Kyle and I on New Year’s Eve 2008.

I had a great New Year’s Eve. We went to a 1933 Prohibition Party in Valley Ford. We dressed up like the 30s and danced to the musical styling of the Bluebellies. Then we stayed up until 4 a.m. talking and the next day went to McNears for lunch. Having a good New Year’s is such a relief. I hate downer New Year’s.

Just for the record, I thought 2008 was a great year. I’m a little tired of people complaining about it. Very few people I know had bad things happen to them in 2008, so I don’t get all the good riddance stuff and the hiding from New Year’s Eve.

I don’t feel like writing a long survey like I’ve done the last few years, but here are some highlight from 2008:

Kyle and I spent the first year in our own house and did a lot of remodeling. It wasn’t as hard to adjust to the financial burden as I had anticipated, although we did cut back on some of our usual indulgences. Still, I had a lot of fun. I saw art and science. I went canoeing and snow shoeing and camping. At home, I planted a huge garden and read over 70 books. We got a free trip to Las Vegas and went on a couple of road trips. In September, we went to Kentucky to visit friends and family. While there, I went to a writer’s conference and saw Joyce Carol Oates speak. We also had parties throughout the year, the most fun of which was an impromptu election party to watch Barack Obama take the presidency.

Our silhouettes at an art exhibit in Kentucky

Professionally, both of us did well this year. I wrote a lot of articles, including ones for magazines like Entrepreneur and The Writer. I got to interview writers and artists such as Anne Lamott and Nellie McKay. On top of that, I published short stories, judged a book contest, and held a literary reading. Kyle got a book deal with Pearson Publishing, became a columnist for Linux Journal, and gave a lot of speeches, including one at LinuxWorld. He also got a promotion—he’s now Systems Architect at QuinStreet.

Squash from the garden

The year wasn’t perfect, of course. Obviously, there’s the economy, which is depressing. There were some projects that didn’t work out and some minor disappointments here and there. And some things were just lame. Still, a good year.

I will answer one question from the survey: What are some things you would like to do in 2009?

I’d like both of us to finish our larger writing projects before April. I’d like to go to Puerto Rico, be more active, and save some money. I’d like to be more involved in the art community as a whole, whether that means supporting other artists or just playing around with art myself. And I’d like to emotionally win over the onslaught of negativity and fear the news is throwing at me every time I turn on the TV. That last one is a challenge indeed.

Redwood tree from my Humboldt County road trip.