An Essay on 2010
by Andrew J. Karagianis
December 31st, 2010
Normally I don't think of a year as a discrete unit, containing events that are exclusive to it. Human life and culture flows from year to year. 2010, on the other hand, was a very distinct year for me. A very eventful year. A year that did have some positive aspects, but was overpowered with negatives.
My objective is not to sound like I'm complaining. In the time zone I live in, as I type this, 2010 is 11 hours away from being over forever. And I'm well aware that I'm not the only person who had a rough time this year. So keeping in mind that I live in a part of the world where I don't generally have to worry about natural disasters like they do in places like Haiti, here is how 2010 panned out in my world. It's not all bad, by the way; toward the end I'll write about the positive aspects.
On New Year's Day, 2010, I "moved in" to my brother's rented townhouse for a trial run. He and his roommate, Adam, were interested in having someone share the hefty rent they were paying, and I thought it might be a good chance to try it out. I brought over my 50-pound eMac and some other necessities, and spent the night there. The next day, I was back home. I'm not going to get into details in public, but it wasn't going to work out. But I tried it, and I'm glad I did.
On February 1st, my dad moved out. Once again, I don't think it's my place to go into details on the Internet. But it was a significant piece of the larger puzzle of 2010.
I honestly don't remember when the formal decision was made (it could have been in the summer), but I think it was around this time when the reality set in that my parents were splitting up. I didn't like it…but that's what happened. I also didn't realize that it was such a long legal process. Anyway, while I'm sad it happened, I'm thankful that it happened when I was 24, and not when I was a kid. I was old enough to understand. I could talk at length about this, but again it's not my place. I'll touch on it again later in this essay.
In December '09 and January '010 (as Stephen Colbert called it during the Olympics), I applied to 6 graduate programs, with the intent of getting a Master's degree in Psychology. Over the course of the spring, the letters came back, and just like the year before, I didn't get in to any of them. I was disappointed, because I was much more serious about it this time around. The fact that I got rejected across the board two years in a row made me seriously question where I was going in life. It pissed me off that I spent 5 years in undergrad, 3 of which were doing Psychology as a major, and did all the work entailed in getting my Bachelor's degree…but that I was not good enough to move on to the next level. I was aware that entrance to grad school in Psychology is extremely competitive, given that Psych is the second-most popular degree program in North America (meaning there are a ton of applicants for very few spaces)…but it still hurt. Psychology was my Plan B (Plan A is to be a rock star)…and they said "Nope! We don't want you." So now I'm left floating, wondering if any path will work out for me, or if they're all going to string me along and then kick me in the face.
In March, I got in contact with a psychologist at the hospital I volunteer at, to see if she could use any assistance with anything. She had a project that was about to start up, and I went in for an interview, and they told me they'd be in touch. A few weeks later, I e-mailed her, and she told me that the project went ahead, but because so few participants signed up, they wouldn't need my help. So that was disappointing.
Also in March, I played two gigs with my band, Adam & Evil…and we haven't played a show since.
Again in March, I got called back to work at the Zoo, at which point my Flickr use trickled off, and didn't really bounce back until September.
In April, my brother's rental contract was about to expire, and he moved back home. This wasn't negative, but I'm trying to keep significant events in chronological order.
In early May, the annual crop of New Guys started at the Zoo. I was put on the Savannah crew…the crew I was on when I started at the Zoo in 2005. I was bummed about having to move, because for the previous 4 years, I was on the Eurasia crew, and was able to mingle with all the people in my department who went back to The Building for breaks and lunch…and there were about 40 of us who did that. Now, I was going to be isolated, and I didn't like it.
In the late Spring, it was determined that we would be moving out of the house that we lived in for 6 years. This caused a lot of stress, because our priorities (the four of us who lived there) were not on the same plane. I knew what I was responsible for, and I took care of those responsibilities. But I was tasked with a lot of unnecessary things, and the delegation of manpower did not follow any logical order. There was a lot of "Because I said so", and that doesn't work with me. I want to get into details, but I probably shouldn't, because it's over now. Let's just say that it was an extremely stressful time for my family, and if you ever find yourself in a situation where you have to move in a hurry, you must devise a system that is efficient and that is fair to all involved.
Around June, we lost our jam space at the house. It was still there, ready to use, but we were told we couldn't use it, because the house was going up for sale. In the end, it sat there for probably three months before the house actually went on the market. The move was a complicated one, because there were players involved that aren't present in most "normal" moves, and a lot of incorrect information was fed to us through the grapevine. We encountered delay after delay after delay. It caused a massive waste of time, a massive amount of stress on me, and a massive amount of stress on my family.
We moved our instruments to Alex's apartment, where a few of us jammed twice before he had to move out, due to his lease expiring. This brings us to the next part.
In the middle of June, an opportunity to move out on my own came up. Alex, my band's guitar player, was almost finished the lease on his apartment, and we thought we'd make good roommates. So we looked at probably 10 apartments, most of them shitholes. Finally, we found a really nice one -- but the landlord wouldn't allow pets. And I mean he was adamant. Alex was willing to give up his hedgehog to live there, but I was not willing to give up my parrot. In the end, I decided I'd do it, so we took possession on July 1st and my mom took the parrot, which she said she'd do for the first year.
I moved in on July 14th. I regretted it almost instantly. Barely a day had passed when the landlord got mad at us for damaging his driveway. It wasn't me who did it, and if his driveway was soft enough to be damaged by what he assumed had happened…he needs a better driveway. Anyway, he nit-picked us for leaving lights on (wasn't me), leaving the fan on in the bathroom (wasn't me), the way we parked our cars, and pretty much any other minor infraction he could come up with. I explained my frustrations to Alex, and he talked to the landlord. He has barely said a word to me since. Lesson learned: Never rent an apartment until you ask the landlord what sort of tenant habits bother him.
At the end of July, I went to Nova Scotia with my dad and brother. Never had I been so glad to get away. I spent five days there, at my grandparents' cottage, and I took lots of good pictures…including one of the PEI ferries, a seal on the beach, and my grandfather getting hit in the face with an egg (he was fine).
That summer was bad for a lot of people in my department at work. There was a lot of spying, snitching, and overall sneaky behavior going on. Thankfully, I wasn't involved, but some of my friends got in trouble repeatedly for little good reason, and a few people alienated themselves by short-sightedly persecuting the many.
Those of us with more seniority often get extended to work in the fall. On one of the first days of the extension, I woke up at 5:00am, checked Facebook, and saw a message that a friend had sent in the middle of the night. My heart sank when I read it, and I hoped it was a joke. I went in to work, and a few of my coworkers had also gotten that message. Later that morning, five of us gathered around while one guy called the friend who had messaged us on Facebook. It was not a joke. One of our friends had died that night.
We were all shaken up by the news. We didn't know what happened to him, and I, being a hypochondriac, was afraid for my own life, because it seemed to be random and without any apparent cause.
I went to a gathering of friends one night, and to a viewing another day, and that's where I learned what killed him. It wasn't drunk driving, or drugs, or any other thing that often kills young people. It was Salmonella.
I went to his funeral service…by the end, there was not a dry eye in the whole church. We drove to the cemetery, and while we waited for people to arrive, the sky opened up. It rained hard for a while, and we eventually decided to get out of the truck we were sitting in and be men about it. There were about 50 of us standing in the pouring rain for probably 5 minutes, until we were told to go back to our cars and wait for the rain to clear. Eventually it did, and the sun came out. Our friend was buried, and a group of us went to Boston Pizza afterwards, because we thought that's what he would have wanted us to do.
Around the same time in September, my dad moved away. He had been living in an apartment maybe 10 minutes away for the previous 7 months, and now it was time to move to where his new job was, in Indiana. I thought about visiting him during the fall, but couldn't find a time where my brother and sister were both available to come with me.
By the end of September, my band had not played as a 5-person unit since March. Finally, with my mom's help, we found a church (her friend is the minister), and we arranged a deal to practice there.
Also during the end of September, it was finally time to give up Terrance -- temporarily. Earlier that month, I was told that I'd have to get Terrance out of the house while it was on the market, which was to start on September 27th. I was pissed off because I knew I'd have nowhere to bring him. I asked the landlord and he said "Absolutely not". My friend Rick volunteered to take Terrance, so I brought him over. I felt bad, and angry, because I was told that the house would be up on the 27th, and here I was, abusing my friend's offer by having Terrance at his house uneccessarily. He understood that it was out of my control, but it caused me more stress because I had acted on false information again. The house finally went on the market in October.
In November, I decided to visit my dad in Indiana. I flew down with my sister on a Friday…and later that night my mom called to say that she had our dog put down. I knew it was coming…she had been acting very sluggish the previous few weeks, and out of breath. Thankfully, we got to say our last goodbyes before we left…knowing that when we returned, she might not have been there.
I also got sick that night, so that put a damper on things. We went to the Indianapolis Zoo, the state museum, and some other places. When we flew back, one of my ears refused to pop on the plane, and it was really uncomfortable. It felt like someone was stabbing my ear. It remained unpopped for a few days.
In late November/early December, my mom moved. She rented a U-Haul for some of it, and a moving truck for the rest. It was a sad day, but it put a lot of stress behind us. My aunt (her sister) was there to help us/help them get settled in their new home.
Then, a few days ago, my external hard drive crapped out. It still turns on, but the icon won't show up on my desktop...so I went out and bought a new 2-TB model. Hopefully I can recover the data from the old one, once I can afford that serivce.
On top of that, I'm making a lot of mistakes in my typing lately (the past few days), and I don't know why. My fingers are hitting the wrong keys a lot, and I hope it's just my cold hands, and not a sign of something eating away at my brain.
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Despite all the shitty things that happened in my world in 2010, there were specks of light that shone through the cracks.
I met several awesome people on Flickr this year, and of the 81 contacts I added in 2010, there are a handful of you whose pictures and stories I always look forward to seeing and reading. You know who you are, and I'm thankful for your friendship!
I bought a new laptop in May.
I had a fun summer at the Zoo, despite the fact that the weather was hotter than hell for weeks. The crew got along pretty well for the most part, and we did a lot of fun stuff together. I actually made a separate list of all the memorable stuff that went down, haha, but it's probably best not to write it here ;)
My coworkers know that I point out a lot of things that I notice around me, and so they bugged me to make a Hate List. In early July, I did just that. It's funny how entertaining a Hate List can be! If anyone wants to read the Hate List, ask me. It's not hate speech. It's just things that annoy me.
I went on three significant trips: New York State in April; Nova Scotia in July, and Indianapolis in November. I took lots of pictures, and you'll see them on my stream next year!
In mid-December, I discovered an Autotune feature on my computer, and I went nuts, recording myself singing various old songs in the style of whatever pop artists use Autotune a lot.
I like to think I've gotten better at photography…at the whole experience. My composition has gotten better. I got a flash in October, and that has helped immensely with people shots. And in July, I walked across sand, hid behind boulders, and slid on my stomach across sandstone to get close to a wild seal that had swam ashore in Nova Scotia…I took a bunch of pictures of it that I'm very pleased with. Plus, I got hired to do two photography gigs for my friend's company, including kids' pictures with Santa Claus!
So, I'd like to keep these positive things going, and leave the negative things in the past. I thank anyone who's read this whole thing; I look forward to 2011, and as for the year that was 2010, I say "Good Riddance!"
:)
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