2010: The Year in Review
Fri Dec 31, 2010 14:14 (UTC -5)And now, it’s time for what is probably my favorite World of Stuff tradition, the Year in Review. (Actually, I don’t think I have any other traditions.)
And what a year it’s been. Kate came all the way from Russia to visit me—twice—and I’m with her in the land of bears and vodka now. My friend Natasha came from Canada to visit me too. And my family moved to a new home far, far away… but closer to where I’m studying.
Yet 2010 didn’t just consist of big events; there were plenty of little things I thought were worth writing about too. So, without further ado, here are (most of) the most notable things that happened in my life this year.
- January 1 – I ring in the new year with my high-school friend Michelle.
- January 2 – I attend the wedding of my friends Yamilee and Austin.
- January 8-20 – Kate comes from Russia to visit me in Gainesville and then South Florida. Detailed in five parts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
- January 31 – My longtime schoolmate Misha dies.
- February 6 – I visit Miami with my sister and our friend Kevin the day before the Super Bowl is to be held there.
- February 12-14 – I see our nation’s capital (and snow!) for the first time as I attend Free Culture Conference 2010 with my friends from Florida Free Culture.
- February 24 – I have a letter published in a student newspaper.
- February 27 – I help table for Get Carded at a small-town carnival-type event.
- March 4 – After volunteering at Florida Free Culture’s Free Your PC event, I’m shown in a photo on the university’s news site.
- March 7 – I receive a (very) late Christmas gift in the mail from my friend Natasha in Canada.
- March 8 – I go in for a routine eye exam to find out that my eyesight has improved.
- March 9 – I find out that the school I went to for nine years is closing for good.
- April 1 – I volunteer at Get Carded’s annual Lifeapalooza concert.
- April 3 – Florida Free Culture holds a Linux installfest on campus.
- April 6 – To celebrate The World of Stuff’s seventh birthday (and to jump onto the bandwagon), I join Twitter.
- April 6 – I attend a debate between Christopher Hitchens and Dinesh D’Souza on campus.
- April 15 – I get a new camera.
- April 21 – I attend an interfaith forum on campus.
- May 6 – I spend a fun day with my friend Nick on his 21st birthday.
- May 10-12 – My roommate Andy’s friend Scott pays a visit to our apartment.
- May 12 – I start to battle fleas in my bedroom.
- May 29-June 1 – Andy and I attend Esperanto-USA’s annual conference in Bethesda, Maryland, and after a leisurely trip home, I barely make it to my first class of the week.
- June 20-27 – My friend Natasha visits me for the first time. (She later guest-blogged her side of the story.)
- July 4 – I go with my parents to a house that they’ve made an offer for. The next day, the offer is accepted.
- July 10 – I go to Miami to see my friends participate in the Red Bull Flugtag.
- July 12 – I celebrate my friend Andrea‘s 21st birthday with her family and friends.
- July 13 – After an exam, I have dinner with Andy and Andrea to celebrate my 21st birthday.
- July 29 – My family moves out of the house where we’d lived since I was 8.
- August 7-20 – Kate visits me in Gainesville, and we go to St. Augustine, Gainesville again, Key West, and Miami. Extremely detailed account in 10 parts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
- September 8 – The newspaper publishes another one of my letters.
- September 9 – I attend an internship swap meet to find out about local businesses offering internships.
- September 11 – I go to my first football game since my freshman year, a 38-14 victory over South Florida.
- September 25 – Andrea and I go to another football game, a 48-14 blowout of Kentucky.
- September 28-October 3 – I stay at my parents’ to battle what turns out to be mono.
- October 8 – Andrea and I see Bob Dylan perform a concert on campus.
- October 9 – Andrea and I witness the football team’s heartbreaking loss to LSU at home.
- November 2 – For my ethics class, I participate in a debate about whether file-sharing is the same as stealing.
- November 6 – I see my co-worker dance in a Diwali show on campus.
- November 10-11 – Andy and I spend Veterans Day at my parents’ house.
- November 20 – I go to my last football game as a student.
- December 12 – I buy furnishings for the apartment to replace the stuff Andy will take with him when he moves out.
- December 14 – I make a sneak preview of the next site design available.
- December 16 – Andy, my roommate of more than a year, moves out.
- December 17 – I celebrate Christmas early with my family.
- December 19 – After facing delays at the airport, I leave for Russia, where I am right now.
Next year is set to be the most important yet in my life. In 2011, I will earn my degree and (hopefully) get a full-time job. The transition from non-adult to adult will (theoretically) be complete.
And you can witness it here.
5 comments
#1 by Joshua McGee: Fri Dec 31, 2010 17:04 (UTC -5)
Awesome. It’s a great tradition. Perhaps I’ll add it to the long list of ideas of yours I’ve appropriated for my site. :-)
#2 by Andrea: Fri Dec 31, 2010 19:33 (UTC -5)
I love seeing my name in your year review :D
We’ll have to make a year’s worth of memories between January and May of 2011, so get ready!
#3 by Wendy: Sat Jan 01, 2011 02:34 (UTC -5)
# May 10-12 – My roommate Andy’s friend Scott pays a visit to our apartment.
# May 12 – I start to battle fleas in my bedroom.
This does not look good for Scott!
#4 by Jordon Kalilich: Sat Jan 01, 2011 19:55 (UTC -5)
@Josh: Thanks, but what else have you taken from me? I’m drawing a blank here.
@Andrea: Ready as ever. Maybe we can do something next weekend.
@Wendy: It does sound funny, but Scott was part of the reason why there weren’t fleas anywhere else in our place. He and Andy discovered them in Andy’s room (probably from Andy’s cat who had died a while ago), and they cleaned up his room and the living room. They offered to clean my room too, but I figured it wasn’t necessary. Big mistake…
#5 by peter: Thu Jan 06, 2011 08:56 (UTC -5)
Good idea for my own blogs, so i remind myself on the things i’ve done in the past year.
And others can see, what happened in my life.