events that transpired in 2009.

Some of these things aren't of monumental significance, and some of them are; either way, I've prepared a bullet point (woo!) list of events and occurrences that I consider distinctive, because I like lists of this nature.

In 2009, I:

• Unwittingly sparked a Coms 101 witch hunt. To anyone who may teach Coms 101 as a GA at Liberty in the future: I advise you not to make study guides that contain what basically amounts to the test questions and answers rewritten in full sentence form. Apparently improvement to the teaching model (those were some god-awful tests) is only okay if you're actually the teacher and not just an assistant.
  

• Spilled my guts to a girl I liked for the first time ever. Whoops. Word to the wise, kids: if you like her, she knows it. If she likes you, you'll probably know it too. Otherwise, don't waste your time agonizing over whether or not to say anything to her, especially when you know she's out of your league. The leagues don't magically change when you finally verbalize how you feel. Unless your life is scripted by Nicholas Sparks. And then one (or both) of you will end up dead anyway.
  

• Went on half a date (see previous). "Well, that was fun. Can we do it again? Oh. Yeah, I guess it wasn't that much fun. Yeah, it's cool. No, no, I understand. Well, I guess I'll just go sit out there and pretend to watch that basketball game for a little while." At least I didn't get a speeding ticket on that half date.
  

• Started playing (and got addicted to) Magic. After we all watched (almost) an entire season of Yugi-Oh directly following Spring Break, Ian decided it was time to get everyone started on Magic, so he bought us all cards, and the fun, casual game we started playing snowballed out of control. One time I will never forget was the evening when we played our newly-acquainted-with-the-rules version of a 2-on-2 game which, as a result of our poor understanding of how the game actually worked, took us 5 hours to complete. It's a shame no one around here really wants to play anymore.

• Ended my educational career. I didn't plan this; in fact, I was intent on going back to school this year up to the bitter end when reality smacked me in the face and said "BILL! YOU CAN NOT GO BACK!" This is by far the most drastic change implemented by the wiles of 2009, and I'm still a little pissed about it, but life goes on.

• Saw the greatest tragedy in sports history. Most of you will beg to differ (since you don't have any personal ties to the team), but I've never felt more devastated, in the sports world, at least, than when Nick Donato broke his arm. That team was headed for the Little League World Series, and one broken bone destroyed that possibility.

• Went to the Little League World Series. Granted, it wasn't to watch our league's team play, but we went with our league's team on a great long-weekend trip. In a way, it was good they weren't playing, because I got to hang out with all the team members, and they are a great group of kids. I haven't had that much fun since; I was enjoying myself so much, in fact, that it completely took my mind off the fact that I wasn't at Liberty like I was supposed to be, which was something that was bothering me a lot at that time.

• Discovered How I Met Your Mother. This is one of the best shows on TV - it's hilarious, has a lot of heart, and has some good life lessons to boot. It's one of the only shows that I can watch episode after episode literally for hours without getting sick of it. If you've never seen it, watch the first episode. If you're not hooked, there's something wrong with your brain.
  

• Got to visit Liberty as a non-student. This probably seems pretty mundane, but going back to visit was kind of a big deal to me, since I had the rug pulled out from underneath me when I realized I wasn't gonna be able to go back to school, and it was rather hard to work out the circumstances of my visit in the first place. Taking some time to just chill and then say goodbye to everyone for good was one of the most valuable experiences I had last year.

• Discovered that I'm a fairly apt drummer. Thank you, Rock Band, for teaching me how to play real drums. Seriously. What they said before Rock Band was released about playing drums on Expert was true, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who can attest to this. Now if anyone ever puts a gun to my head and says "lay down a beat for me," I can oblige without having my brains blown out.

• Saw the Yankees win a World Series. Book-ending the decade with World Series victories almost makes up for the crash and burn end to the 2004 postseason, and Johnny Damon certainly redeemed himself for the hand he had in that disgraceful affair.

• Finally painted the rock. That was something I'd been itching to do since 2005, but we never got around to it until I was actually no longer a student at Liberty (we did it at the end of my visit in the fall, just hours before I left Lynchburg).

I think that hits all the major points. There were a lot of little things I remember about last year that I'd love to mention but weren't really all that momentous, and they'd probably bore you to tears, so I just stuck with this list. Granted, you might not think discovering a TV show is a "major point," but I think How I Met Your Mother has already been woven into the fabric of my memory of 2009, so it was worth a mention to me.

The funny thing is, as far as saying farewell to a year goes, I'll really miss the first half (roughly) of 2009, but the second half was rather suckish, so I'm not sad to see it go in the least. When you compare it to the other year that I might consider the most dynamic year of my life (2006), it's much more linear... 2006 was a veritable roller coaster that went up and down all over the place and pretty much jumped off the tracks near the very end. 2009 was more like one of those free fall rides - way up, then way down really fast. But at least the ride is over.

This is the part where you normally talk about how 2010 is the start of a new year with a clean slate, full of promise and possibilities, but since we're already a month in, I feel like all those sentiments are past their expiration date. Right now things aren't any different than they were at the end of 2009, which doesn't thrill me to pieces, but neither does it leave me upset. The thing is, you never know when fate's gonna come along and pull the rug out from underneath you again, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. It all depends on how you react, how you land, and how you pick yourself up if you just come crashing down.