Saturday, December 26, 2009

2009: the year in review

looking back over the past year, much has happened. i feel like a different person here at the end of the year than i was at the beginning of it. it's quite fascinating how those changes occur incrementally and one day you suddenly realize that you're transformed. there have been some constants - photography, noticing the world around me, creativity, inspiration, lists, blog crushes, overthinking and general navel gazing. and it seems like evolution comes up kind of a lot, but i blame husband for that.

i've spent some time looking back on the year in a couple of ways. one, by reading skimming back over this blog and two, by browsing back through my iPhoto. shall we take a little stroll down memory lane?



january - moving in to the now-famous blue room was the highlight. i also did a lot of those interviews that were going around at the time. my sister visited and we went to møn's klint and the west coast of denmark. and we played an elaborate practical joke on her boyfriend, who was an extremely good sport about it, tho' he did drink an entire bottle of port afterwards. and our pooka turned 8. 42 blog posts.



february - what can i say, it was the month the eyeball obsession began. sabin started riding lessons. we celebrated our 10th anniversary. i learned about fika. i bought a new sewing machine. i went a little nuts about TtV photography. 39 blog posts.



march - i met and fell in love with a nikon D300. sadly, later in the year, i would have to give it back, because it was my work camera and i left that job, but happily, i found a very lightly used one in my favorite local camera shop a couple weeks before i had to give it back, so that didn't matter at all - and i learned that one cannot stay in a job for the sake of a camera (but that was in november, so i'm getting ahead of myself). i opened my etsy shop and sold my first items. i went a little crazy for stones. i had a gorgeous birthday dinner at my very favorite little castle to celebrate turning thirty-twelve. my kitchen became famous on apartment therapy.  the julie project started. 48 blog posts.



april - i practiced austerity april, a little exercise in buying less, it largely worked, tho' there was a moment of weakness towards the end of the month in the face of new music. a little trans-atlantic learning adventure began. i invented gin & tonic sorbet. moments of perfect clarity was named blog of note by the gods at google on april 21, which was a really good thing, because prior to that i'd been having a really crappy day. i continued to be obsessed with rocks. and the julie project fizzled out, which was definitely a learning experience. we went to a funeral. and a wedding. we visited a danish vineyard. 47 blog posts.


mayspring came in earnest. i visited the west coast of norway for the first time. the idea of blog camp was born and the first blog camps were scheduled. the blog camp blog was created. i got downright obsessive about rocks, particularly one i found on the west coast of norway. me and my gin & tonic sorbet appeared in disco underworld.  i wrote my 700th post and mused on what it meant to me to blog. i outlined my long-held theory that everyone needs their albanian. 49 blog posts.




june - i got flowered chucks. i attended nor-shipping. the first blog camp was held and it was even better than any and all expectations. i received the most lovely little stones from trinsch in isreal and from lynne in south africa (see, even others got caught up in my stone obsession). we celebrated the summer solstice and soaked in the light.  i had a realization (finally) about creativity and about accepting the release of your creativity into the world. michael jackson died and i found that i didn't care. 40 blog posts.



july - i learned how to make my pictures big. i embarked on an insane project provoked challenged inspired by spudballoo - to tell 30 secrets in 30 days. in the end, i told 29 secrets and one lie and no one ever guessed correctly which one was the lie. and i was exhausted by the effort. we spent time on the beach, soaking up the summer sun. kristina and i started across øresund, a photoblog showing the contrasts of denmark and sweden. i developed a sociology of mobile phones. we took a mini-vacation to dublin. and left for a real vacation in singapore via amsterdam. i added a new country to my list: malaysia. husband and me started the livet på landet (life on the land) blog to document our dream of moving to a farm. 52 blog posts.



august - i embarked on a new obsession: robots. i learned that our child is a budding photographer. i concluded that singapore is like disneyland (actually, i concluded that a long time ago, but finally documented it).  i reread the laura ingalls wilder books. i went to blog camp in england.  i visited stonehenge, which was something i had long desired to do. i developed a foot fetish. i had a truly brilliant experience at one of the last shipyards left in denmark. i started participating in postcrossing. and woven underneath it all, i developed a disliking for my job, which i'd really loved until then. maybe because they made me sit with more than $10,000 of their debt in travel expenses for an inordinately long time. 37 blog posts.



september - with the autumn beginning, i started to obsess about light. blog camp 2.0. i felt the significance of 09.09.09. the queen came to town. i found weaving at a museum in randbøldal. i thought about color. i started domestic sensualist together with beth. i discovered the wonderful henie-onstad art museum near oslo. my unease with my job deepened, and even made me ill, tho' i didn't see that at the time - interesting how that works. barbara kingsolver writes in one of her early books something along the lines of how people are so inside of themselves, it's sometimes hard to tell anything. i came to know what that meant in september. 39 blog posts.




october - i turned to embroidery in order to cope with my growing dissatisfaction with my job (phew, at least it manifested itself positively in some way). husband found a brilliant old sewing machine for me at the dump. we prepared for our house to be put up for sale i spent a couple of days in istanbul, one of my favorite cities. we had a glorious few days touring around denmark with an old cat love friend during the autumn holiday. i couchsurfed for the first time and it was fabulous. 34 blog posts.



november - the monocules© were born! i found a real treasure in a used bookstore. i pondered the 20th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall. i closed in in earnest on my 100 creative things in 2009. with only a minor nervous breakdown, i held a brilliant thanksgiving dinner for friends and family. my work appeared in public bookstore. the gold edition of disco underworld came out and i was included! i voted in the municipal elections in denmark. i thought about and tried to articulate who this girl was, at least for now. and i left the job which had become the job from hell, and even in this economic climate, i still breathed a heavy sigh of relief. 37 blog posts.



december - i did some serious pondering and reading about simplicity. i prepared for christmas and revealed that i'm a bit of a scrooge about christmas cards. i lost my photo mojo a bit and am still hoping it comes back. i've been pretty introspective as i have tried to decide what's next after leaving my job. COP15 took place in copenhagen. i sorted a whole lot of sabin's baby clothes to save and donate. and i have at least three new bloggy-related projects up my sleeve (so stay tuned in 2010). 34 blog posts (and counting).

conclusions: 

: : inspiration was a big theme for me in 2009. i wanted to seek it, understand it, pick it apart,  drink it in, swallow it and digest it. i was a little obsessed about it. but apparently i needed that.

: : i changed a lot over the course of the year. what i want from life became simpler (even if the amount of stuff in my house did not).

: : i became a photographer in 2009.

: : i also became an artist.  even if so far it's still mostly for myself.

: : i didn't fly enough to retain gold status on my two airlines where i've had it in recent years. and i'm ok with that.

: : i was directly (credited) responsible for the sale of no less than ten nikons in 2009. i think nikon should employ me.

: : i made a lot of connections and good friends in the blogosphere (and in real life) for which i'm very grateful. and i can't wait to see what 2010 brings.

15 comments:

http://howtobecomeacatladywithoutthecats.blogspot.com said...

What a year you've had! I'm glad I've gotten to follow your adventures through your blog. Better yet, I now have my Julochka original photos to grace my home! Best wishes for a wonderful year to come!
Hugs!
CatLady

cat said...

What a sweet synopsis of your year. Sometimes towards New Years I feel a little confused, thinking "What did I DO this year?? And where did it go?" This inspired me to write my mini-triumphs month by month. Crazy how it does seem to add up.

Happy New Year!

An Open Heart said...

Wow, huge post.....seriously. I've been pondering a year end/new year post. You did a beautiful job on this one. It's been a pleasure to read your writing, enjoy your photography and I've been inspired many times by your creativity. You amaze me with the quantity and quality of creativity that you put out. The writing and photography alone is tremendous, but the other creative endeavors, like the sewing, embroidery, cooking and establishing Blog Camp, all inspiring.....

Have a blessed and wonderful New Year!


S

Shokoofeh said...

I love this post so much that I want to give you a hug! can I?! :p

Unfortunately I wasn't on your way from the beginning, but I am so very please to be now. You're a big inspiration Julie. Thank you so much for being my friend.

Wish you the best in 2010! xo

paris parfait said...

What a great synopsis of your year! (And great photos).Looking forward to all the projects and collaborations of 2010! xoxox

Elizabeth said...

Really great to look back this way. Can read/remember exactly were we met. Wasn't there for the 10th anniversary post but loved reading it now.

I'm grateful that I found your place this year and looking forward to meeting you in not even 3 weeks. JOEPIE.

Sandra said...

This is a great idea! I realize I have followed the whole year. I look forward the new year will bring.

Joanna Jenkins said...

This is a wonderful post and the wrap-up of a fabulous year! Thanks for sharing. I'm newer to your blog so I learned a lot. And, I look forward to getting to know you better in 2010.

The sewing machine photo is gorgeous!

Happy new year!

Marilynne said...

I love your blog. You open my head and throw photos and thoughts into it and I love that part.

My word verification today is "crumsess". That should really have some sort of meaning, don't you think?

Amanda Roper said...

This is a wonderful post. I might have to steal the idea for my own blog. Look at what a rich wonderful life you have (and a pretty spiffy blog to boot)!

Teri and her Stylish Adventure Cats said...

Wow, this puts your year into perspective, with a wide angle lens! Success, happiness and cat love...what an enjoyable read!

hele said...

awesome idea and post - i loved walking back through time with you - am now all inspired to walk back through my year.

Bee said...

I really feel like I've been a part of your journey, J -- not just through reading about it here (and this was a FABULOUS round-up), but because I discovered you in January and have really been "with you" all this year . . . in spirit, mostly, but in person for one weekend in August. You have impacted a lot of lives this year, and I think that a little bit of your bounteous creativity has probably rubbed off on everyone who visited here.

BTW, did I count as one of the new Nikons?

Char said...

you were a photographer even if you didn't have a fancy camera - i enjoy yours.

i loving this journey that you're on.

Indiri Wood said...

I found you around the end of February and I have loved following your journeys. Oh, but you had better make that responsible for 11 nikons now. :)