(originally posted at bigbadgeek.com)
year in review. noteworthy things.
2002 was the year i achieved a greater amount of balance in my life. thanks in no small part to the sudden cognitive shift of being without an aram. he was fired on 6/21 and those of us who worked for him refer to that day as six-twenty-one, as the impact of his sudden removal was similar to nine-eleven.
that evening i went home and had a new energy in me. i took up fuzz's bike and rode for miles and miles and it felt so good. every day for weeks after that i did the same. biking before and after work.
my outlook on the company changed that day as well. management took action to make a positive change for the team and the department as a whole. i didn't think they ever would. since then, however, things have continued to slide downhill and my faith in the company as a whole has continued to decline. as i've recently come to ask myself - if i'm a technologist, what am i doing working for a real estate company?
outside of work, this year has seen an increase in my own personal studies. i realized that studying was exactly what i've been doing. once that realization hit, i was able to focus my energy more acutely. when i took a look at what i'd been studying and why, i realized that i couldn't be doing these studies in a vacuum and began to get further involved in the extropian/transhumanist community.
luckily, i got in on the ground floor of the New York Transhumanist Association and met a wonderful gentleman named Mike Treder. i look up to mike as a sort of role model. he's very active in the aforementioned communities and will be able to independently guide my studies to keep me on track and prevent me from going off the deep end. being involved in NYTA, i've been fortunate enough to meet some really Interesting People and participate in stimulating conversations.
on a personal front, dave and i lost fuzz as a roommate but alex has moved in. in a way, i feel bad that they're stuck with me. however, space in nyc isn't cheap and they're living together for the first time - so i think it suits us all.
my relationships with the three women who are closest to me (not counting mom, of course) all strengthened this year. jenelle and i had our ups and downs as she struggled through to the end of her relationship with joe. at the end of that relationship she had a very traumatic experience which, strangely enough, could keep her from returning to joe in the future. i haven't quiet explored the depths of that, but it's definitely interesting. jenelle's my best friend and i love her dearly.
laurie and i continued to get to know each other. we've had a few opportunities to meet which we've let slip by us. she allows me to be myself and we've reached a certain level of trust where we can talk about damn-near anything. she's tech-savvy and continues to have good aesthetic taste, and it all leads to some interesting conversation. hell, i'm talking to her right now. :)
tina and i also continued to get to know each other. being online has opened up channels of communication that i didn't know were possible. as i've watched her struggle through various situations in her life, i've come to admire and respect her strength as much as i already admired and respected her creativity.
towards the end of the year i've made an attempt to be more social - culminating in some new friendships. i finally met kathy of kochanie.org. somehow, nora managed to find me online and we met and have seen each other a few times. she's such a gifted artist - i really and truly believe her and tina could become close friends. imagining them working together on a piece of art... it would be magical. and through some strange coincidence i managed to meet angela - who i'm also talking to online at the moment. hi angela! :)
as late as last night, i also met julie, who's quite an interesting person... but i'll get to that story in the next post.
so 2002 saw some positive changes in my life that i'm grateful for. although the biggest negative part of the year continued to be the work situation, i have a feeling that in the long run that negativity will turn out to be the catalyst that propels me into my next venture. green pastures, and all that. always in my mind i'm thankful that i'm still employed.
