The Show Must Go On: Soundtrack 2008

Yesterday, it just happened that when I got dressed, the shirt at the top of the drawer was one I'd gotten when I saw Curtains in New York earlier this year. The shirt reads simply, "The show must go on!" How true, I thought. Thus, the opening credits theme for the soundtrack to this year is born.



The only New Year's resolution I've ever really kept goes something like this:
I'm not the kind of person who believes that everything happens for a reason. I do, however, believe that in every situation, good or bad, there is something that can be learned. My resolution was to try to find that lesson whenever I can, even if I'd rather be cursing the Universe for The Unfairness Of It All. Why? Because, like the man said, the show must go on. You get up, put on the makeup, and fake it if you have to; just don't give up. Neither a broken heart nor a broken foot was likely to kill me, so while I sat around a lot, feeling sorry for myself, I did occasionally remember my resolution, and as a result have learned a lot. I've figured out quite a bit in terms of what's really important and what I really want out of life.



Jeff was just one of many people to dedicate Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now to me this year.



By the end of the summer, I was wishing I'd picked a more useful course of study in college--computer science, or business maybe.



Bring on NaNoWriMo, friends old and new, networking, PoetryAssignment, writing again, boxing again, a stable job, and following dreams again!




For Christmas this year, I received a completely unexpected gift from my mom: a portable GPS. I was a little puzzled at first, but when she told me why she'd gotten it, something fell into place in my world. In the face of everything that's happened this year, Mom gave me a tool to help realize a dream. Ever since I got my license and the first vehicle that was all mine - a red Sonoma pickup - I've been going on road trips. The truck had nearly 300,000 miles on it when a hit and run left it unfit for more gallavanting. I've driven to lots of places since then, the entire length of the East Coast, and as far west as Memphis. I haven't had the means to do it sooner, but I've always dreamed of driving across the country (I-40 goes all the way from NC to CA!), stopping at the funny landmarks, meeting people, seeing what stories there are, just waiting to reveal themselves to me. Well, now I have a good reliable car that gets good gas mileage (a 2008 model that's already taken me 55,000 miles), a 60 gigabyte iPod full of music and audiobooks, AAA Plus, paid vacation, a digital camera, a pile of notebooks, and now, a GPS.

There's just something about the freedom of the open road. I can't wait to make this dream a reality. I have a feeling: 2009 is going to be THE year!



To everyone reading this, whether I've known you 2 decades or 2 minutes, or even if we've never spoken, Happy New Year.