This is not in my usual vein of blogging (blame the pot of strong coffee if you wish). Indulge me.

I’ve spent the last few hours in my head. As I think over the last year I realize there is one very important thing I have failed to do all year, so here goes.

Thank you.

Thank you to my family.
Thank you to my friends.
Thank you to the city I have chosen to make my home for the last three years.
Thank you to the gods, spirits, or whatever pulls the ethereal puppet strings– You’ve been kinder than you needed to, maybe kinder than I deserved.

Thank you all for being there for me, for listening and caring.
Thank you all for entrusting me with what you have to say, I value your words and feelings.
Thank you all for a wonderful holiday season with many wonderful (and some entirely unexpected) gifts.
Thank you all for a year I won’t soon forget.

It’s funny, the encapsulation of time into a lump we call a year. It doesn’t really serve much of a purpose except to make us pause and evaluate what we’ve done for the last 365.25 days.

Last year on New Years Eve I called my own voice mail and left a message. It consisted of a drunken laundry list of what was wrong with me and exactly what I really ought to do next year to make my life better. I wasn’t kind. In retrospect it’s pretty funny but if I hadn’t been really intoxicated it would have been pretty depressing.

This year if I get drunken dialing syndrome I hope the message says something like this:

“Hey Ian. It’s you… er… me… whichever. Good job man. I liked 2005. Keep up the good work.”

Take care everyone. Be safe tomorrow night, and once again– Thank you.