2009 In Review

2009 will be the year of the recession. My personal recession.

Sure the economic recession started in late 2007 but it didn’t really hit me til the beginning of 2009; when my office laid off two employees and all of a sudden the mood around work started to change.

I felt somewhat secure with my own job but there wasn’t a lot of security in the entire office. Moods got depressing quick and everybody could see it, including me. After a whole year of constant worrying, I am still employed but the office is a shadow of what it used to be. Around 15 people left to for school, other jobs, or just escape the situation. In an office that was originally small and close knit, it was heartbreaking for me to see each person leave.

My job was a cloud that just hung over my head for the entire year, a presence that I couldn’t shake.

Much like actions we have taken to fix our economy, I too have took some actions to help me escape what was going on at work. While work was a downer, my work in theatre and in blogging helped me keep my mind off of it. Actually 2009 was a year where I accomplished some great things in theatre and blogging.

Unfortunately where theatre and blogging took up new amounts of my time, I found myself not ready to take a big step I wanted to take in 2009: Grad School. Education was another area of my life that didn’t pan out the way I wanted it to in 2009.

I met lots of new friends this year but I saw lots of close friends leave in 2009. Their departures from the area really left me without the strong social base which has helped me during my time here.

So 2009 had it’s good shares of both ups and downs, but I can’t help to think of 2009 as a slowdown year compared to 2008.

School

2009 was supposed to be the year I would go back to Grad School, but as the time got closer I realized I wasn’t ready to do it. I realized with my new pursuits in theatre, I didn’t put myself in a great position to take on school and be able to balance it all.

So I’m already looking to 2010 with an eye towards the fall. I’m going to make sure that I don’t take on too much so I can spend the last half of the year back in class.

Work

The day we drank an entire gallon of water at work.

I feel like I’ve spent a lot of 2009 worrying about work. I’ve seen my department go from five people down to just me. I have been busy taking on the responsibilities of the entire department and I have been busy. However the idea that things could go from bad to worse at anytime never made me feel comfortable. However I sucked it up and approached everything with the utmost professionalism.

I spent 2009 worrying and now I’m through with worrying. I’m ready to use 2010 as an opportunity to get back on the horse and resolve these issues once and for all.

Friends

Baltimore 2009

A lot of my friends moved away this year. Sarah, Falkor, LJ, and Wendi moved away for Grad School and I really missed having them around.

But I still had great times with the friends that are still around. There wasn’t any Hershey Park this year but Katie and Doug organized another memorable night in Baltimore.

A new roommate line-up.

I also got to share lots of great times with Rebecca, Adam, Sarah and Ryan; who all continue to be friends I can truly depend on. Mike is a regular at my house parties and his birthday downtown will be one I won’t forget anytime soon.

Besides my existing friends down here I made lots of new friends. After I worked up the courage to attend a certain BBQ, I found myself with a great group of local bloggers. The year with them can be defined through happy hours, trips  to the strip club, and a wedding. Thanks to all my new friends for enriching my social scene down here.

I had some great times with my roommates Sarah and Caroline, including some backyard adventures, however 2009 was the year we saw Sarah move on from Highland Street. As we said goodbye we searched for another roommate and welcomed Maricha into our home. She’s been everything I could of hoped for in a roommate and I she’s been a great addition to the house.

As always my friends back home have been supportive but I didn’t get to see them as much as I’d like. With two additional trips home in 2010 I look forward to reconnecting with them again.

Family

Christmas 2009

In February I had the distinct honor of representing my family to a completely unrelated Pho family. Crazy. For one moment this year I wasn’t the only Pho around. However I was the only Pho with PHO SHO plates. They were impressed.

I still can’t believe Danny is graduating from high school and will hopefully be in college this fall.

In 2009 we celebrated Diana’s engagement. She also visited me this past fall and she’s also looking into Grad School- albeit for a much more advanced degree. Kim is going to go on Internship soon and that means she’ll be graduating soon as well. All my siblings are graduating, just another sign I’m getting old.

In a final note of family news, my Mom got on Facebook. Luckily I don’t think she’s been snooping around my profile too much.

Love

2009 started with Carrie, whom I dated til around March. She was nice and was the first person I actually dated regularly.

Then there was Nicole. A night with her in Boston led to a weekend down here in DC. We’ve known each other for some time but our encounters were very much like that- limited engagements over a long period of time. This year I spent a lot of time thinking about her but in the end she was only a pipe dream.

Throw in a couple of Melissa cameos and some random hook-ups and that was my year in love. Nothing terribly exciting but all my experiences this year has helped me think about how I’ve approached relationships and dating and I think I’m close to an epiphany- but perhaps that’s the subject for a later post.

Travel & Special Events

At Obama's Inauguration

The year started off with an event that pretty much took over Washington DC: The Inauguration of Barack Obama. It was so exciting to be living here through all the chaos and to witness the historic event in person.

2009 brought the “3rd season” of The OBX we where had an 80’s Prom for the ages.

I only got to see DMB once this year- I ended up flaking on a trip to Scranton. However I did get to make a couple road trips including a trip to Pittsburgh to see Melanie and Jim and a road trip to Sonic; however I didn’t get to do all the travel I wanted to.

I’d like to say I am going to make it all up in 2010 but travel won’t be a priority this year.

Theatre

Rocky Horror Show

After three years away from the stage 2009 was the year I jumped head first into the DC Theatre Scene. After working on Cat On A Hot Tin Roof I worked on a play that never went up, and is now the show that shall not be named. I then went to Kensington Arts Theatre where I put on heels for a production of Rocky Horror.

After working on Cat, I hoped to spend the year working at different places and meeting all sorts of new people. I have certainly done that and I have goals to make 2010 a year where I continue to get involved in more theatres.

Blog

I said 2008 was the year of the blog and in 2009 I really thought a lot about my direction in blogging. Throughout the year my blog continued to grow and I now have more of a direction of what I want to write about and where I want to write it. Columns like my annual Oscar Watch, has helped made my blog more than a trite journal of my life. In 2010 I hope to further define what The Definitive Dmbosstone is and further reshape my personal brand.

With the cast of Real World DC

My old roommate Craig started a new Boston sports blog called 4 Sport Boston and  I helped him create a regular podcast which has helped me work on becoming a better broadcaster and communicator.

Over at DC Metblogs my work there has led to meeting really interesting people. I got to meet Postsecret’s Frank Warren, director Richard Linklater, and LeBron James. My work at Metblogs led to my first speaking gig and a night partying with the cast from The Real World DC.

For 2010 I hope to focus my blog even further and continue to find a focus for Metblogs that fits into the DC Blog scene. I hope to get better at podcasting over at 4 Sport Boston and learn more about the art of podcast.

In Conclusion

Yesterday I wrote about how New Years for some is a turning point we all need. I wrote that less to address the cynics and more to address myself. I needed 2009 to end so I get my own blank slate, my own fresh start.

And that’s how I originally wanted to end this post when I wrote it this past weekend. However I just read a really insightful post on Millennials in 2009. Carol Phillips hit exactly how I was feeling on the head:

Meanwhile, a generation famous for being optimistic, is becoming increasingly discouraged by their ‘life on hold’ status. The immediate response was to make the best of things, opting for low paying jobs with non-profits, unpaid internships or going overseas to teach English as a second language. Others opted to spend their time as unpaid journalists, blogging away and honing social media skills in the hope of catching the eye of someone willing to pay them for their time. Others gave up in favor of using the time to travel, hike the Appalachian trail or pursue another degree.

Carolyn moved away to teach English in Korea, she’s back now but already looking at other places to travel. Countless friends made the jump into Grad School (with me soon in tow.) While I became more frustrated with my life on hold, I found other ways to break-out: theatre and blogging.

So I guess my personal recession isn’t something I’m experiencing- but by so many others in my generation. I take solace in knowing that maybe I’m  not really alone in this after all.

Related posts:

1. 2008 In Review
2. 2007 In Review
3. 2006 In Review
4. Christmas Loot 2009
5. I Don’t Write About Cupcakes (The Importance Of Knowing Your Niche)