Issue #77 - January 2008
  Renewed, Reloaded, and Ready

2007 was one of the worse years I've had to deal with in my life.  But, like everything, it wasn't all bad.  Some wonderful things happened along with the bad.  All I can really say is that 2007 was the most dramatic year I've ever had.  Makes me wonder if 2008 will be more of a roller-coaster.  Either way, I'm ready.

Vista Drive gets a small update this month.  Check them out.
 

Afterthoughts : 2007 Highlights

As I said at the beginning of this page, 2007 will go down as a roller-coaster of a year.  I can't say it was all bad, nor that it was all good.  The reality is that it was, like any year, a mix of both bad and good.  What I think will make it stand out is the extremes of both bad and good.  Here are a few highlights, in the order that they happened.

1) Meeting Sylvia is the first significant thing that happened in 2007. I met her barely a month into the new year. We clicked and became fast friends. I can honestly say that I've never met anyone like her. The entire year is peppered with her presence. There wasn't a single substantial event that happened that she didn't share in. She easily became the most significant person in my life.

2) I graduated college and got my B.A. in English.  I'm sorry that I couldn't have finished school before my Grandmother died.  Every time I felt like it was too hard to continue I remembered her and it gave me strength.  I miss her. When I got my diploma I cried because what it meant to me, to her, and to my mother.  I miss them both so much.

3) I thought I was a shoe-in for a job at the University library, but politics got involved and the job was given to someone else.  It really sucks that I didn't even get a chance to prove myself to them.  I know that I would have blow away everyone who also applied for that job.  But, things happen for a reason.

4) My cousin's wedding was a joyous occasion.  After waiting for years she got married and started her new life with her new husband.  It had a bit of sadness in that her sister did not live to see that moment.  Having died the year before, my cousin Sandra, was sorely missed.

5) My Father's death came suddenly and swiftly.  One day he was relatively well, the next he's in a hospital and there's nothing the doctors could do for him.  After suffering a stroke, the doctors gave him the grim news.  A week after his stroke he was gone.

6) Getting one new job wasn't enough, I had to go and get two new jobs.  I was finally able to quit my joyless and stifling job at Ralph's and move to greener pastures.  I will make my presence at the two libraries felt like I have everywhere I go.  They won't know what hit them, but it will be good.

Well, those are the significant events for 2007.  I'm really looking forward to 2008 because I intend to make it the best year yet.
 

Etcetera : A Look Back at Dec via Photos

Here is a look back at December 2007 in a few pictures. Such a collection of pictures can't tell the whole story, but it's nice to look back at some events.


I went to Domingo's to get a sub sandwich, something I haven't done in a long time.  It's good to know that the subs are still really great here.  The place has changed a little, but it's still the same ol' Domingo's.  I'm going to try and make the effort to go more often this coming year.
 


Tommmy's is one of my favorite places to eat.  It's so special to me that whenever something good happens, and I feel like celebrating with a meal, I go to Tommy's.  I treated myself to this meal after being hired for the San Marino and Glendale library jobs.
 


Heather, one of my former co-workers from the Oviatt Library.  I took this picture while visiting my old boss.  I came back the ex-employee that did good and got the new job and yeah.  Everyone was congratulating me on the new jobs.
 


This is Sylvia's hair before a haircut. Going with her to get her haircut was a bit of normalcy after my father's death.  I really love Sylvia because with her it's just natural, there's no drama, just fun and comfort.  She is the most important person in my life.
 


This is Dali's "The Persistence of Memory," perhaps his best known work.  It is really a thrill to see the real work of art after seeing it in books and in posters for all these years.  There is something so unique about a painting in that it can be copied and thereby shared with the world, but the original has a million times more to offer.  A poster doesn't show the texture, the work of the artist in the micro.  Seeing this is apropos to not only this past month, but of this past year.
 
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
 
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