Two-Thousand-and-Six

This "blog" pretty much reveals my complete adoration for lists, and summing up everything I can in my life though concise little countdowns. So here they are, in no particular order, my best and worst moments of 2006:

1. Journalism

• Front page magazine article in Educated Solutions.
• Centretown News, though I may have felt it was like a second home to me for five months, I actually grew to miss it by the end.
• Being able to write "blogger" on my resume wasn't something I expected to do, but I now can.
• Two beautifully glossy magazine articles during my Hamilton Magazine internship wasn't too shabby.
• December marked the beginning of my second internship of the year, this time with the fine folks at rabble.ca.
• My personal favourite was interviewing Canadian visual artist Kenneth Lochhead, and meeting him at the Governor General Awards in Visual Arts ceremony at the National Gallery, just a few months before he died. He really was one of the kindest people I have had the opportunity to meet.

2. Amazing friends

• Isabel's wedding meant not only watching one of my best friend's from the past walk down the aisle to her high school sweetheart, but it also meant reconnecting with friends who I had let myself drift apart from.
• Canada Day, 2006. Pool Party (well, kind of) with the 8th Glen alum, followed by a house party at Adam's, eventually leading to a drunken saunter downtown, complete with a rendition of Pearl Jam's Black, and Canada Day fireworks, while walking down Bank St. The night of course culminated in two hours of terential rain and seemingly endless walking for Adam and I, finally ending back at his place to dry off.
• Ottawa Bluesfest with my "concert buddies," Jake and Costanza: Broken Social Scene, Calexico, Feist, Fiery Furnaces, Wintersleep, Holy Fuck, Wilco, to name only a few.
• Road-tripping to Montreal for the Wilco show, with Jake, Stanz and Stefan. I could settle down in Montreal in an absolute second.
• The Georgetown, every Wednesday night for nearly a year.


• A year of Jes-a-Brit parties- most notably our goodbye party for Stefan, Costanza and Jake, closely followed by my November goodbye party.
• Speaking of that goodbye party, from what I remember of it, it was an excellent night. (Slow dancing...caesers...double caesers...and failed promises of DDR!) Goodbye parties have an excellent way of making you feel very loved, while at the same time making you forget why you are going away in the first place.
• "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." Aesop (The Lion and the Mouse) I realized this in small, seemingly insignificant ways throughout the year, from people I hardly expected.
• Saying goodbye: When you go between two cities constantly for four years, you get very used to saying goodbye, but this time it was different. More permanent. Every day I wonder if I made the right choice. One day I have the world's greatest group of friends, and the next day they're gone, along with my apartment, my daily routines, my job, all in the blink of an eye.

3. Jordan

• The Proust Questionaire, a perfect passtime to do with a significant other.
• Our trip to the CBC Museum. Only Jordan would put up with me as I drooled over sixty-year-old microphones, costumes and videoclips of Peter Mansbridge (with a horrible comb-over.)
• A week in Ottawa: The Museum of Civilization, the National Gallery of Canada, Vittoria Trattoria, the Highlander...I'm a lucky girl.
• New Year's Eve at a Chinese food buffet (all-you-can-eat!) It doesn't get more romantic than that.
• Moving home to the satisfaction of a successful four and a half year, long distance relationship.

4. Family

• Worst: Evan's fourth birthday, spending it in the hospital, knowing he only had a 50 per cent chance of pulling through.
• Absolute best: Evan finally being ready to remove his breathing tubes, and putting on one hell of a show (hitting Uncle Jim over the head with balloons, and lots of lion roars).

2006...

I think above all the theme that resonates is goodbye. Closure. Pride for four years well-done. It was a year to tie up loose ends, and as hard as it was, it clears the way to make 2007 a year of making, and achieving goals and making some big decisions. Cheers, to an incredible year.