Decade In Review (2000-2003)

So.

I'm not really good at introductions (and you could probably tell that from the first sentence), and I don't know why. Maybe it's because introductions eventually lead to first impressions and I suck at that even more.

That's how this journal started way back in November 2004, a month after I resigned from my first real long-term work assignment. So most of the decade is actually on this thing anyway.

But for some reason I'm still compelled to make a review of the 00's. (What were they called again? The Aughties?) I don't know why. Maybe it's because by the time you turn 20 there are a lot of things about oneself that stop changing. I mean, you don't, but there are going to be some things that stick.

So here it is, a year-by-year play-by-play, looking back at the decade I went to work. Or pretended to, anyway.

(Might have to break this up into smaller pieces or this will never get "published".)



2000. I was disappointed when the Y2K big didn't hit because that meant I had to start looking for work. I started writing for a local newspaper...in Tagalog. That lasted all of three months before it was clear that I sucked at my native tongue and decided the only thing left to do was to just go back to school. Studied Java at IBM-ACE and never looked back. Well, I am right now, but you get the point. Played in a band that played almost exclusively at weddings.

Late 2000, got an interesting phone call from Her saying we would never see each other again. But we did, didn't we?

2001. Finished my courses and took a job at an software development startup company. That lasted (AGAIN) all of three months as the internet bubble-burst caught up with me/us. The company that was supposed to buy us out just, well, bought me instead. I suppose I got hugely unpopular to my officemates right about then. Three months into the new job I was convinced that I hated it. I ended up staying for three and a half years.

Oh yeah, 2001 also included that awesome night on Valero street, but that's another story that comes up in bits and pieces whenever I play "I Never".

2002. That was a steady year I guess. Went on my first plane ride, to HK, not realizing I would be on quite a number of plane rides in the future. Got into my first car accident after celebrating the 1st Ateneo basketball championship since 1988. Another friend dies in another car accident a couple of months later, coming home from our own Christmas party. I guess I'm lucky this blog post doesn't end here.

2003. Another steady year; I'm going through the pictures and it's all pretty much vacations and birthday parties and weddings. Which is basically what there should be photos of anyway. I guess we were all pretty somber that year following that tragedy. Oh, played in the ABL for the first time and registered basically one point. One point on one made free throw. One made free throw...after I was fouled...on a three-pointer.

Next: 2004. Ah, the year my career goes to hell.

Year In Review

An original title for an original concept.

(Well I didn't want to spend all afternoon thinking of a clever title and never get to the actual article. I won't even bother with a picture.)

(Then I also realized I had no such summary for 2008. I had one post each that January and that previous December. So why bother with this at all? Eh.)

Most everyone on these internets hated 2009, what with the floods, tragedies, celebrity deaths and personal losses. And we've got more than enough record of that. I guess I just wanted to point out the best of '09. At least for me.

I saw more rock shows in '09 than any other year I can remember, maybe more than all the other years combined. Top five bands seen the most number of times, in descending order: Taken By Cars, Us-2 Evil-0, Techy Romantics, Up Dharma Down, Turbo Goth. Yes there's a pattern to all of that, and it's exactly what you think. And mostly because they all show up in the same night anyway.

(I also bought more albums this year since 2001. Why 2001? We'll get to that in the Decade in Review, if we ever get there.)

We also played live to an audience not made entirely up of officemates, so that has to count for something, too.

Discovered and rediscovered the awesomeness that is Distillery for a record 8 straight weeks, and moving to McKinley Hill winning me over in the end.

Work was still blah, but then again in that regard no news is good news. But I did get promoted this year, although I'm not really counting that as a highlight. Would've been a highlight if there was some money involved.

This is also the year I started living by myself. I almost wrote there "living alone" but it sounded depressing. Well in a sense it didn't last, but it's a start. As far as chances to start living independently I'll take it. And in probably the most awesome corner of Makati too.

I've written about record bad-five-day stretches before. 2009 gives me its candidate with one of the worst 4-day stretches I can remember. But this is a best-of so we'll leave that for now. Besides I got over that pretty quickly because...

2009 had the best 6-day stretch in recent memory. It starts with the Thursday that Ateneo won its back-to-back championship up to the Tuesday that following week. I shan't elaborate on any of this.

So I guess this is thanks if you were somehow involved with any of these, and if you weren't, you can make it up to me in 2010.