jmoiron.net

Since its the new year now, it's probably timely for me to hit you with some cliched maxim and then hope to move on into deeper territory: achievements come in all shapes and sizes. It has been my experience that the size of the achievement usually impacts me less than it's shape; if it is something particularly odd I have done, like travel to Boston for clam chowder, it usually ranks high up there on my pride list. If its something that was expected, even if enormous, like graduating with a BS in science, it usually doesn't stick out in my mind. As a recent example, I flew to Texas and did a tremendous ammount of things this week, but cleaning up my newly fresh-smelling apartment was what really brought things together and made me feel like something had been done.

I usually use my birthday to look back on the year and see what I have accomplished. My birthday is in late June; extremely close to bisecting the year neatly; and as such when I remember back to, say, 1997 (to pick a random year), I only have a 50/50 chance of guessing whether or not something happened while I was 14 or 15. But since making lists and such is always all the rage, I feel as though I should list a few things I did this year that stick out in my mind.

Travel

I didn't travel much, or for very long, but the 10 days I spent in Turkey and the week I spent in Austin are most definitely highlights of my year. I hope that in the years to come that these excursions evolve into more adventurous and more daring travel; that I'll look back on these small trips and know of evidence that they have grown into something more rich and exotic and gratifying. Turkey was an amazing country and was definitely a first in many ways for me; first time in a country where I had no knowledge of the language, first time in a Muslim country, first time east of the Iberian peninsula, first time flying in the winter, first flight away from family, first time flying in snow, and first time setting foot in asia. Austin set way fewer milestones; in fact, I had been there before, but I had such a good time there that it loses no standing to Istanbul.

Music

I expanded my musical horizons a lot this year, and finally bought a 12 string (something I've wanted ever since listening to Tangerine. The boatload of shows I went to in the latter part of the year down in the village in NYC are not only a defining part of my year but are evidence of a more comforting trend towards outwardness and musical experimentation. I couldn't imagine what I would be like had I not gotten completely hooked on the indie scene. Since I can't talk about music without making some kind of a list, here are a few lists.

Most Listened to Albums

• Tool - Lateralus
• The Streets - Original Pirate Material
• Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
• Interpol - Antics
• Modest Mouse - Good News ...
• The White Stripes - De Stijl
• The Strokes - Room On Fire
• Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Airplane Over The Sea
• Beatles - Revolver
• The Flesh - Sweet Defeat
• Shy Child - One With The Sun

These of course were not all released this year, but that's what I listened to the most, in somewhat of a chronilogical order too.

Favorite Albums of 2004

1. The Arcade Fire - Funeral
2. Interpol - Antics
3. Junior Boys - Last Exit
4. The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free
5. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand

There really wasn't anything even remotely close to Funeral this year, but I listened to Antics so much that I needed to put it 2nd. I got into electronic music a lot more this year as is evidenced by Last Exit, and the newest offering by Skinner should definitely go down as one of the masterpieces of the naughties.

Favorite Singles of 2004

1. Interpol - Take You On A Cruise
2. Eliott Smith - Coast to Coast
3. The Flesh - Night Loop
4. VHS Or Beta - Night On Fire
5. !!! - Me And Giuliani Down By The School Yard

There you have it. I am a fucked up individual.

These things above, these are the fruits of my life; everything else is bread, some loaf of leavened carbohydrate designed mostly for sustainence. If you'd allow me to be overly metaphoric for a few moments, it's the way that all of these small, brilliant pieces come together that makes the mosaic of my life. Graduating from college, getting employment; these are not things I want to shape who I am; these are a fine veneer or an extra lightbulb to shine through my accomplishments. In the end, they'll help the pattern achieve vibrance and clarity, but there isn't much I can do for that image if the glass pieces I chose are flat or dull.