There and Back Again

Pondering: In a year’s time, he’s a year older. (Bobby Robson)
Listening to: Your Love Means Everything Part 2 (Faultline feat. Chris Martin)

Well another year for the books. Like every other person’s year, it was made up of 12 months, 364 days, 8736 hours. No life-changing events happened this year. It was just like any other year though I’ve grown older – as I did the year before – and discovered new things I didn’t know existed last year. I read through all my blog entries to sum up this year and this is what I came up with.

The first three months were pretty much highlighted with lots of work-related stuff. My boss retired and I that was sad because he was a great person to work for. My first vacation for the year was in March. I flew to Vancouver, Canada and stayed at the lovely Wedgewood Hotel. I saw Keith Urban at the Orpheum Theater there and discovered the music of Keane on the flight home to San Francisco. I’ve been hooked ever since.

In April I had my first and hopefully last case of food poisoning. I thought I was going to die in the bathroom. That same month, I bid adieu to one of my friends, Mary, who was retiring to a wonderful life of traveling and a What Movie Classic Are You quiz labeled me a Sunset Boulevard. It said I am all about fame and success and avoiding being ordinary. I really don’t agree still…

The first week of May took me Las Vegas to see Keane for the first time at the House of Blues. A few days later, I saw them again at the Berkeley Community Theater and shook hands with my hero: Tim Rice-Oxley (and turned into a real dork in front of him too). May was also the big vacation month. My sister and I went to London first where the biggest story was Kylie Minogue’s battle with cancer, the purchase of Manchester United by some American billionaire, and the Crazy Frog. We enjoyed a day trip to Leeds Castle, a chance visit to Greenwhich, and Keith Urban at the Scala. One week later, we took the Eurostar to Paris for the second leg of our trip. We stayed at the Villa Montparnasse in Rue Boulard, next door to a cemetery, which was cool. We spent most of our time walking around the city, visiting museums, shopping for memorabilia and getting by very well with the few French phrases my sister and I memorized.

In June, after I said goodbye to my favorite TV show Alias as I knew it and I finally got my hands on Eduardo Noriega’s movie El Lobo for which he was nominated for a Goya Award. X & Y was released which started my fascination for everything Coldplay. The end of June brought in three new office mates and a promotion for my sister. July was uneventful except for Live 8, which was also not that eventful sans Keane and Coldplay’s sets. The biggest news: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I always knew Snape was up to no good but not to this extent.

August found me bidding farewell to one of my favorite TV shows, Queer As Folk, jamming to my first ever Coldplay concert at the Shoreline Amphitheater. August was also the year havoc visited the US in the form of hurricane Katrina. The devastation it left was jaw-dropping and heart-wrenching.

September was full of sun and lots of wonderful moments! My friend Julie got married to Steve and it was a beautiful wedding indeed. Then as Hurricane Rita threatened to hit Texas the way Katrina hit New Orleans, my sister and I went to our first ever music festival in Austin, Texas. Not a drop of rain hit our way as we discovered all kinds of music during the 3-day event. Highlights of course included Keane and Coldplay plus meeting Keane for the second time and not saying anything stupid in front of Tim Rice-Oxley. After Texas, sis and I were off to San Diego and got front row spots to Keane’s standing-room-only performance at the new House of Blues. San Diego led to Burbank where my other sister met us for the weekend. At the Greek Theater, I saw Keane live for fifth time and shook hands with Tim for the third time the next day at the Hollywood and Highland mall.

In October I turned another year older and celebrated my ten years of service with the agency I work for. I went to Las Vegas for our yearly conference and caught The Killers in concert at the Hard Rock Hotel. In November, I went to Vancouver and enjoyed a day-trip to Victoria, British Columbia, watched U2 in concert and saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire day after Thanksgiving with my sisters.

On the first week of December, I treated my sister to a weekend at Costanoa for her birthday and I found myself a new vacation spot. We concluded the trip by stopping at a tree farm and harvesting our own Christmas tree. The trip also gave me the opportunity to finish my fifth book of the year: Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk.

The Friday before Christmas my sisters and I went to see King-Kong (fun!) and Steven Spielberg’s Munich, which in my opinion gets the best picture award this year. Christmas was spent quietly at home where Santa dropped off an Apple gift certificate, a crystal necklace, a jewelry box, Coldplay singles and a new Burberry wallet. The rest of day was spent knitting a new scarf and discovering the genius of Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

I wonder what next year’s stroll will be like.