The Year 2010
ORLANDO – The year 2010 is on its way out tonight, and, like everyone else, I feel this is a fine time to recall some of the events that made this year one of the most interesting in my life.
School
When 2010 began I was one measly credit away from completing my undergraduate studies at the University of Florida. I had spent the previous semester struggling with an eighteen-credit-hour schedule. That nearly killed me. But this spring was easy, and the class I took, about insects, was interesting. By the end of April I was finished, and I graduated on May first. All my family came to Gainesville, and we enjoyed dinner at Satchel’s Pizza.
Three months later I was beginning graduate school, and, to be perfectly honest, I was panicking about it in the weeks leading up to the start of the autumn semester. The first week of class was awful, and I dropped a class that was simply too horrible to contemplate taking. Of the two classes I kept on my schedule, I liked one and could barely tolerate the other. But I survived, in spite of having to read up to a thousand pages of text per week. And, though I could not fathom how I would be able to write twenty-page papers, I did it. Soon enough I will post those papers here on my page. Believe me, they are boring.
So, as 2010 ends, I am a graduate student, more in debt than ever!
Travel
In the past decade I have visited more places than I ever thought I would. Since 2000 I have been all over western Europe, made my first trip to the western United States, visited Chicago, Washington, Atlanta, Savannah, Raleigh, Birmingham, Hilton Head Island, gone camping in the mountains of North Carolina, and covered almost every inch of Puerto Rico. This year I went to several new places, and visited another I hadn’t seen in twenty years.
In May, Mrs. Hill and I packed our car and hit the road for Richmond. We visited the wonderful Edgar Allen Poe museum there, toured the state house grounds, and drove the old streets lined with houses built in the 1870s. From there we headed to Washington to visit that city for the second time. We stayed at the fanciest possible hotel, and toured the city’s great museums. From the nation’s capital we drove through Shenandoah National Park, which had long been a dream of mine, and then spent two nights in Charlottesville, where we explored Monticello.
In September we flew from Orlando to White Plains, where we stayed for five nights, making several trips into New York City, where we saw the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Rockefeller Center, the Empire State Building, Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, Central Park, Brooklyn, and much else. I loved White Plains, and would be happy to visit again. The Percy Grainger House was simply amazing. I have much more to say about this, and intend to post a full account soon.
Earlier this month I enjoyed two-and-a-half wonderful days in Cleveland with my father. I hadn’t traveled with him since 1986, and we had a great time the whole time. We saw the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Lake Erie, the Christmas Story House, and walked all over downtown and the Tremont Neighborhood. Seeing snow fall was a treat I hadn’t enjoyed since I was a child. I also have lots more to say about this, and I will post a full account soon.
Music
In May, Miriam and I watched one of her favorite bands, Pavement, reunite for a concert in Central Park. I do not know a lot about the band, but Miriam liked it, and the reviews I read later indicated that it was the best sort of reunion show – the kind with all the old stuff and no pointless filler or drama. Amusingly, opening for Pavement that night was a band called Endless Boogie. They played a two-song set that lasted an hour. I wish I was exaggerating. The first song consisted of one chord. Again, I wish I was exaggerating. The bass player never moved from the A note. Then–and, again, I assure you this is all true–in the middle of the half-hour-long song, the singer received a text message, and proceeded to read it on stage. It was an astonishing moment in an astonishingly boring performance, but it made me laugh.
In early October I went to see Bob Dylan in Gainesville at the O’Connell Center. I paid only $20 for my ticket, and though I didn’t have high expectations, I was pleasantly surprised. Dylan did, of course, vary the arrangements of his songs, but they were all still identifiable, and, amazingly, I recognized all but about four or five of them, in spite of the fact that I am not a huge Bob Dylan fan. I learned that Dylan is a proficient organ player.
Home
I did a lot of work on the house this year. In the summer, at the absolute hottest time of the year, I painted the entire exterior of our home, with beautiful colors Miriam selected. It took weeks, but the end result was worth it.
I built Miriam a closet in the back room where there once was none. I think she likes it, and it makes our home a true three-bedroom.
In January I brought home a pair of 1969 AR-3a loudspeakers, and after making a few small restorations, they were as good as new. They look beautiful, and sound better than any other loudspeaker I have ever heard.
Miscellaneous
Miriam became the president of the Gainesville Roller Rebels in 2010. She is absolutely immersed in roller derby these days, but she enjoys it, and is doing good work.
We went tubing on the river twice this year with friends, and went swimming in the Atlantic Ocean near Marineland, Florida. We played in a charity kickball tournament and lost.
For the first time in two or three years we bought annual passes to Walt Disney World. We made our return to Epcot last month and had a wonderful time. In the coming year I hope to visit often.
My Nikon D70 broke this year on 3 July, and stayed broken until September when I bought a used D50. Then it came back to life, mocking me for buying another camera. The joke will be on it when I buy a D7000 in 2011.
Miriam and I subscribed to Netflix this year, and watched a couple hundred movies, the most we’ve seen in years. I will post a complete list soon.
That was my 2010 in a nutshell. Tonight I will bid the year farewell with my wife and my in-laws in Orlando. And, as I do each New Year’s Eve, I will again make the same wish for myself, and for you, too: Hard Times Come Again No More.
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