What They Call The “Real Life”
- 2008 ended with me getting unemployed. The decision being made for me was a catalyst to finally make my move. I was planning to get out of employment in 2009 anyways, so, you know. Thank you, Yahoo!.
- Early in the year I went freelance. As mentioned, I had played with the idea for a while by then, so that was pretty cool. And scary.
- Got a few clients, and managed to keep a good “client work vs. own projects” ratio. I’m not getting rich working like this, but I’d like to be truly happy in my job for once, so it’s important for me to keep the balance there.
- My first freelance project, a WoW-related site named CharPool, was a personal success, but failed nonetheless. About a month after launching it other sites with similar functionality came out and kind of crushed it. I guess I had waited too long to act on the idea for the site. So, in December, I’ve turned the server off. Well, live and learn.
- Speaking of learning, I’ve learned a boatload of new things this year. Lots of Ruby-related things, of course, but also a lot of *nix stuff. Fun!
- Among other things, I rewrote my Twitter contact management site TwerpScan — and had the chance to give a quick talk about it for a mixed audience here in Munich. Another first for me, and I’ve enjoyed it.
- Got myself two ebook readers, a Bookeen Cybook Gen3 and a Amazon Kindle 2. Both nice, but the latter wins, hands down. What a refined piece of technology!
- I’m currently knee-deep in RubyCocoa code, which I consider a road to MacRuby, which I need for my next big project… Loving it!
- Finally got me an iPhone.
Friends & Family
- In August, I had the honor of being best man for M & E. Beautiful, beautiful wedding. It was an absolutely wonderful weekend. I love you guys. :)
- We went up to Northern Germany for a nice vacation, including hooking up with my man Hendrik who showed us
his hellhole of a citythe (mostly) pretty parts of Hamburg ;), and a visit to the BUGA 2009 (i.e. the annual “German Federal Horticultural Show”).
Games & Movies
- Biggest surprises this year: Batman: Arkham Asylum, Assassin’s Creed II. Both games I knew about but didn’t have much interest in, until Mike would lend them to me, and then… I really didn’t see them coming, but they hit me hard. Good stuff. :)
- Also notable this year: the two GTA IV DLC packs, Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Wars.
- Avatar — holy shit. That movie really hit the spot for me. Also great: District 9. A good year for scifi, methinks.
Verdict
- Awesome year. Really, really good. :)
Here’s to 2010. May it be as good as 2009 was.
