Ok, well, not really. For most people, it was probably kind of terrible, what with the entire global economy teetering on the verge of collapse and everything. I am sympathetic, and if 2008 was a crap year for you, at least you can take comfort in the fact that 2009 will might suck less.
But what’s the point of having your own blog if you can’t be totally navel-gazing, indulgent and self-centered? This is the time of year when every media outlet on the planet publishes a year-in-review piece. So here goes: this was a sweet year for me—graduating, getting the Watson, all the campaigning paying off with Obama’s election, driving and camping down the Baja peninsula in Mexico for spring break. I hope next year lives up.
Last night, we went out and partied at the Brandenburg Gate . It’s the major outdoor New Year’s celebration; kind of analogous to the Time Square party in NYC. Berlin’s version is much better, however, because a) you’re allowed to have an open container of alcohol anywhere in the city (including on the U-bahn), and b) everyone has tons of crazy fireworks with them and they’re lighting them off.
It’s kind of like combining 4th of July with New Year’s Eve. Only, unlike in America where people set fireworks on the ground, light them, and then retreat to a safe distance, in Berlin the guy next to you has a bunch of bottle rockets strapped to his back like ninja swords and he just sort of pulls one out, points it up and lights it off.
Tomorrow, I’m bugging out of Berlin. At the C-base party on Tuesday, I met some guys from a Swedish hacker crew / dance troupe. I think the dance troupe part is mostly a joke, but they actually did demonstrate some group choreography they had worked out. Anyway, they all drove down from Malmo, Sweden in a big party bus and they’ve invited me to ride back with them if I kick in for gas. We’re leaving tomorrow around noon, stopping in Copenhagen before continuing to Sweden.
Hopefully it will be awesome. I’m a little worried that the crazy-long night and freezing temperature will get to me. I’m already suffering hardcore Club-Mate withdrawal and having trouble staying awake. I have no idea if there’s internet on the bus (it wouldn’t surprise me), so if I’m not posting/replying to emails for a few days, it’s because I’m on the road.
“But what’s the point of having your own blog if you can’t be totally navel-gazing, indulgent and self-centered?” Welcome to my life post-age 15 or so. Of course, I also feel bad about the state of the world obsessively so they sort of cancel each other out?
But yeah, I think it’s appropriate to say 2008 was amazingly full of win for you. It wasn’t that bad for me, all in all.
~Steve