2004: Going, going, gone...

[Josh]

Well, as Bob Dylan once sang, the times, they are a-changin'.

Tomorrow is 2004's final hurrah.

So... I ask you pholks... what kind of a year was it for you?

What was the best thing that happened to you this year? The hardest? The most unexpected?

I'll start by listing a few of the things that I was really thankful for over the past year:

1. Maryville College. Yeah... believe it or not, I'm really thankful for my pretentious liberal arts school. As a high school senior, I really dreaded going off to college, and I agonized over which school to pick. The entire summer, I had a nagging feeling in my gut that I had made the wrong choice.

Well, surprise, surprise... MC is a GREAT place, and, so far, college has been arguably the most enjoyable period of my life. The school itself is top-notch and very welcoming, and I've made some wondeful, meaningful friendships there.

2. Great music galore! I have been moved and inspired by a multitude of great new releases, especially those from Nick Cave and Sam Phillips, which both mean a lot to me on a personal level.

3. I have the best girlfriend in the whole wide world. Even if she doesn't post at the Phorum as much as she should.

4. Covenant Presbyterian Church is a great place to worship. This year, I've become a little bit more involved with some of the church's ministries, both as a participant and as a leader, and I have been richly blessed by the community of believers, as well as our new pastor's love for the Word and for his congregation.

5. The Almight has seen my family through some tough times, including my sister's major illness, my grandmother's struggle with cancer, and some medical problems of my mother's. Again quoting Bob Dylan, everything is broken, but God is faithful in putting the pieces back together to make something beautiful.

6. Reveal, my website, has experienced far more success than I ever thought it would, even surpassing the old Rebel Base site in its number of hits. I thank all of you pholks and your support for this.

7. The Phorum has grown quite a bit. We've gained a ton of new members, many of whom have already become very important members of this community. I've also been blessed by the great pholks over at the Arts and Faith board.

Okay, that's good for starters... anyone else?

 

[Vlad!]

My patience with the dwarfen keyboard on this laptop is wearing thin, but I'll contribute.

The thing freshest in my mind is school. Though I did fairly well this semester gradewise I was disappointed in several ways both in my procrastination making simple things into urgent crises and by how stressful classes can be. Also, relating to my roommate, who is a good friend but (if such a thing can be imagined) an even lazier slob than I am, was both easier in some ways and more difficult in some ways after moving to an apartment from the dormitories. His parents are also certifiably insane, tempting me to lock myself in my room whenever they take it in their heads to visit.

A major downer this year was the death of one of my old classmates from high school. Those who went to large schools (and I know how it is; the college I'm in has over 24,000 undergrads) probably won't understand quite what it's like, but my graduating class had 49 people in it. One of those is married and another is now dead. Yet another one has been hit hard by the ravages of fortune and has begun turning to drugs for relief from a situation he finds more and more intolerable. Some have dropped out of college or had to transfer to ones other than those they would like, and still more have even now no idea what direction their lives are headed in. This from a class of less than 50 people who graduated from a well-known (in Knoxville, at least) Christian high school.

On a somewhat lighter note, my relationship with my parents is getting better. Though I have been blessed with two excellent parents who love both me and one-another, I believe they are actually starting to respect me as my own person rather than simply their child, and I can relate to them more as adults now than before. Not that it's all smooth sailing, but when I look at others' parents and how dysfunctional they can be, I remind myself to give mine a hug the next time I see them.

Regarding the arts, I have seen less movies than even my previous abysmally low totals this year. Thanks partly to the phorum, I have been able to vicariously experience many of these by reading discussions, reviews, and comments by those I know and trust. Musically I'm sort of ambivalent; though there have been some ostensibly great albums released I was disappointed by REM and uninspired by Evanescence's rehash of old hits. It has been a great literary year, though, and I have read some excellent books and added a couple new authors to my "must-read" list. And my roommate and I, both fans of Japanese anime, have watched several very high-quality series that we both enjoyed quite a bit.

It's been a year of getting to know new people and learning new things. Over the course of its 366 days I have been joyful, tearful, elated, depressed, peaceful, stressed, enthusiastic, blase, proud, ashamed, and perhaps most of all amazed. Perhaps next year I will learn to take a step back and deal with things as they come, stop procrastinating and giving in to distractions, and focus on what is really important. I don't have any high hopes, though, since I'm pretty sure I said almost the same thing a year ago...

[enemy anemone]

this past year has been a very difficult one for me, mostly for reasons that I haven't written about here or on my blog. the one bright spot has been music--learning to play guitar and discovering or acquiring a greater appreciation for the music of Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Buddy and Julie Miller, and Gillian Welch.  

[beautifulmess]

I wrote about 2004 here.