2009 – Year in Review

2009 started out with a bang watching Band of Horses play at the Variety Playhouse.

Later in January, I’d make my first trip to Seaside with the family.

Seaside is one of the coolest places I’ve seen and I bet it’s a great place to live. That’s probably why it was featured as Truman’s hometown in The Truman Show.

February began a string of “changes” in my group at work. Stemming from the fallout of the economy we had a string of layoffs at work. First, a co-worker and fellow DBA who had been at my company for over 30 years was laid off. It was super tough to see him go, but I’m betting he doesn’t miss the work at all. A short time later, my boss and friend left for another company. A few months later, two of my best friends at work in my group left as well. For those keeping count that’s 4 out of 6 of the people who started in the group last year. Guess there would be no more Rock Band lunches.

In March we had a THUNDERSNOW! I had never experienced this before, and it was awesome!

Also in March, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals played a show at the Fox Theater to make up for cutting their last set early. Turns out it was their last show as a band.

Afterwards Julie and I were accosted by a homeless man.

We made some trips to local museums including the High and the Civic Center to see the King Tut exhibit. Below is an Anubis statue in midtown Atlanta.

Went to two Braves games. Both free, and one was in the SunTrust club seats. Amazing! They didn’t make the playoffs again though. Here we are below:

I made a trip to play live poker in a casino for the first time. I played at Harrah’s in Cherokee, North Carolina. Quite a profitable little day trip! The place was pretty depressing, though.

In April, Julie and I went with George to see Flight of the Conchords!

Also in April, Julie and I ran in the Great Urban Race in Atlanta. Team “Boom Goes The Dynamite” didn’t come anywhere near the top, but we had a blast doing it. It’s a mini version of The Amazing Race, a show I think we need to be on!

We saw the homeless man who accosted us after the Ryan Adams show on the North Ave bridge during the race. That was our LOST moment.

Speaking of LOST, how awesome was Season 5? Probably my favorite season so far. Is there any way Season 6 will bring the series to a satisfying conclusion? I’m just along for the ride!

I went to Amicalola Falls for the first time.

Penny took the next picture:

We played a ton of Team Trivia. I think we placed twice. Cheaters.

I made a trip to Zoo Atlanta for the first time in years.

I got an iPhone 3GS. One of the best things I’ve ever bought.

The AirVideo ($2.99) and LogMeIn Ignition ($29.99) apps essentially give me a mobile micro computer in my hands. I can access my home laptop to download any tv show/movie and stream it to my phone on the fly, even over 3G. I’m not sure why no one else is talking about the AirVideo app. I’m surprised Apple hasn’t blocked it.

Julie’s birthday was at Sambuca jazz club. They made us dance.

Jeremy’s birthday was at Medieval Times. So much fun!

Adam and Vickie got married on the 4th of July!

In August we went to Seaside again, this time with Clem’s family.

In September, we went on our huge trip to Greece! We went with our friends Clem and Brandon.

We visited Athens, and the islands Naxos, Santorini, and Hydra.

In October we went with my family to Charleston, South Carolina. I had never been, but a house on the beach is a PERFECT first experience. It was pretty humid while we were there. We even swam in October! I think I swam about 30 times this year

We saw Aaron Karo at Smith’s Olde Bar. There were no seats in the Atlanta Room so I busted into an Employee’s Only room to grab some chairs for us. I ran right into Aaron checking his BlackBerry and asked him for some seats and he said it wasn’t really his department. LOL.

Brad and Allison got married on my birthday!