Glancing Back at 2009

At the beginning of 2009, I wrote Glancing Backward, Looking Forward to have a vantage point of the path I've taken thus far, and a mapping of the course I wanted to take for the brand new days ahead.

This time, I am going to write two different posts. The first, a brief recap of the events of the past year. Hopes for 2010 will be in the next.

2009 has been very good to me. Some of the plans I drafted at the start of the year were actually realized.

1 I spent the first light of the new year with my mom and two sisters in Seattle. We explored the Emerald City of the Evergreen State as we rekindled the ties that bind us. I summarized our discoveries in Seattle Sights.

2 I adjusted pretty well in my new work area, PACU (Post Anesthesia Care Unit). While there, my hospital and the Daisy Foundation recognized my two years of hard work in Telemetry with the Daisy Award.

3 I had hoped to discover L.A. and its neighboring cities with Angelino. Not only did that happen, but I also had my Mom and youngest sister in tow. Images of our adventures in LA-LA-LAnd and its outskirts are posted in April 2009.

4 There were exactly 13 live performances I attended last year.

One circus: Cirque Du Soleil's Kooza;

Three musicals: Rent, Mamma Mia! and Dirty Dancing;

And nine concerts: Divas 4 Divas, Hollywood Bowl Opening Night, Beyonce, John Williams, P!NK, Martin & Gary, U2, Andrea Bocelli, and Lady Gaga.

Wow! :)

5 I dated again after so many years of not being in the scene. And I committed my very first formal declination of affection in Hard To Say It's Over.

I attended a gay speed dating event for the first time. They weren't kidding about the speed. Daters had to get to know each other in 3 minutes and then it's off to the next table. It felt like dancing Rigodon in lightning-fast tempo. Fun but exhausting.

There were also dating mishaps during the last quarter all summarized in Something for November.

So, I did give dating a chance (several, actually) as per my resolution and welcomed a little bit of romance in my life, but to see the end of my single-since-birth existence has yet to be checked-off.

6 I had my freshman orientation to West Hollywood. I also attended my very first gay pride festival - in Palm Springs. :)

7 Traveling to another city or country was one of my goals. I realized that in my seven days of Chicago.

8 I have been blessed to celebrate another birthday and I did so in the happiest place on Earth.

9 Angelino turned one year in November. Yup, my little boy is growing up. And there have been changes to his look throughout the year.

But true to my minimalist inclination, I didn't pimp him up too much so he only got the accessories I deemed useful. The link below is an online album of his latest photos.

G is 1

10 By the way, I "found" my iPhone. I believe it was returned by the person who I suspect took it from my bag. Details in a later post.

11 Perhaps the highlight of my 2009 is Big Bear Adventure Weekend where I Met Someone. I gained new friends and a broader perspective of the gay scene.

Most potently, I met "Andy", the man who knocked on my door and then shut it right back at me in a confounding plot twist.

Nevertheless, it was the most magical moment of my life thus far. It was also the most out-of-control I have ever been in my entire life. I do not regret any second of it.

If I could do it all over again, I would change nothing, except perhaps the part that we didn't consummate.

If I could do it all over again, I will take him; I will possess him; I will alter the very fabric of his being, even for just one fleeting moment, or two. And in so doing, I would have also altered mine.

But, of course, that's mere illusion by now. You can't turn back time and do something undone in that same space-time continuum.

My friends ask, "What'll you do if you see him again?"

"I think I'll say 'Hi'".

"After what he did to you?"

I didn't answer. I kept silent. But deep inside I said, "Why not? It's over. It's all water under the bridge now. It was what it was. At least I had something that I saw as beautiful. It's a precious piece of memory no one can take away."

12 Finally, although I submitted myself to public humiliation by posting a not very flattering topless picture, I haven't really gone far in terms of losing weight and building up.

There were ups and downs in my struggle to achieve an ideal weight and build up muscle but I always end up on square one. Time to "move it" in 2010. :)

All in all, 2009 was a great year. Many thanks to the many people who were part of my life in 2009.