Looking back, you couldn’t say that twenty-ought-eight was anything less than interesting. Just the act of being a father for an entire year would have been fascinating enough, but the magic wheel of OMGWTF managed to land on a few whammies to add even more spice to the festivities.

• My son Alec turned a year old in June.
• Spent the first half of 2008 recovering from a four month descent into infant insomnia that nearly caused a nervous breakdown. Ah, parenthood!
• The second half was spent dealing with a vicious resurgence of sarcoidosis, which hid in full remission until the middle of the year.
• Thanks to something I’m calling “Littlest Hobo Syndrome” I somehow managed to jump to three employers in 2008: Tucows, Homezilla, and currently call Mozilla home.

Radio silence

Any of these things would have been fertile ground for web site posts, and yet I didn’t even come close to posting in the double-digits this year. I think a lot of people who started writing online early reached a similar point as I did, where the orgy of introspection and public journalizing turned on itself.

Running into a vague acquaintance in 2005 who I barely knew that followed this site (and thus knew a lot more about me than I about him) was the incident that flipped the privacy switch for me. It’s been a slow return to posting for me ever since. I stil don’t really know how to manage the balance between saying too much and not saying anything at all.

Moving on up to that deluxe apartment in the sky

Looking forward, I have a lot of hope for ‘09. My son is growing quickly and is a daily miracle that I cannot get enough of, and I am in love and loved by an incredibly vibrant, beautiful woman. If just this continues in 2009 it will still be an incredible year, but seeing how it’s in my nature to plan ahead, here’s a few things I hope to accomplish in the ‘09:

• Maintain my current work-life balance.

  I’ve been incredibly lucky and have worked for some amazing employers, and Mozilla continues this fortunate streak. But I need to constantly remind myself that I work to live and not the other way around.

• Find more time for the family and friends
• Get offline even more than I already have, and immerse myself in the RL more often
• Take life drawing and photography classes

  My drawing abilities are limited to stick figures and crude renderings of boobs and penises, and my photography skills aren’t much better.

• Improve my french

  Ever since Alec was born it’s been a challenge to maintain my meager french skills. Perhaps starting a weblog written in french is the ticket?

• Get our asses out of our current rental situation

  Either we buy or at the very least moving into something less ass-hattish, but either way we need to get off our asses and get some equity and continuity going on the homestead front.

• Do something with this site, even if that means closing it down and starting over

  I post so rarely to this site that it is becoming more and more of a personal embarrassment. I need to shit or get off the virtual pot with this site.

• Be less judgmental (of self and of others)
• Exercise and run more often

  After starting at Mozilla I signed up for a gym membership at the JCC, so I have no excuses other than I suck. Goal: Suck less.

• Worry less
• Meditate more
• Add “… but that’s a first world problem” whenever I catch myself complaining

  I need to remind myself of this again and again, but the reality is 99% of the shit I whinge about is complaining for the sake of complaining.

Shout out out outs

In addition to my ass-kicking family if there was anyone I could thank that helped to make ‘08 as positive as it was, I’d have to raise a large, frosty beverage to the Supernerds Local 154 (James, Gord, Scott, Greg, Paul, Johnny, Craig, Frank, Michael, Brent, Dan, and occasionally Joanna) and my many beautiful Winnipeg peeps. Thanks for being a home away from home, and for making me laugh my ass off in ways I didn’t think were possible. Here’s to more beverages, food, and meanderingly idiotic conversations in the new year.

Now let’s kick out these motherfucking jams. Onward!