2007 Is Done

It's a wrap - again!

Another year in the can (well, almost); a more eventful year than the last. It was an inflexion year with major decisions and changes, enriching experiences, and a bit of growing up. This post is a retrospective of what I blogged about, what was new with me (and for me) this year, and the movies/ books/ TV/ games etc. I indulged in. It concludes with a pick for my personal favorite post of the year on the blog.

I do this for my own benefit (started last year) because the blog has been turning into a very good way of tracking life. It offers a pensieve to dump thoughts in, and appeals to the obsessive archivist that lurks within me - yes, the same guy who never deletes an email!

So let's get right to it...!

The Blog

My blogging frequency took something of a hit in the solar plexus this year - the downward trend continued. I blogged at about 76% of what I managed in 2006 (counting this post, and one other I have planned for before Monday the 31st)... Which isn't that bad considering I took a hiatus from blogging between Jun 30 and Oct 14 (about 105 days). What is weird is that Jun - Oct was a lean blogging season last year too, albeit for different reasons.

In content, the blog has drifted very far away from philosophy and has become more of a movie review site, particularly in the last month. Gone are the vague and angsty posts and poems that had become a morbid signature of sorts. I injected a couple of new labels and genres for posts this year, and began to be more varied in what I chose to blog about. The title is in dire need of revision because of all this methinks; I have no concrete ideas as yet, but it certainly isn't only about philosophical meanderings any more - hasn't been for some time now.

On the horizon for 2008 therefore is a blog rename, and some restructuring/ a revamp as well (my last revamp was a year ago). I have also recently decided to open the blog up to guest writers starting with Kirti, with perhaps introducing one or two more later... haven't worked out the details, but watch this space.

What's Up?

Two trips to India this year - the first turned into a real whirlwind as I met and fell in love with Kirti. The second proved to be quite a ride as well, including an elaborate wedding (a harrowing Kafka-esque tale that will never be told!). We were married and then simulated brownian motion across three continents and four countries, over four months. We managed to honeymoon, work in Hyderabad, come to Buffalo, move to a new apartment, and (finally) start a blissful married life.

This year I/ we did a few things I/ we had never done before (in chronological order):

• Wrote a quite comprehensive "So You'd Like To" guide on Amazon.com - the thrill in this is that it shows up quite consistently in Google search results :)


• Became a 'We'


• Visited Mauritius, Canada


• Took up Golf in a small way


• Started learning Spanish


• Bought a car

An above average year most certainly.

Movies

We saw a mind-boggling number of movies this year, and went a little crazy on Netflix. Also kicked off the "Geekify Kirti" campaign which she enthusiastically supported. A full retrospective is available in my last post. The number has grown by one, to 112 since I wrote that post; we watched Darren Aronofsky's "The Fountain" last night... Kirti may post a review as her first guest post shortly.

Books

I read about 20 new books this year, which doesn't come close to the 45+ from last year, but is about my annually average. 2003 - 2005 were poor years for me because I let the new jo and traveling to the US etc. get in the way of reading. At least this year I managed to keep the numbers (and quality) up! I also reread a HUGE number of books, which would probably double the number of books perused/ read. Most of these were fantasy literature, but I also managed to muck through a couple of bestsellers. Watch this space for a detailed "My Year in Books" post, with which I hope to post a Books DB to go with my movie DB before the weekend is done.

Writing

This year was not very productive for my writing. Mainly because, as already mentioned, the blog was not active for some time. I managed to get a couple of things out; a standalone short story, some poetry and a couple of essays. 2008 will hopefully be more productive.

Television

TV was dead this year. Studio 60 got cancelled, and then I really never got time to follow any series. It didn't help that Kirti is as anti-telly as anyone I have met. Over her vitriolic protests, I did institutionalize the practice of watching the Sunday morning political shows ("Meet the Press" and "This Week") in the wake of the 2008 US Presidential campaign, but you can't call that entertainment!

We liked "Top Chef" and "Project Runway" on Bravo... nice to see reality series that require the contestants to be technically good at something. The writers strike meant In the closing days of the year there really wasn't much to watch - but I did discover "Two and a Half Men" reruns endearing in the way only sitcoms can be... may watch that regularly now.

Gaming

Other than finishing Halo and Halo 2 (and drooling about Halo 3), I didn't do much gaming this year. Vikram got me started on Command and Conquer: Tiberium Wars for a bit, but that died in its infancy. Never got around to buying either a XBox 360 (Halo 3, Assassin's Creed, Quake 4, and Mass Effect beckon) or a Nintendo Wii (Mario Galaxy astonishes)...

At this point I don't know if I ever will. Gaming may very well be dead; collateral damage from the nuptials.

Career

Professionally, this was the year I made the transition from Testing to Business Analysis, and am so far liking what I get to do. No future plans of any concrete nature (of course) but that might just have to change early next year.

I care so little about this, I amaze myself... :D

Best Post of the Year

Now this is a real pickle. I like several. But a look at my previous picks makes things a bit easier. So here we are:

(drumroll)

2007 - Pax Americana/ A Revolution Reloaded

Yes - it is a tie. The first was easily the most popular and well-liked post this year. It and its two sequels - Pax Americana: Omens for the 21st century, and Flux Indica were a long time in the making and presented some cathartic opportunities to gain insight/ clarity on things I cared about. The second is easily the deepest analysis I have done on a movie, and because the movies in question are so dear to me, I found it very satisfying. Both are analytical works, and rational and analytical is what I was for most of this year - not a year for weird flights of fancy or angst.

Other posts I liked were a couple that were potentially useful to the audience (for once!) such as my movie database, the already mentioned So You'd Like to guide, and some timely movie reviews.

To close, here are the 'best posts' from past years for those that would like to read them.

2004 - Truth, Bliss, and an Epicure
2005 - Age of Bittersweet
2006 - Afterglow

Conclusion

If 2006 was the lazy, indulgent year of the imaginutton, this would be the somewhat frantic year of the omnivore. I am less conflicted, a lot happier, but just as clueless about the long term plans that everyone seems to obsess about.

Bring on 2008...

Happy New Year Everyone!

Peace... Out!