I’m sad because I feel woefully disconnected from the decade and now it’s too late to do anything about it. Sure, I watch the news every day and also keep up with celebrity gossip detritus, but I’ve lost touch with much of the pop culture thrumming through the filament of the decade. I was very much in tune with styles, fads, and music during the 1980s and ’90s. This is why I was so irked by inaccuracies in The Wedding Singer and 13 Going on 30. The former was set in 1985, and I’m sorry, but no trendy woman would be running around in a circa-1983 Flashdance sweatshirt in 1985. And it’s highly unlikely a 13-year-old girl, unless she was insanely uncool (I mean even more uncool than the character was meant to be) would’ve been jamming to Rick Springfield in 1987! (I should know this—I was a 13-year-old girl in 1987!) A shaker knit sweater screams 1986 to me. I can tell you that “Almost Paradise” was a huge hit during the summer of 1984. Grunge started getting ousted from its throne by crappy dance music in 1995. 1998 brought a huge swing revival.
But this dying decade of ours? I don’t know. When I got a CD player in my car in 2000 I stopped listening to the radio. If you held a gun to my head and demanded that I rattle off 10 top-10 hits from the 2000s I don’t think I could do it. If you asked me to list 10 fashion trends from the 2000s I know I couldn’t do it. Uggs, Crocs, and…? What was fashionable this decade? I honestly don’t know. I was in my own world. Fashion-wise, I was in my own world for much of the ’90s, too, choosing secondhand clothes and vintage over anything hip and stylish, but at least I read a lot of magazines and knew what was big most of the time. I subscribed to Rolling Stone, listened to the radio, and watched MTV (back when they, shockingly, played music videos) and knew what was big on the charts even when I tended to stick with my favorite tapes and CDs. These days it’s a whole other story. I’m so estranged from youth culture and that, to a certain extent, really does depress me, maybe because it means I’m getting old.
Of course I’m in touch with my own culture touchstones from the decade. I can say, “Oh, 2002: that’s when I donated my hair to charity for the first time, switched jobs, and moved. 2004: Richard visited me and Olivia was born. 2003: I went to Scotland and that was a big concert year for me; I saw Simon & Garfunkel, Peter Gabriel, and the American Idol concert. 2008: yup, that’s when the Lebanon Fury was born.” I have a general idea of what music I favored heavily at which points in time and can identify old photos based on my haircut at the time. Short hair? Would’ve been 2000, 2002, 2007, or 2009. Scarlet’s Walk? 2003 to the core. But the goings on of the larger world seem foreign to me, as if we existed in parallel instead of intersecting.
Past
I’ve encountered loads of “decade in review” lists online; here are a few that I enjoyed:
The unpredictability of the last decade
The ’00s: Goodbye (at Last) to the Decade from Hell
Predictions made in 2000 about what life in 2010 would be like
Unknown in ’99, Indispensable Now
The 2000s in review
One Dazing Decade
Most Important Dates
Cultural Moments
Worst Predictions
Mesmerizing Crime Stories
Accidental Celebrities
Tactical Blunders
History-Altering Decisions
Overblown Fears
Sex Scandals
Happiest Endings
Startling Scoops
Internet Memes
People Who Died Too Young
Funniest TV Comedies
Best TV Dramas
Best Fictional Books
Best Albums
Most Memorable Movies
Most Impressive Debuts
Decade in Review: Our Favorite Scripted TV Shows
Decade in Review: Favorite Reality TV
Decade in Review: Our 20 Favorite Sci-Fi and Fantasy Movies
Decade in Review: Shows That Could’ve Been Great But Weren’t
The 50 Worst songs of the ’00s
Michael Musto’s Decade in Review
Present
For the first time since 2006 gave way to 2007, I don’t have any New Year’s Eve plans. None of my local friends have anything going on. Back in Pennsylvania, Beck and Amy invited me to hang out with them at Beck’s house for a stitch & bitch session, but I don’t feel like driving up to PA so soon after returning going there for Christmas. And, you know, I’m okay with ringing out the decade on my own. It offers a kind of sweet asymmetry to how I rang in the decade with friends amidst the thundering chaos of DC’s millennium celebration. I’m still adapting to this crazy new life of not needing to work every evening and weekend, so the thought of spending the night vegging on the couch with good movies, good food, and a warm blanket—with nary a work assignment or obligation in sight (actually, I do have about 10 manuscripts to proof, but those can wait until the weekend)—still sounds mighty exotic to me.
Future
I gave up making New Year’s resolutions several years ago. What was the point? They were always the same and never reached fruition. Lose weight (nope, didn’t happen). Jump into the dating pool (never had the time, energy, or guts in the end). Start writing again and get published (ha!). Kick the darkness until it bleeds daylight (okay, I had success with that one on some level, but I can’t take credit; it’s all thanks to the meds).
But this year, oh yes, this year I am making resolutions. More specifically, I resolve to follow through on projects and plans to which I’m already committed. It’s kind of a copout, really—akin to giving up candy for Lent after you’ve already joined Weight Watchers. Baby steps, folks, baby steps. In no particular order:
Buy a Nikon SLR and become even more of a photo pig. Take a digital SLR photography course and go on many, many photo safaris.
Travel. I head to London in just over a month and my plans to hit the Faroe Islands during the summer are solidifying. I’ve been saving for my big Europe trip for two years now—plugging away at it by setting aside $20-25/week. I just gave the fund a $100 infusion to help it reach the $3000 mark, and that’s where it’s going to stall. From this point forward, my weekly travel allocation will be put toward the Faroe Islands instead (and I will switch back to saving for the big trip upon my return). Also, I will try my damndest to visit Angela in Asheville and David in Chicago this year.
Embroider. I’m currently learning embroidery and have begun my first small project. If I continue enjoying the process and get better at it, I plan to start a project wherein I embroider a huge series of samplers featuring favorite lyrics from songs on my iPod.
Dabbling in miniature. I’m quite fascinated with Thomas Doyle and Erin Tyner’s work, to the point where I feel this aching need to attempt a miniature landscape of my own. For Christmas Shawn bought me some foliage and miniature funeral mourners to get me started and I vow to have at least one creation finished before 2010 is through. I’m hunting for materials and have ideas for at least two scenes so far.
Get my condo in order. I’ve been in my condo for two years and the installation of wood floors was only just completed (minus some missing trim and thresholds). I finally have an antique door to turn into a dining room table. This means that, at long last, my home is close to reaching a sort of completion. I doubt I’ll get the new kitchen cabinets I want (those may be a year or two away), but I’m committed to getting a new vanity and sink in the bathroom, some new overhead lighting fixtures, and a few new pieces of furniture, such as a bench in my bedroom that the cats can use for window gazing and a midcentury modern credenza or shelf unit for the sunroom. Now I’ll finally feel more comfortable entertaining folks in my home.
And now it’s on to the new year. I feel strangely optimistic about 2010. Maybe it’s because my gut has said for a long time that something wonderous would happen during my 36th year, or maybe it’s because even-numbered years have a more pleasing ring to me than odd-numbered years. Whatever the cause, I hope this upcoming year brings good things to all. I hope it’s far removed from 2009, which was sodden with illness, death, and job losses.
Happy New Year!
song heard most recently before posting:
Me, My Yoke, and I—Damien Rice
Me, My Yoke, and I—Damien Rice
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3 comments:
I don't think the fact that a decade is over has registered with me, strangely.
When you have your new camera, take some pics of your miniature creations, will you! x
re: taking photos of my miniature creations: oh yes, absolutely! I think photos of miniatures tend to be better than the miniatures themselves, just because the photos deceives us into believing that the scene is real. It's a cool little mindfuck.
I feel strangely optimistic about the new decade as well, but for the life of me can't imagine why. I am hoping to delve into photography and get updated on flickr again!!! I don't have any hopes of buying a digital SLR, but would love one!
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