Paul Hammond's Blog

Time for another reflection on a year passed.  I wrote my first yearly review (Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009) last year, so I thought I’d continue the tradition.

So, What Happened In 2009?

Travel featured again, although not as much as in 2008.  This year I made only 8 trips, spending 66 days on the road.  I returned to Dublin once, Shanghai twice and Seattle three times.  I visited Cyprus for the very first time for our family vacation, and headed to Chicago for the Agile 2009 conference.

I was in Chicago with my friend Dave, who lived there for a while.  He introduced me to some great food (including delicious Pizza at Giordano’s, breaded Steak Sandwiches at Ricobene’s, and breakfast at the West Egg Cafe).  I was able to catch a White Sox vs Orioles baseball game at US Cellular field, but sadly I couldn’t get tickets for the Cubs vs Mets game at Wrigley.  I visited the stadium though.

Cyprus was fantastic.  Blue skies and sunshine every day, 35 degree heat, lovely beaches.  We rented a house and a car and explored the Eastern end of the Cypriot owned part of the Island.  I was fascinated by Famagusta and the ghost town.  Highly recommended if you want a slow moving and relaxing holiday in a very beautiful place.

While I was in Chicago, I spent some time exercising with super-fit Dave, and I realised that I was seriously unfit.  I resolved to change that, and I blogged about my exercise and weight loss progress back in November.  I’ve continued on since then and lost a further 5lbs in weight.

In February, I completed my 365 Days photography project.  It felt great to hit 366 days without missing a single picture, and I learned a lot about both my camera and Photoshop.  I’ve since had the photos (rather vainly) printed into a hard-cover book using blurb.com, so I can flick through it every so often to remember the achievement.  I’ve since forgotten all of the Photoshop techniques I learned during the year, and many of the camera techniques!  I am sure it will come back to me when I take on my next photography project.  I’m yet to decide what that will be.

In July, I finally got to see a long-time favourite artist of mine, Babyface, live at the indigO2 in London.  He was completely awesome, and I hope he comes back through London again soon.

I finally bought a new desktop computer in August, one that gives me enough power for photo and video editing, as well as multi-track audio recording.  I’m looking forward to giving it a proper workout soon, time permitting.

On the 1st December, my daughter sang with the Young Voices Choir at the O2.  It was amazing to see her join 8,000 other children to sing along with a number of celebrities who graced the stage.  The kids took up a third of the auditorium!  It was a very impressive sight, and an even more impressive sound.  I am looking forward to getting the DVD of the show in the New Year.  You can see a clip from the 1st December Young Voices concert here.

I’ll be finishing out the year at a wedding on December 31st.  I’ve never mixed celebrations before, so that will be a first for me.  I’m looking forward to seeing in the New Year in a suit, rather than the usual pyjamas…

What Didn’t Happen In 2009? 

Last year’s post had a list of things I wanted to try and to in 2009.  So, how did I do?  Very poorly it seems.  I did visit Chicago and Shanghai.  I didn’t read anywhere near as much as I wanted to, I didn’t learn any more Spanish or Mandarin, nor formally take piano or guitar lessons.  I didn’t participate in NaNoWriMo 2009, didn’t record any music, and didn’t start a new photography projects.  Oh, and if anything, I blogged less.  So, pretty much a big FAIL against my predictions!

Onwards to 2010.

The first thing to think about is what I will call 2010.  Am I going to be in the “Twenty-Ten” crowd, or the “Two-Thousand-and-Ten” bucket?  Unlike in the 1900s, where saying “Nineteen-Seventy” sounded right, saying “Twenty-Ten” or “Twenty-Twelve” sounds a little wrong to me.  I think I’ll be going with “Two-Thousand-and-Ten”.  You?

Things that may or may not happen in 2010:

• I will probably be involved in planning the Agile Conference again, so will likely be heading to Nashville, Tennessee in August.  Another US city I’ve never visited before.
• More exercising, both running and cycling, including at least one formally organized race – probably a 10k.
• I’ll be visiting my childhood home town much more often that I have done in recent years.
• I will almost certainly write and record something this year.  Just one more bit of hardware to buy first (a new DI box, for those who care).
• I’ll be switching blog engines, from DasBlog to GraffitiCMS.  I’ll also hopefully have a new site design in the New Year.
• I’ll be developing an iPhone application, probably working with Tee to extend his BostonFireBox.com offering.
• We’re enjoying discussing the possibilities for our family holiday this year.  No decision yet, other than “we are definitely going on holiday!”.
• I’ll be decorating our bedroom and our hall, stairs and landing early in the New Year so that the carpet we already paid for can be fitted.  I hate decorating.  Humbug.

Anyway, Happy New Year everyone, I hope 2010 is everything you want it to be, and more besides.