Surely the measure of a man's life begins at 23; the age at which he settles on his mark, recites his agenda one final time, and rushes forth upon the world at a furious pace, damning and delighting its inhabitants with equal aplomb.
On September 1, 2005, I turned 23. Recently ejected from academia, single, unemployed, homeless, in the general region of lower middle class (despite game show success), and in general unsure of where life would lead me next.
This is the chronology of the year from then until now.
- September 1 - Turn 23.
- September 3 - Get married. An event over 18 months in the making (or 7 years, depending on your POV.) The amnesiac preacher, the runner that wouldn't run, the glass ballroom, Bobby Darin, tuxedo strawberries, the stereotypical rambling best man speech, and a late night quest for Diet Cherry Coke. It is magic.
- September 10 - The honeymoon. A week at Disney World and onboard the Disney Cruise Line. Pirates in the Caribbean, Darth Vader, Army men, riding the Dinosaur ride alone, the Newlywed Olympics, sunburn, theater, the dessert buffet - and the suspiciously good weather.
- September 17 - Arriving home in Houston, we see a sign that reads "THE END IS NEAR." We are the only ones heading south on Grand Parkway. The logjam at the Interstate 10 is unprecedented (why all the fuss?)
- September 18 - Survive Hurricane Rita. Watching the forecast all day as it edged closer and closer. Fill up the bathtubs, the cars, and our stomachs, watch the Sunday night rerun of Lost, and wait.
- September 19 - Finally, the storm begins slicing east, and we evolve from certain doom to merely probable doom. We sit it out, and only receive minor rainstorms for our trouble. The next day, our local Kroger only has popcorn and wine coolers for sale - the CVS? Fully stocked.
- October - We make the decision to move to Austin. We go stay with friends, search out apartments, and settle on some nice ones in the northwest, near Round Rock. (Still no jobs.)
- October 31 - Arr, we be pirates!
- November 4 - Acquire our first piece of furniture ever - 3 in fact, in the form of a living room set. All-leather, black, only $1000.
- November 12 - Move-in day. We also buy our first appliances ever - a washer and dryer, courtesy of my in-laws.
- November - The moving continues - a futon, some cheap bedroom furniture, my parents' old breakfast room table, which we reupholster so we had something to eat on. (We then proceed to eat on the floor in the living room for the next 8 months.) I get a couple of jobs building websites for people to tide us over, and in general, we apply for a ton of jobs and have a lot of fun scoping out our neck of the woods. I also spend way too much time coding here at E2.
- December 15th - Get an interview with the government. A ColdFusion shop (I'm PHP), but they're very nice, and mostly just want someone with some HTML experience. I like the people; hope they like me.
- December 18 - Courtney gets an awesome job as an associate producer for a new Court TV show called Texas SWAT which, predictably, is about Texas SWAT teams.
- December 22 - I get the job! My first full-time one. 20 minute commute, 40 hour week and I pick the hours, cushy government benefits - and we're home for Christmas.
- December 25 - A pretty great Christmas - video games, $500 in clothes for the gig, books, To Kill A Mockingbird special edition ... sweet.
- December 31, 2005 - Spend midnight at Magic Island, an upscale magician's venue/restaurant in downtown Houston. Even when you know a lot of the tricks, it's downright amazing how polished these guys are.
- January 1, 2006 - We celebrate Courtney's birthday a bit early with dinner at Carabba's with all the family. Work begins tomorrow.
- January 2 - The first day on the job. I end up spending the first week in orientation, signing away many many of my (soon to be) hard-earned dollars.
- January 3 - Courtney turns 24 (I get her a laptop for work.)
- Janary 20 - Head to Irving to attend the retirement of a SWAT captain. Those guys are great, and true Texans to boot (a quality only true Texans can admire.)
- February-April - The quietest part of the year. Courtney is out of town a lot (with the SWAT team business), and I spend most of the time getting used to the job, Austin, and being married. We go to Houston about every other weekend.
- February 11 - Home in Houston.
- February 25 - Home in Houston.
- March 11 - Home in Houston. (See a pattern?)
- March 17 - St. Patrick's Day + SXSW + spring break = OMG 6th Street could not be any busier.
- March 25 - Take a trip to College Station to visit a friend and make some music together. Good times.
- March 26 - Courtney's iPod Mini gets stolen at the gym. Lousy punks and their love of Hilary Duff tunes ...
- May 5 - Saw the President speak at the Oklahoma State University commencement ceremonies (where my sister in law graduated summa cum laude in communications - go Kristen!) Doesn't have much of a message for the graduates - but still cool to see the helicopters landing, and the plainclothes Secret Service agents trying to fit in. I then spend the rest of the day moving Kris out of her apartment and driving back to Austin.
- May 12 - Texas SWAT's first season comes to a close, and the show is put on hiatus. Despiting being extremely popular (the most popular original show in Court TV history), problems with the show's chief producer and cameraman Jeff Chagrin force the executive producers to shelve the show indefinitely for retooling. Courtney (who had to put up with Jeff for the past 5 months) is given a healthy severance check and wished the best.
- May 20 - Throw my parents a 30th anniversary garden party. We invite about 100 of their friends, most of whom were at their wedding. A big party outside in my parents' backyard to celebrate their hard work beautifying the place and their new deck. Everyone brings pictures of my parents and flowers for the garden - everything went superbly.
- May 25 - Watch Dazed and Confused. Outdoors. In a park. In Austin. I also get asked if I had a good speed connection. Yeah, the air was a bit thicker ...
- May 28 - Took a trip down the Guadalupe River for Memorial Day. The lazy water's a little too lazy - it takes us nearly 6 hours to complete the circuit, and we're burnt to a crisp for our efforts. Melanoma++!
- June 5 - Attend the wedding of one of Courtney's old co-workers in Houston. (The guys at FOX Sports Houston are awesome.)
- June 23 - We begin our romp through the 48 Hour Film Project. A bit of background: you have 48 hours to make a 5 minute film in a genre specified by the promoters. To ensure originality, certain elements must be in the film which are revealed to all moviemakers at the same time.
- June 24 - We were given the fun genre of holiday film, and unsurprisingly elect to do a comedy about the 4th of July. We furiously film all day, using our families and friends as cast members, and we finish shooting about 9 o'clock.
- June 25 - A drive back to Austin, some unnecessary complications and a fair bit of drama gives us precisely 16 minutes to complete a 30 minute drive to downtown Austin to deliver our film on time. For those who don't believe in miracles, let me say: the Gods do deliver from time to time. We arrive at the dropoff with exactly 20 seconds to spare.
- June 27 - The ultimate treat: we get to see our film on the big screen! Pretty well-received, too, considering the limitations of the Sunday past. Overall? I'd give it a B minus. Just wait till next year ...
- July 4 - When you decide to go househunting for the first time, there is a sense of absurdity to it - what did I ever do to deserve a house? And so it is with us, as we walk through these absurdly large homes (many of which we cannot even come close to affording.) But finally we find a neighborhood in our price range in Manor, a sleepy little town 4 miles east of Austin, and we hone in on it.
- July 5 - We put down $300 on a house today. Oh my sweet Jesus, what have I done?
- July 12 - We begin the arduous process of closing on the home. There's a catch, too; to get the great deal we got on the house, we have to close by the end of July. Paperwork begins flying at an unprecedented rate.
- July 25 - It's done. The house is ours.
- July 28 - Go and see the Round Rock Express play. They lose, but the fireworks show afterwards is pretty awesome.
- July 30 - For the second time in a year, we're moving (thankfully just crosstown, not cross-state.) To celebrate, we acquire a bunch more stuff - a new bedroom suite, ceiling fans, flat-screen TVs, and a sprinkler system.
- August 4 - Take a weekend trip with my parents to a resort in San Antonio. It's still the most beautiful downtown ever. Well, maybe Paris, but it's close.
- August 18 - Another weekend, another Texas vacation with my parents. This time we're off to Galveston (my parents are in that "looking for a place to retire/travel" vibe - they also came to Austin in July to check out the scene) to a rented beach house, where we spend most of the time on the beach and enjoying the view. Galveston Island is a lovely stretch of land, caught between prospective commercial developers and the beach hippies that populate it. A great place to spend a weekend, though.
- August 27 - Spend the day at Schlitterbahn (we spent the day after the Guadalupe River Incident there, too.) The best way to waste a Sunday in Texas.
- September 1 I turn 24. Chocolate chip pancakes from Courtney - ohmygodsogood - and balloons and confetti at work. Who could ask for anything more?
Final tally? 1 wedding, 2 addresses, 3 new televisions, 4 vacations, 17 weekends away from Austin, 206 web support requests handled, 365 days. Married, employed, not homeless, still generally in the region of lower middle class (but getting better), and still unsure about where life leads. On the other hand, if every year is this action-packed, it's going to be a hell of a ride.
It is no small thing to be young and alive - and greater still to be pleased with it.