So, one year ago, I wrote a retrospective entry of The Ten Events of 2005 That Shaped My Life In 2005. Because I have time now, and I’m on that track, I think it’s time to cover 2005. In chronological order:
1. The Ambassador Hotel Is Demolished. This was a piece of Los Angeles – and, more importantly to me – it was a piece of my family history. Like the Biltmore, it was one of the places where my mother and my grandmother went before me. It was a part of the Los Angeles my family knew in the years after they came out from Brooklyn in the 40s and 50s, a pocket of time left from that perspective of this city. And then it was gone.
Also, the night of the Ambassador, I went to the wake, not knowing a single person there – and left after meeting a half-dozen fellow bloggers who felt like I did about L.A. Some were multi-generational, some had grown up here, and all were in mourning. I was the new girl at blogging.la back then, so it was the first event I attended as part of the L.A. blog community, as part of the fabric of the city in the 21st century.
2. Midnite Ridazz: RIDE ON! This is nothing new – I’d been involved with the bike community in 2005 – but this was the first marathon ride I went on – and the first one where Ridazz became a massive event, instead of just Critical Mass without the agenda. This was the ride to Glendale, the day I went sixty miles on my bike. This was the night I really felt like I belonged in this strange version of Los Angeles Below – even though it rolls on surface streets (link goes to post explaining that idea, and yes, I have read Neverwhere too many times. This was the Ridazz I will always remember, and this was when I really saw how awesome an all-bike city would be.
3. lost tribe of geeks: barcamp los angeles BarCamp was how I connected with the geek community again, a group I left behind when I began transitioning from website coding to marketing. I’m a lousy programmer, but a great marketer. I know my skills. But I thought I’d lost my true geek-dom, and I found, at BarCamp, I hadn’t. I was still able to tell people something new, even if they were involved in sites and projects far, far cooler than I ever have been. And rejoining the geek community gave me a new perspective on my professional life, because I may be in marketing, but I’m definitely the geekiest marketing person, and I’ve been able to integrate my love of new tech ability, and my adoration of Web 2.0 to my job since then.
BarCamp was also when I started to learn about GTD, and THAT has totally saved my life in the last year. I credit my good work in 2006 as due to GTD. But I’m getting ahead of myself on that…
4.i can already hear your tune, calling me across the room That’s the first line of Chameleons UK’s “Swamp Thing”, the song that is now legendary for having giving my boyfriend the boldness to actually come up to me on a dance floor. There may not be love at first sight, but I believe that I have the closest thing to it. Out of everything that happened to me in 2006 – this is probably what has shaped my life the most.
5. london calling. I went to Europe for ten days. That changes everyone’s life. Oh, and I got to visit chaitealatte and dufresne while there. It was an awesome trip. I felt right at home in London, and Paris transfixed me. I loved it – but by the time I came home, my relationship had gone serious, and I was just as happy to be home.
Speaking of relationship – he should be home any moment now. I’d better tidy my room & get ready for his return from Pittsburgh. But Part Two – events six through ten – will cover some pretty big leaps in my professional and home life. 2006 was an awesome year, and I think it’s been the best year I’ve ever had in my life. And knowing that every year is only going to get better is absolutely incredible.
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