On December 30th, 2008, I came to the realization that things couldn't get much worse and made it my resolution to make sure that 2009 would make up for it by being the best year ever.
Wouldn't you know it, out of the shitstorm emerged a brilliant rainbow!
Well, not too brilliant. At many points in the year, the silver lining was thin around the edges of intimidatingly dark clouds. Yeah, the tragedy was bad, but out of loss emerged catharsis. This might be a personal belief, but I find loss, in some morbid ways, preferable to lingering waiting and uncertainty.
Anyway, that aside, 2009 was really about growth and change. We got a black president, he does some changes, people think it's okay but not really Jesus. Disappointment? Not for me! I stopped caring about politics long ago, and stopped thinking that Obama would be Jesus not too soon after that. In the beginning, shit really sucked, but things are actually getting better with the economy and all that. Can't really judge the status of the world all too much, as it fell of my radar since I've gone to college, but I'd say it made a definite huge step up from 2008.
This year in movies was also great, and a huge improvement on 2008. It wasn't quite as good as 2006 or 2007, but it has its share of greats: Adventureland makes all other teen comedies of the decade look like shit; In The Loop and The Hangover are two of the best comedies of the decade; Up nearly equals last year's Wall-E; David Bowie's son made the fantastic sci-fi thriller Moon; lastly but the opposite of leastly, The Hurt Locker is released and quickly becomes one of the most awesome movies ever made and is hopefully going to win every Oscar available (fuck Avatar). Also, I heard Star Trek and Precious and Zombieland and some other things were good too.
My personal year in music sorta sucked because I lost my iPod. On the other hand, while I was predominantly an ironic hipster in 2008, I grew to separate my ironies from my taste in 2009, resulting in a great expansion of taste and appreciation. I finally began to unironically appreciate Sean Paul, Paramore, and other pop artists. Plus, my work as a hip-hop DJ at Tufts' WMFO Medford resulted in much more exploration into hip-hop as a genre and culture.
But enough about me, music in 2009 stacks up to roughly equal footing as music in 2008. For debuts, 2009 is a narrow winner in my eyes: 2009 had the xx and Japandroids, while 2008 had Vampire Weekend and Titus Andronicus. For trends, however, 2008 wins: Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver's beard-and-plaid forest hipster clearly tops 2009's meager doped-up "chillwave" hipster. Additionally, hard rockers Baroness and Them Crooked Vultures fail to be quite as heavy as Harvey Milk or Torche. 2009 emerges superior in most other categories: Raekwon and Anti-Pop Consortium clearly top Lil' Wayne in hip-hop; The Bug created the perfect mix of dancehall and dubstep, though the genre only got big in 2009; Cold Cave and Passion Pit create a new standard for electropop with their stunning debut LPs.
As for 2009 in art, I have no idea.
Same goes for sports and NASCAR. I didn't watch much this year except for baseball, and the good news is that the Mets didn't fall apart nearly as badly as they did last time, but that was mostly because they did so poorly that a falling apart wasn't really necessary. Oh well, that still isn't so humiliating, at least.
The year in Kanye West in comparison to last year is quite intriguing. While 808s and Heartbreaks was the biggest sonic embarrassment of his career, West personally topped it in 2009 with a drunken rant at the... well, y'all know the story. That said, 808s is still horrible.
This year in myself, however, is fantastic. 2008 saw my destruction and 2009 begat my rebirth. The last few months of high school were the best I ever had (also, I forgot to mention Drake! Drake rules! hard!) and the few after graduation were the most fun and enlightening of, well, my life. Still, it all sucks compared to college. Well, not really, but college rules. But that summer ruled too. But college is the best probably. In short, a 2009 timeline:
January: New Years, resolve to improve self and year. Hooked up with ugly girl in fantastic bonding exercise with Ben. Possibly not the best, but certainly most memorable new year!
February: After getting deferred from Penn, anxious about college. Don't remember much else. More or less a filler month.
March: Model congress, mostly, I think. Visiting colleges, too, maybe. Starting to get pretty happy, but still quite anxious.
April: Got into college! Goin' around and visiting them. Had the best time at Wesleyan, but got the most out of my visit to Tufts, so I choose to go there. Gave the middle finger to Northwestern (which would later turn out to be an awesome decision, because Matt Renick also goes there!)
May: The timeless Championship Blacket sublimely caps off my high school career. Lots of tomfoolery, bonding, and playful hatred of my teachers. Started writing for the 405 and this blog.
June: I realize that, for the first time since 2006, I am actually completely happy for an extended period of time. Many, many personal revelations made. Also, Michael Jackson dies.
July: I am shocked to realize that I am still happy, but something is still missing. Slightly anxious about college, missing friends. Downloaded a LOT of music to prep for college.
August: I make the absolute most out of my home friendships, but spent some time maybe regretting not choosing Wesleyan instead. All of that was negligible compared to the amount of happiness I had, which culminated into the grand Trapped in the Closet farewell party.
September: Turns out I love Tufts. I make best friends and realize that they are the best. Early doubts quickly and completely evaporate. I am happy and reinvented, but there is still something missing.
October: A blackout. I realize how happy I've been when I am suddenly not happy for the week following the blackout. Sweet relief and return to happiness the week after.
November: Any notion of "something missing" evaporates as I get involved in my first and best official relationship since turning Kimberly Heater into a lesbian in the second grade.
December: Romance, satisfaction, and a 13 page paper that holds my potential B+/A- average in limbo. Happiness slightly marred by a brief trip to the hospital and the lengthy sickness that came out of it.
Lastly, we examine the most important criteria for the success of a year, and by far the category that 2009 has excelled the most in, with spades, flying colors, and all that jazz: Notable deaths. Ricardo Montalban, Walter Cronkite, Dom DeLouise, DJ AM, Bea Arthur, Billy Mays, Brittany Murphy, David Carradine, Ed McMahon, John Hughes, Les Paul, Mary Travers, Captain Lou Albano, Robert Novak, Patrick Swayze, Soupy Sales, Steve McNair, and Ted Kennedy. All that's left is the final masterstroke of Rush Limbaugh, who had 21 hours left to kick the bucket. Go for it, Rushie!
All in all, a good year. Good for the arts, good for me, and good for celebrity morticians. Better than 2008? Yep! That much better? Yeah! THAT much better? OF COURSE! 2009 WAS THE BEST YEAR THAT I CAN REMEMBER!
Here's to hoping that 2010 can only top it!
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