Right, so what do I remember from 2015? This past year, as I sit here in my ‘new’ office in what used to be the workout room with the double windows open and the distinct smell of a coming rain wafting in…I remember this past year as a year in which I sat at this desk A LOT. Before diving into my journal entries and all the specific ‘I remember’ entries come flooding out of me, I remember most all of the work I did. Editing work. See, that’s what I love actually about doing these entries: remembering all of the little things that I forgot, which have really seemed to change my perspective each of the last two times I’ve done one of these retrospective entries. I always stumble out of a year with an impression in my head of what that year had been about…and then I read through my entries and remember so much more. So, let’s see.
I remember staying a Ryan’s house on New Years Eve and watching The Interview. It was my first movie of the year, the year in which it was my goal to watch 100 movies!
I remember the high of having finished the first draft of my first novel manuscript, Starstuff.
I remember being so disappointed with Ascension on Syfy because they undercut their awesomely amazing premise with a really fucking stupid one. “None of it’s real!” type of shit.
I remember buying a rare Diamond Select Enterprise and immediately feeling buyer’s remorse…but now I love that I have it.
I remember watching movies from awards season with Joe and Madhuri. Whiplash was our first one…that was so much fun. I hope we do it again this year. Clock is ticking!
I remember re-organizing and re-making our office space together with a whole new shelf for Liz and new plastic drawers for the closet in there and in the ‘workout’ room where we keep apartment building stuff.
I remember my parents adopting Jojo from the Humane Society up in Humboldt. He’s now officially their new favorite child.
I remember doing two birthdays in one day, the first with Ryan Yu out at a noodle house in Pasadena, and then the next with Joe’s sister Heather at the CityWalk and getting drinks there.
I remember Kerry Kleiman staying with us, bringing us Crabs Adjust Humidity and having a raucous game night with Coops and Piper getting into it every five minutes while we played. That little bastard. So uppity, that mister Coops.
I remember getting sick again with a head cold and a chest cough…AGAIN. Second year in a row…I couldn’t understand why. More on that in a second.
I remember playing tennis with Reed and getting drinks. It was then that I decided I think I liked bourbon.
I remember struggling so much with work to begin last year. January and February always seems to be such hard months…
I remember deciding to watch Trek from the very beginning all the way through to the “end,” starting with The Original Series. TOS as those in the know refer to it. I remember that it starts out so rough. Bad. Genuinely bad. And I remember that I found that to be a bit depressing.
I remember learning about the concept of “entanglement,” which appears to transcend space/time…mind explosion.
I remember watching the X-Files with the Ho. The pilot episode. Set up my interest to watch it at the end of year.
I remember the nose zits of 2016! Oh, the nose zits…
I remember obsessing about getting myself a all-black and white-handled phaser from TOS. Kicked off the purchase bonanza of all the ships 😛
I remember going to Tipple & Vine for Valentine’s Day. I also remember filming “I’m in love with da Coco” with actual baking soda that day.
I remember taking Coco to agility classes, and how freaking cute and awkward she was with it. She loved it.
I remember figuring out that I was having a headcold/cough because of DUST. The weather was changing, but my allergies were not…which meant it wasn’t just the season. I bought a vacuum and put a new filter in on our AC, and it worked. Almost immediately. Ah, man, what a victory that was.
I remember leaving my ring at the tennis courts after playing with Reed. I didn’t have my car, it was getting body work done…and Liz was over the hill with Dayner…so I brought out the old razor scooter, yup, a RAZOR SCOOTER, and rode it all the way back to the courts as fast as I could. My ring was still there.
I remember the Ho doing the “pawscars” – Coco was the Lobby Boy from The Grand Budapest Hotel. And the American Snuggler from American Sniper. So cute!
I remember when Leonard Nimoy died. That was so much more emotional for me than it should have been…I never knew the man. Really. I knew a character that he’d played and helped create…but still. It felt like losing someone I loved. I remember I watched Star Trek IV, my first introduction to Trek, and a movie he directed. It’s a weird experience, watching some of those old movies you watched when you were young, and seeing it through more mature eyes. It’s like duality – I still see Trek IV through those wide kid eyes, but I also see it as an adult at the same time, kinda hokey, cheap, etc. It’s still a damn good movie, however.
I remember starting Green Collar Podcast with Joe. More work than I wanted it to be, perhaps, which is why we stopped…but so much fun.
I remember playing golf for the first time with Josh. We’d played tennis the week before, and I’d suggested maybe golf next time, you know, just to round out the full whiteness, and he was down. He loved it. We’ve been playing golf ever since.
I remember Grandpa C passing away and going up for his funeral, seeing the family, seeing Seth, seeing Heidi and Eric. I remember the flyover that the Coast Guard did to honor his military service, and the gun salute, and being very struck by that honoring, by the ritual of a funeral with military honors…that’s something very special.
I remember sitting on the floor of my parents’ trailer they stay in down in the bay area for work, and warming up in front of the little heater there.
I remember being back for Kihong and Hayoung’s wedding the NEXT day. A wedding and a funeral. And I remember stopping over at the King’s and reading bedtime stories to the kids.
I remember having so much fun doing research for my “Foundation” pilot, watching all the old adventure movies set between the turn of the century and the 1940s.
I remember watching The Jinx and the Ho and I losing our SHIT over the last episode. It was sooo fun. And we watched the show from day 1, which was awesome, seeing the whole world get into later on.
I remember actually finding the 5 seconds or so of the Star Trek animated series I’d seen when I was a kid. I thought maybe I’d imagined it, but there it was, right in front of me and exactly how I’d remembered it when I was, maybe, 5 or 6 years old.
I remember reading Ready Player One finally and LOVING it.
I remember struggling so much with my writing in the spring. Just couldn’t find any sort of rhythm. I hope that doesn’t happen this year…
I remember going to Medieval times for Kristen’s birthday all the way down in the OC. Oh my jesus, that was a trip.
I remember my Uncle David getting in a really serious car accident and my mom rushing down to Fresno to help out. He was virtually unresponsive for like a week, but he’s since made a truly miraculous recovery. Truly.
I remember listening to Terry Pratchett’s “Nome” series on audio book while playing golf at Woodley Lakes.
I remember seeing Damien Rice with the Ho in the Spring, and seeing Garbage with her in the fall. Both at the Greek. Both amazing performances.
I remember seeing Joe’s play “Ramona” out in the high desert, and it raining almost the whole day. We went to their cast party, and it was at the Scientology “Gold Base,” like the LEGIT world headquarters of the entire church…cray. I also remember the guy in the hot tub that told us he was hiding alcohol from his wife and drinking it whenever he had the chance. Problems, yo.
I remember watching The Wire and going through an intervention for a friend of mine…an intervention that didn’t work. I haven’t talked to that person since, which makes me very sad. Setting boundaries can be very difficult…no, it IS very difficult, far more difficult than I ever gave it credit for…but they are necessary to live a healthy life. I hope this person decides to confront their disease some day, I genuinely do. And I miss them.
I remember cleaning up diarrhea on the back steps of my building. Jesus, that was disgusting.
I remember slamming my elbow so hard it made my hand feel like it was on fire, and I mean it felt like it was ACTUALLY on fire. My hand was then numb for about a week. It’s slowly gotten better, but even now, I still feel it every so often. I really slammed it hard, apparently. I also remember everyone laughing at me, because let’s be real, it was hilarious. 😛
I remember Coco having an ear infection that we tried to get rid of using the ear solution we have, but it just wouldn’t do the trick, so we took her into the vet. She had a yeast infection, they gave her some stuff, and it was gone within a week. Hooray medicine!
I remember finding an actual process by which to write in screenplay format, mapping out each scene beat by beat with all the full lines of dialogue, and only then writing into Final Pro. Genius.
I remember finding the image of this cartoon cat from this animated movie I saw when I was a kid and it totally creeped me out it was so weird…turns out it’s this movie called Unico on the Island of Magic. Look it up. Creepy as fuck. People getting turned into stone puppets and shit.
I remember starting to do all the screencaps while I was watching Star Trek. My god, so much fun. I love those screencaps. They make me laugh.
I remember watching all the summer movies with the Ho. San Andreas was probs our favorite. Not the BEST movie, mind you, but our favorite.
I remember Coco sleeping in this opened amazon box all day for like, two weeks. She loved that box.
I remember seeing the Ho in Diet of Worms downtown in the most amazing space. I remember seeing it AGAIN with Kerry and Dayna. Oh, that was so much fun.
I remember discovering the joys of 20-minute naps on the floor of my office. They actually work. You just have to sleep 20-minutes and not any more than that.
I remember the “shut-in” beard of the summer from June to the end of August. It got out of control big. SO BIG. And long.
I remember watching the Mr. Robot pilot with Phil, who was in town, and him falling asleep to it on the chaise lounge.
I remember talking about Mulholland Drive with Ker-bear here in town staying with us, and my theory was so fascinating to her that we sat down and watched the whole damn thing. That was so much fun.
I remember going to Bark at the Park with the Coops and the Coco, walking on the outfield warning track with them, and then it raining briefly! The Coops and Coco were so good! And we almost won the game. Lost in extras.
I remember almost losing my wedding ring AGAIN seeing Ryry and Lisa…it flew off in the bathroom after I’d washed my hands and was throwing away the paper towel I’d used. CRAZY. But, I found it. Almost didn’t…but I went back to the waste basket for a second time and decided to actually take everything out. Heard a “clunk” sound in the bottom, and sure enough it was there. Phew!
I remember Ozzy getting out from the yard while we were visiting him, and running down the street with Elle to get him before he got hit by a car. And he literally almost did. I saw the whole thing.
I remember being completely charmed by Portland when we went up there for J’s graduation. I also remember the day it was so smoky from the fires that you couldn’t see down the block 😛 But, seriously…Portland is SO NICE.
I remember Chicago with Scott. All the walking, the talking, the eating at various places he loved to eat. The parks. The tree-lined streets, the Cubs game, hanging out at his work with him, the drone of the Cicadas even during the daytime, the crazy guy on the train with the preying mantis…it was such a nice trip. Four epic days. Love my brother.
I remember watching Steampunk’d with Matt, the show he was a judge on.
I remember watching so many old movies throughout the summer, some Hitchcock like Rear Window, Torn Curtain, and Blue Topaz…and the old adventurer movies like Gunga Din, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and The Man Who Would Be King. So much fun! Oh, and the original Ocean’s 11.
I remember having another crisis around my birthday times, trying to decide which direction to go in with my writing, to TV or to novels. I eventually opted to focus on novels, but man, it took a long time and a lot of angst.
I remember having our first wedding anniversary out in Santa Barbara and it being sooooo nice. I also remember getting the phone call that there had been a break-in the morning we were going to leave, and so we left early. That sucked.
I remember buying Skyrim and Mass Effect on clearance from Best Buy. I instantly loved Skyrim, and instantly hated Mass Effect. Still playing Skyrim 😛
I remember *genuinely* fondly realizing ON MY BIRTHDAY that our poor dogs were suffering from a flea infestation and camping out in our living room while flea powder did its magic in the bedroom before we vacuumed it up the next day. Holy shyte that stuffed smelled gnarly. We swapped out their meds, and haven’t had an issue since 🙂
I remember when the Ho came up with the incredible combo of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and a coke Slurpee from 7Eleven. I bow down to her ballerness.
I remember when I lost count of my blog entries for like two weeks 😛 First time that’s ever happened.
I remember when the Ho read my novel and I could just see in her how much she really liked it and it made me cry because it meant that the feeling of how much I’d loved writing it actually translated into something worth reading. It needed work, and she laid out what she thought needed work…but she had the same feeling as me: that writing that book (and others) is what I should be doing, was “meant” to do.
I remember having such major problems with a coworker that I legitimately considered quitting. It was that bad. That was the point where Liz and I decided to share apartment duties, so I could have my work days to focus on work. What a game-changer.
I remember watching Star Wars in the backyard at Matt’s house on a giant inflatable screen.
I remember deciding to enter the Strange New Worlds contest for Trek short stories. I downloaded all the past anthologies to read what had been selected in the past.
I remember when I got hired by Netflix.
I remember discovering how much I enjoyed playing Skyrim after a day’s worth of work for an hour or so before bed. I looked forward to it every work day.
I remember upgrading my OS and Final Cut not working afterwards…that was some scary shit. But, I figured it out 😛
I remember the Ho going out of town in early November and me watching a shit ton of movies while she was gone. And weird ones, too, like Haunted Mansion, the one with Eddie Murphy, and The Phantom.
I remember when we decided that Coco calls me “Papa” and calls her “Hey Lady!”
I remember when I got officially sucked into Skyrim, my first “real” video game – it was this glitch that allowed me to increase my smithing skills much faster than normal. I mean, “fast” being a relative term, it wasn’t fast…but much faster than “usual.” And that was it for me. I was hooked. I could level up, get better armor and weapons…sold. I was hooked. That was only two months ago!
I remember deciding with the Ho to move my office out into the old workout room and give her the full space in the second bedroom. Fantastic decision.
I remember finishing the last episode of Enterprise…which meant I had watched every single episode of Star Trek ever made in one year. 11 months, actually. But, crazy. 2015. The year of the Trek.
I remember getting tires with the Ho at Costco and having *horrible* customer service. It was so surprising! I’ve always had such wonderful service at Costco. But, we got dem tires doe.
I remember deciding to watch The X-Files as my follow-up to Trek. Good choice! 🙂
I remember working every day leading up to Christmas with extra narration work. It’s very efficient in terms of how much I can make in an hour of doing it, but holy shit is it exhausting work.
I remember watching the original Star Wars trilogy all day while I worked, and figuring out how to do that shit in HD and then going to see The Force Awakens and having such a good time with it! I loved it. It definitely had holes, many, many of them…but it was Star Wars. It was true to the original spirit. What a fun day that was. So many memories watching the original trilogy.
I remember my family coming into town for Christmas, Jojo staying with us and needing me to stay with him while he ate his food, going to the LA Zoo for their lights and getting lost for a bit on the way there, seeing Star Wars again with them, having a BALLER christmas day, so many presents…and how nice it was to HOST christmas instead of travel for it.
I remember making waffles with the Ho on Christmas day and our homemade buttermilk ones easily winning over the Krusteaz mix.
I remember having two back-to-back days of watching THREE movies each day in order to catch up enough to hit 100 movies be year’s end.
I remember The Martian was my last movie of the year, and one of my favorites. Figured out how to watch it in HD on our Apple TV, too.
2015 was a struggle. That much is clear from reading through all my daily entries…but 2015 was also my most successful year EVER financially-speaking, and I had seriously so much freaking fun watching all of Star Trek, watching 100 movies, and with all of the people I visited and who came to visit. Those were, without a doubt, the highlights of the year. And it also sounds so stupid to say, but I really had so much fun getting into my first video game. It was something I’d always wanted to do, and I did it.
What I’ve learned is that writing really means more to me than I thought it did…I wasn’t complete without it. Finished writing projects really has much more to do with my sense of self-worth than I realized…and now I do. I have to be forever grateful to 2015 for teaching me that. It made me grow a lot.
Here’s to 2015: the year of savings and Trek.