Miscellaneous

2008 Retrospective - 2009 What to Watch For Amalgamated

By Chris Stevenson

Is it too late for a New Year post?  Well, fuckit.

By all accounts, 2008 sucked.  From a CNN perspective, I guess it did.  Gas prices got anger-inducingly high, the economy tanked (so I read), we found out about the mortgage bubble, the bursting of which created a credit crisis.  Locally, Hurrican Ike wreaked havoc on coastal communities to the east and northeast of Houston.  We, ourselves, lived without electricity for a week, which turned out to be not that bad.  Notable deaths of the year included Sir Edmund Hillary (first known person to reach the summit of Mount Everest), Bobby Fischer (American expat grandmaster chess player), Heath Ledger (actor - Dark Knight, Brokeback Mountain), Roy Scheider (actor - Jaws), Gary Gygax (creator of Dungeons & Dragons), Charlton Heston (actor - Ben Hur, later as the "Cold dead hands" spokesman of the NRA), Sydney Pollack (actor, producer, director - Out of Africa, Tootsie, Eyes Wide Shut, Michael Clayton), Robert Rauschenberg (American artist), Bo Diddley (musician), Tim Russert (newscaster and political commentator), George Carlin (comedian),  Estelle Getty (the oldest Golden Girl), Michael DeBakey (pioneering heart surgeon), Bernie Mac (actor and comedian), Paul Newman (actor - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Cool Hand Luke, The Color of Money), Michael Chrichton (author - Jurassic Park).

On the positive side of things, the Olympics in Beijing showed a new openness and spirit of world community in China and the election of Barack Obama became a major milestone in the history of the United States signifying great strides toward the end of racial divisiveness in the country.  And hey, the Longhorns had a great year going 12-1 and winning the Fiesta Bowl.

On a personal level, 2008 was the year of my engagement. (Technically I got engaged in 2007, but I was engaged for the entire year of 2008.)  2008 was also the year that I successfully completed the Texas Water Safari, which would go up there with "graduated from college," "passed the Texas Bar Exam" and "made a documentary film" on my life's achievements list.  I became an uncle for the second time when my nephew Elliott was born in August.

In 2009, the biggest event by far is going to be my wedding in May.  That's a pretty big deal.  There will be a lot of events and happenings associated with the wedding to look forward to as well.  Beyond that, I plan on attempting the Texas Water Safari again in June.  Anything else major that happens in 2009 will be a surprise, I guess.

So, here's hoping that 2008 wasn't too bad for you and that 2009 turns out well for you.

Full post as published by Cursed With Ambition on January 13, 2009 (boomark / email).