2007: The Year In Review, in photos

I’ve been saying that 2007 was the worst year of my life. Really massively shitty to tell the truth. And because of that I felt that I really needed to do something to tie the whole thing up and leave it behind me. Of course I couldn’t figure out the best way to do that, and then I saw what Larry and Mike were doing and I knew I had to steal the idea. So rather than write something I decided to go through my flickr account and pull a few photos from each month that represented what was going on. I didn’t have any idea what a monster of a task that was going to be when I started it, but once I got into it I had to finish it. When I did, and looked back over it all, I now don’t know if 2007 was a shitty as I’ve been saying it was. It was certainly full of change, and mostly unexpected. It had some very low lows, but also some very high highs. I lost a lot, but I think in the end I’ve gained even more. And standing here looking back over the last 12 months I don’t know how much of it I’d change if I had the chance. Of course there are some things I wish had played out differently, but overall I think it wasn’t really that bad, just took a lot of adjusting and looking at things differently that I had before. If 2008 has half the excitement that 2007 had it will still be amazing.

So, the pics are after the jump. I gotta warn you it’s a big page with a lot of photos that will probably take a while to load. I didn’t link to any blog posts, as you’ve probably read them all anyway, and sometimes photos tell their own story. In many cases you can click the photo for more on that specific thing, if you want. So this is just images and brief descriptions. Enjoy.

In January…

Apparently I played a lot of WoW because according to my flickr stream I pwnd n00bs:

And started a new Guild:

In February…

Metblogs got some cool international press:

and I moved into a real office for the first time in years:

My valentine to Caryn was more about restraint:

And I was also visited by some Austrians just in time for my birthday:

In March…

I realized my life was going to be changing in ways I really didn’t want it to:

And promptly took off to San Francisco for an open house at Kink.com to distract me:

From there I did not pass go, but went directly to San Diego where I ended up underground in an old bank vault with a bunch of Canadians, some of whom I’m lucky to call good friends less than a year later:

In April…

Bad became worse and I had easily the worst week of my adult life. There are a few weeks where I didn’t take any photos, which was probably for the best.

I then went back to San Francisco and watched other adults race big wheels down one of the steepest, curviest streets in town:

And then went to another web conference, but couldn’t find the Keynotes:

Then I went to Chicago to see a Naked Raygun show and got to hang out with some of my favorite people in the world:

It was awesome, and those folks will never have any idea how important that week was to me, or how much they mean to me.

I also got a new tattoo:

And yes, it’s backwards on purpose.

In May…

I went back to LA, and moved out:

And then got a tour by bike of the Port of Long Beach… in the middle of the night:

And got my highest Google ranking ever:

And then Griffith Park burned:

I attended the LACE Auction, representing sixspace for what would turn out to be the last time ever, even though I didn’t know it then:

The next day Micki changed my life. Though I don’t think either of us know it then:

We went to San Francisco and saw fire and felt the burn. Sometimes you know where the danger is and know to avoid it. Sometimes.

I got back to LA and made more hard decisions:

And gave up sleeping for a month or two:

In June…

I rode my bike more in 24 hours than I ever have before, almost 100 miles by the end. The end which was ushered in by the cops:

And got to flex my nerdness, to a girl who was totally unimpressed of course:

I countered that by teaching Lynn how to shoot. I owed her one. A big one. I figured that was a good start:

Then I went to Pixelodeon, which turned out to be one of the coolest and most inspiring events I’ve ever been to in LA. And I met a ton of cool people, many I’m lucky enough to call really good friends less than a year later:

And following that bad things happened involving unicorns:

In my continuing effort to move on, let go, and focus on what actually matters, I sold my most prized possessions:

And then, just before Micki took off on her soul searching tour, we had a really bad idea:

Then she left, and things would never be the same. I mean, because the iPhone came out of course. What did you think I was talking about, gosh!

In July…

Joi invited me to Japan:

And within hours of touching ground there for the first time I had one of the most amazing meals of my life:

I was there for a little over 2 weeks and it was one of the most amazing trips I’ve ever taken, and was a major turning point for me. Not because of this picture though:

For lots of other reasons, that if you were reading my blog at the time you know all too well. For more pics I took while there, start here. Thanks Joi. Really.

Then I got back to LA and got another new tattoo:

And had one of the best conversations of the year:

In August…

I went to Orange County to BlizzCon:

And realized I hadn’t played WoW since mid March. Oddly I wasn’t upset by this at all. And the conference was still tons of fun, even if I was surrounded by nerds:

And I rode more bikes, and had more revelations:

Then I went to NYC and met up with family members I hadn’t seen in 20 years:

And had vegan cupcakes:

And ate at Red Bamboo, with friends, a lot:

Then I went to Toronto and hung out with Canadians, the same ones from the bank vault in fact:

I also rode the trains:

And hung out with more friends who I hadn’t seen in years:

Then I drove to Montreal with new friends who I felt like I’d know for years:

In September…

Things got scary:

Then I flew to Washington DC, where I hadn’t been in probably close to 20 years, and almost died from the vegan cupcake selection:

But more importantly, I went to the National Air and Space Museum where I spent endless hours as kid. It was exactly like I remembered it to be, and exactly like I hoped it would be. I spent endless hours there as an adult:

I also found this bench, which means nothing to you, but everything to me:

I got back to LA, and saw the future at NextFest:

And it’s just like the past, but funnier:

Then I went to LA Erotic Film fest with Violet and Eon, and sat in the corner heckling everyone else:

But at least I was back in LA:

In October…

I got a new bike, for the first time since I was about 10 I was going without gears!

And one of the first things I did with it was ride to the top of Barnsdale Park for SwerveFest to see DeVotchKa play:

Then back to San Francisco for more shenanigans with the Austrians:

Once I got back in LA I started riding with the Wolfpack:

And saw some Irish punk:

And freaked out my friends by announcing that I was going off Caffeine for a week. One. Single. Week:

In November…

I went to BarCamp and nerded out with the nerds:

And rode my bike further and faster on the Wolfpack Century:

And before leaving LA again I made time to work with JSto on a project about dreaming:

And rode bikes some more:

Then spent the night at Chicago O’Hare airport:

And finally, 48 hours later, arrived in Vienna:

And helped monochrom with some very bad ideas at Roboxotica:

Was a guest on the Taugshow:

And showed off lolcats to a room filled with screaming fans:

I saw Hamlet performed by robots (in German):

And did dangerous things with liquid nitrogen:

And ate vegan schnitzl at an Irish whiskey bar:

Ang walked around Vienna, a lot:

In December…

We went to the countryside and climbed through the muck to get on top of a really, really old grave:

Which in hindsight… well, nevermind. Then I moved into the Museumsquartier:

And brought over my old friend Scott Blake to show off his Bar Cade Art:

And together with monochrom, we paid tribute to Falco:

Then snuck into an old as hell castle:

Then Scott left, and I teamed up with the locals to scour the streets looking for all things cute and wholesome:

But mostly spent a lot of time walking around in the middle of the night. Sometimes alone. Sometimes not.

At the last second I decided to go to Paris, via London, and got lost in the airport for hours, couldn’t find a ride, and finally paid way too much for a taxi, only to walk right into dinner with friends: