2008 was, in a word, WEIRD.
And I mean that in the best way possible.
I went from shooting a handful of shows for Pitchfork last year to covering Coachella and Outside Lands for them. At both of those festivals, I met some really great photographers and bloggers who have helped me out in a lot of ways since.
I went to Alaska (thanks Mom and Dad!), before all the Sarah Palin hype. It was incredible, and did wonders for my landscape photography skills – i.e. how to turn a boring snapshot that anyone could take into something I’m proud to call my own.
Right before that trip, I met someone who has since managed to become incredibly important to me, despite the crazy circumstances surrounding the friendship. Suffice it to say that it’s done wonders for my photography, my motivation to get out of grad school, and my general disposition (despite the occasional bouts of frustration). Nothing important is every easy, right? I’m working on that.
And oh yeah – speaking of grad school. I went from the very edge of wanting to quit to being totally motivated to get out of here by spring of 2010. That still sounds so far away, but with the way time is passing, it’ll be here in no time. Let’s just not talk about the entire year that was wasted trying to get one model system to work, when another one was working all along (I just didn’t know it). I’m powering through to the end now, and even thinking about starting to write the introduction to my thesis while the research is still going. Yeah, I’m crazy like that.
So yeah, 2008 had its good points and its bad points, but overall, I’m coming out of this year feeling pretty good about it. And even better about 2009, which will be starting out with me attending the Rose Bowl. Which should be a super-fun clusterfuck of awesome. I’m looking forward to everything that the upcoming year has to throw at me…
