blackrimglasses

In practice, I hate year end lists. It seems slightly silly to even think of compiling one for anything to do with the technology industry, as the industry operates on such tiny increments that things like my running blog (see right) seem more appropriate. In the past two days, I’ve been doing software development, something that I have neglected for a long time as I switched to being a (cue music of doom) manager.

I’ve also been spending my time configuring my PPC-6700 to fully operate as a mobiel communication device. I’d do a howto on that, but it might be a narrow market segment. On the other hand, maybe not. So I think I will this week.

Anyhow, my year end list of things:
Epiphanal Moment of the Year

March 9, 2005 @ 4:27PM. It was on this day that I sat down, took stock of where my life was headed and decided that I did not like it. I didn’t like school, I didn’t like teachin gas much as I had, I didn’t feel that I had a future in the course that I was on. Now, anyone that has been at that 0 hour place knows how difficult it is to face. You move in life toward a goal you think you have, visualizing yourself in 10, 20 years along this course in every ideal situation you can think of. Success. Power. Wealth. Influence. It was there at one point, along an academic track. I was a tenure track professor, writing books, teaching 300 kids at once. It was there, it was fun, it was a future.

Then it left me, and I was left wondering what the fuck I was supposed to do. And it wasn’t just my life either. I was married, with pseudo-kids (less expensive, and harrier, but still like kids) to take care of. If I was 22 and facing this crisis, I would have moved to San Francisco to start over. I couldn’t do that now, so the decision I made had to be good for both of us, and a defined future that I wanted.

So on this date, at this time, I made a decision to do something about a future I wanted. About two months later, that future started writing itself once again.

Best Day of the Year

May 19, 2005 - I was going to be giving a lecture in Art 7A about fanaticism and the music industry when I got a call from Robin Becthel telling me that I was hired at Warner Bros Records. I went inside, kind of on cloud ten and gave a lecture, where I also kind of announced that I was starting to withdraw my involvement from Murmurs. That night I went to a nice dinner with Amy. Like I said, the future started writing itself again at that moment.

Most stressful day of the year

June 13, 2005 - my entire family came up for graduation, and the moving van was arriving the next day. My family is difficult in the best of circumstances. I ended up storming off from everyone, saying “fuck this shit” twice in a 48 hour period. Joy.

Most interesting and deja vu development

This whole Web 2.0 thing. I didn’t quite get rich in Web 1.0. I don’t think I will in Web 2.0, because well, its a stupid concept that needs to die rather quickly. I’m glad that there is a new era of openness and optimism in web development. I’m sad that its getting usurped by buzzwords though. I like where I work, but I do have things on my back burner that might happen, or might not. Point is: its the Web people. A newfound optimism brought by a resurgence of intelligence is nothing to label with iterative concepts. Instead, lets keep our heads, keep doing smart things and then maybe we’ll have something special in the end, rather than sock puppets.

New favorite websites

• Andy’s links at Waxy are good, and he’s a pretty nice individual
• digg is good, but not great, and getting worse by the day unfortunetly
• BuzzMachine/Jeff Jarvis gets me upset and angry in a good way, frequently and causes me to enter into post-newspaper brat rants with great frequency. In a good way.
• TechCrunch makes me mad sometimes, but I like getting an overview of what’s happening.
• 9rules.com is a great concept, and fulfills my geeky desire to belong to a group of other geeks

People I’m Glad I Met in 2005

• Merlin Mann - of 43folders fame. Merlin is a cool person, with awesome taste in music, who I am somehow 2 degrees from with about 30 different individuals ranging from the lead singer of the Posies to an on-air personality on VH-1.
• Trent Vanegas - my pal from Pink Is the New Blog. I am not ashamed to be on team pink, whatsoever.
• Jeff Watson Work associate, and somewhat of a “me clone.” Kind of scary.
• Robert Greenhood - the only person who can match me in talkativeness. I work with him, but we literally talk on the phone for about two hours a day. Scary.

Best Concerts of 2005

Gang of Four - the Avalon, Los Angeles
If any band is to be regarded as the progenitors of the current crop of staccato-with-attitude bands (Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, et al) it is Gang of Four. Entertainment!, which was released in 1978 is as fresh and resonant as ever. I finally got to see the newly reuninited band and they were as ferocious and amazing as I would have expected.

The Decemberists - Henry Fonda Theater, LA
Probably the most fun show of the year in how theatrical everything was. Their new record is amazing and the show was doubly so. It erased the misery that was the New Pornographers at the same venue two weeks prior.

Green Day - AOL Network Live performance, The Wiltern, LA
What can be said? It was a 3000 person venue, with low ceilings and they did the full pyro. Plus it was free. Plus it was a hell of a lot of fun with everyone at Warners who worked on the American Idiot record (which I didn’t work on, as I started in June).

The Eels, the Labero Theater, Santa Barbara
A weird show, where we all sat in a small theater while the Eels played various strange instruments with hauntingly beautiful effects. Their new double record is devastating in its sadness, and with their prior records alternating between sad and funny, it made for a special evening. Plus a meet and greet afterwards.

Best Records of 2005

In non order:

Architecture in Helsinki - In Case We Die Sublime in its silliness, and beautiful in its earnest urgency. It sounds like koalas on crack.

British Sea Power, Open Season Not as strong as The Decline Of… but, equally as tragic and theatrical.

The Decemberists, Picaresque Although awesome, I don’t think that it matches the sublimity of the first two, especially Castaways and Cutouts. However, the songwriting is maturing to such an extent that it makes me wonder exactly how far this band of merry men and women can go. Where can you go after the Mariners Revenge Song? 8 minutes about people in the belly of a whale? Honestly now.

The Eels, Blinking Lights and Other Revelations So far the only Eels record to come close to the sadness and beauty of Electroshock Blues. The record leaves you breathless at the end with sadness and hope that your life could be as fulfilling as a fictional life on a record.

Kaiser Chiefs, Employment Na na na na naa is my favorite “to run to” song of the year. I think this record slaughters Franz Ferdinands new one, sadly. I love the Franz record, but there’s only a few ways you can redo Gang of Four guys.

Of Montreal, The Sunlandic Twins So twee and happy, and yet so twinged with this acid trip type pathos that I wonder what exactly is in the water down in Athens, GA. To think I might have run into these guys on my many visits that fair city. The mind wonders what could have happened?

Rogue Wave, Descended Like Vultures Yes, it is slightly like the Shins, but with less pretentious wordplay I think, and a bit more of an ear to subtleties of pop music rather than intentional similarity between song structures, instrumentation and mix. Sure, it might be more obvious, but 10:1 is such great power-pop, and such an obvious nod to REM’s 9-9 that I can’t help but smile.

Sigur Ros, Takk Almost equal to their second record. It is stunningly beautiful. I still think that Saeglopur could have substituted for the Sia song at the end of Six Feet Under’s finale.

Sufjan Stevens, Illinois Can’t leave this off or Pitchfork Media would kill my puppy.

Supergrass, Road to Rouen Likewise.

Moments that made me cry

• My great-grandpa Jim dying
• The finale to Six Feet Under
• Finishing the Dark Tower

Favorite movies of 05

• 40 year old virgin
• War of the Worlds
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Wallace and Gromit and the Curse of Were-Rabbit

Moments of ERK Zen

• Hal Sparks hitting on my wife
• Amy pissing off Omarosa minutes earlier
• Natasha’s appearance on Pink Is the New Blog
• High school friends at launch parties in SF
• Making the confess line happen

More coming….