the rap up 2006

i know a lot of people (mostly families) that send a year in review type letter along with annual christmas cards. my cousin shawn even did it one year (last year, i think). my blog is great avenue for me to get out mine. here it is ...

looking back, the year has consistently gotten better as time progressed. the year began in a valley, and i guess there was nowhere to go but up. i was consistenly frustrated, lonely, and generally not content with the way things were. since moving to sd, my circle friends has consisted almost entirely of medical students, and during the beginning of the year (or basically since fall 05), they were engrossed in the demanding schedules of third year. not really knowing anyone else and not sure how to meet new people, i often found myself bored, lonely, and waiting for something better. eventually i realized, i needed to stop waiting and make something happen myself. that resolve led to my two of my three new years resolutions.

1) go out more ... even if by myself
2) go to at least one concert a month ... even if by myself
3) travel more (three trips ... at least one international)

i've done pretty well with those resolutions.

1) my first resolution spawned bar dynamite. seriously, that place is the only thing that kept me sane throughout the first half of the year ... and i truly mean that. i go every thursday like clockwork. this whole year, there have only been five thursdays that i haven't been at dynamite (new york, belize x2, palm springs, thanksgiving) and i'll miss today and next thurs because of canada. when you throw in all the random times i've been there on saturdays and even random tuesdays and sundays, that makes for a whole lot of dynamite. fortunately, my loyalty has not gone unnoticed. no lines, no cover, no waiting for drinks, doubles for the price of singles, and just all around good service. plus there are all the fun regulars i've met (j, paul, alexia, beccah, chivas, and many more) and fun randoms i've met. unfortunately, only one of those, as of now, has the possibility of moving outside the bar. aside from dynamite, at the beginning of the year, i explored a few other places alone, but none of them provided the same experience that dynamite did (mainly, the music wasn't as good).

2) i went to one concert a month for the first ten months of this year. i slacked off nov and dec, but i figure since i went to two concerts in a few months, it works out. i saw a lot of good shows and some average ones. i won't get into all of em, but highlights include dilated people, little brother, defari, the roots, jurassic 5 twice, common, and many many more.

3) traveling this year was filled with good times. new york was an awesome time ... and by awesome, i mean drunken. i definitely came back with some entertaining stories. belize was even better ... met some cool people, did some phenomenal things, and saw some amazing sites. i still find myself often saying," when i was in belize ... ". toronto will be its usual goodness. i can't wait to see all my family, especially my grandparents.

work has been progressing well. there's been the ups and downs, slow times and busy times ... and on a whole, work has been treating well. i still really like my job and the people i work with. i've been getting more and more responsibility, as well as autonomy, which is nice. even moreso, my hard work hasn't gone unnoticed. i was surprised with a nice spot bonus on friday by our office manager ... and that's not in lieu of "normal" bonuses, which should come in march (and hopefully along with a fat raise).

i went to three different weddings this year ... my sister teresa, family friend vesna, and cousin chris. i was one of the groomsmen in teresa's wedding and got to wear this pimp white tux. as her brother, i was also honored with the duties of walking teresa's grandma and mom down the aisle.

the med school kids ended their third year, and things started getting a whole lot better for my social life. but really, i know WAAAY too much about med school and the medical profession. i've done some more exploring of sd but still not nearly enough. unfortunately, most of the med schoolers (if not all) will be leaving sd for the various residency programs, and i'm dreading the impending lack of friends once again. yeah, i'll actually miss most of them.

in july, i spent another drunken weekend with likwit crew in vegas. of course, whenever brian, jay, and vivek get together, madness usually follows. this time was no different. plus labonee tagged along and added her crazy antics to the mix. we had a great time, which just can't be conveyed in writing. where will tha liks invade in 2007? ... and of course, there was the annual family trip to palm springs. that weekend is ALWAYS one of the best weekends of the year. i have one of the greatest families in the world ... and that's all i have to say about that.

the taurus finally died. i was disappointed not to hit the 200k mile mark with that thing, but it served me well for many many years. as its replacement, i picked up a 2003 acura tl-s. it was a VERY nice change from the ford tortoise ... but i miss not having car payments.

... and that was basically my year.

now, i can't wait to get to canada. i know my mom's energetic younger sister, some of m cousins, and my grandma will be waiting for me at the airport. i can't wait to see the smile on my grandma's face. she'll say i'll always be her baba (means "little boy" in konkani) yand hold my hand as we walk (cause i always used to do that as a kid). my grandpa won't be there, but only because they won't let him (he's getting old ... 90+) ... instead he'll be waiting at the door, peaking out the window for our car to arrive. he'll give me one of his grins and mumble something only slightly intelligible to me. i'm also looking forward to the constant teasing and banter that will ensue once all of the cousins get together. and who knows, maybe i'll have a white christmas. new years eve should be fun partying with my cousins and a bunch of other goans, though i wish i'd have someone to kiss once the new year rings in =(

and with that, this is brian signing out till next year. happy holidays everyone!

this morning, i woke up feeling brand new

actually ... quite the opposite. i woke up in a funk ... not necessarily a bad mood, but definitely not a good one. the mood probably stems from a buncha factors ... the amount of work i want to do before i leave (though can you really be behind in work if your project manager hasn't setup a project schedule?!?), the ever-growing list in my head of things i need to do before i leave for toronto and the ever-diminishing amount of time to do it, the fact that it's only tuesday and i feel this week has already been really long, and probably some other junk. the fact that it's abnormally cold right now doesn't help either.

anyway, i get to work and get to my routine, still having been unable to shake the funk. on the drive to work, i knew exactly what would remedy my current situation ... some common. common's be to be exact. unfortunately, i didn't have that album or any of his others on my ipod at the moment ... nor did i have any roots, mos, gang starr, or anything like that. i think i've realized i must have moment of truth on my ipod at ALL TIMES. luckily, i get to work and had be on my computer. that did the trick ... solid album from start to finish. my only real gripe with album is that it's too short and leaves me wanting more.

it's great how music can do this to me.

so yeah ... after popping that album in, i was "feeling brand new and i jumped up / feeling my highs, and my lows in my soul, and my goals / just to stop smokin, and stop drinkin /and i've been thinkin ... i've got my reasons / just to get by ... just to GET BY"

yeah, that's not common, but whatever ... it fits the mood.