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2006: The Year in Review

2006 is almost over. It went by astonishingly fast. I can’t even believe it. It makes me feel like I’m getting old. I remember a few years ago — 2004, I guess — thinking about future years. 2005 was “next year,” so there was a lot to look forward to. In 2007, I would graduate high school. And 2006? Ah, it was just some year in between.

It turns out, though, that 2006 has been a pretty big year for me, as you’ll see. I’ve learned not to take years for granted. They can really change you. Or, rather, you can really change yourself during them. Anyway, it’s time for my annual Year in Review — a sort of “In Case You Missed It” for the whole year. You know, in case you missed… the whole year. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it as much as I’ve spent time compiling it.

• January 1 – TWoS gets a new layout.
• January 8 – Day trip to Miami.
• January 12 – I come out of the atheist closet.
• January 23 – I’m not a Bloggie finalist!
• January 28 – I take the SAT.
• February 2 – I ask out a girl.
• February 3 – The Festival!
• February 10 – She says no.
• February 20 – I try again.
• February 23 – Kevin takes my sister and me to a Spanish-language music award show.
• February 28 – She says no again.
• March 12-20 – My family temporarily moves out while the tile in the house is redone.
• March 15 – The infamous Boys State interview.
• March 31 – I get to meet Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood.
• April 5 – Mrs. Vazquez, one of my favorite teachers, returns for a visit.
• April 6 – TWoS is three.
• April 26 – I write an article for the Pompano Pulse.
• May 5 – I take the AP European History exam…
• May 6 – …and a second SAT.
• May 9 – I’m told that I’m in the running for the National Merit Scholarship. (Whatever happened to that, anyway?)
• May 19 – Another drive-in outing with my friend Andrew.
• May 20 – Improbable Mission, a sort of successor to my old band, first meets. (Whatever happened to that, anyway?)
• May 25 – Last day of school!
• May 27-June 4 – Vacation at my aunt’s house. Excursions include St. Augustine and Tallahassee. Next, we go to that condo place we always go to. I take lots of pretty pictures.
• June 7 – Another fun trip to Miami.
• June 14 – I get my senior picture taken. Yes, at school, during the summer. Blech.
• June 29 – I go to a Program on Yale. Haha. Yale.
• July 7 – Learner’s permit.
• July 8 – My friend Nick and I see Ringo Starr in concert.
• July 11 – Birthday party-type thing.
• July 13 – Birthday-type thing!
• July 14 – I see my friend Reid star in The Pirates of Penzance.
• July 18 – One Day in the Desert: Special Director’s Cut released.
• July 27 – Fun times with Sean and Mike on Lake Ida.
• August 6-7 – Volunteer work.
• August 9 – Night out with the Five and Mrs. Vazquez.
• August 11 – I’ve got Gaim.
• August 14 – Last first day of school.
• August 24-27 – Beowulf: The Movie shot (and hastily edited in time for its “premiere” in English class on August 28).
• August 26 – I agree to star in a youth group production of The Year Without a Santa Claus. Rehearsals begin shortly thereafter, and they continue for months and months and months.
• August 29 – Natasha introduces herself, and we remain in contact.
• August 29 – I get my old job offered back to me.
• September 1-3 – My family visits my aunt again so we can take a tour of UF.
• September 8 – My first day back on the job.
• September 16 – I take the ACT.
• October 2-5 – My last homecoming week…
• October 6 – …and the last homecoming game.
• October 7 – Not to mention my last homecoming dance (and the only one I went to).
• October 11 – I talk to Natasha on the phone for the first time.
• October 20 – I see The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D. Yep, still awesome.
• November 4 – I attend a political rally at which Bill Clinton makes a speech. I also take lots of pictures.
• November 23 – I’m sick on Thanksgiving (and before, and after).
• November 24 – Trip to the zoo.
• November 27 – I go on a school field trip to Bodies: The Exhibition.
• December 1 – I see my friends Gilbert and Justin in our school play.
• December 8 – We perform a dress rehearsal of The Year Without a Santa Claus for a small group of small kids.
• December 8 – I get accepted to UF, one of the two colleges I applied to.
• December 9 – Most of Beowulf 2 shot.
• December 17 – The day of the show.
• December 25 – Christmas. Among the loot: my first cell phone. Don’t laugh.
• December 30 – For the first time, Jordon Asks YOU!!

The BBC presents 100 Things We Didn’t Know Last Year. Some of them you probably did know, but others are new discoveries of the year.

And here are, according to someone, the Top Ten Astronomy Images of 2006. They’re pretty spectacular.

See you in 2007!

One year ago: “It hardly seems like it had a chance to breathe, and now it’s on its way out the door.”
Two years ago: “It went by faster, though.”
Three years ago: “The year’s gone by faster than… something that’s fast.”