2017 was a peak year for me. As Dad would say, “That’s yer big boy.” For a long time I’ve kept annual lists of new experiences and milestones, on whatever scale, that I consider interesting or noteworthy. Comparing it to previous documented years, 2017 looks the most intense of any by far, but to me it looked more like an ocean of chill. A rollicking good time, actually - sort of an endless sequence of, “Hey, nice!” as I turn it over in my mind. I am eternally grateful. And, of course, I come bearing details:

  1. True, lasting, and vicious senioritis

  2. MARRIAGE 3.31.17

  3. Filing taxes (how did she escape that so long?)

  4. Moving out of my parents’, and the Bay Area, and California 5.17.17

  5. Graduating from college (summa!) 5.25.17

  6. New states: North Carolina, South Carolina, Wyoming, Utah

  7. SPOTTED: fireflies in real life

  8. “Hosting” a “houseguest”

  9. Jogging 2.5 miles (of actual straight jogging, may wonders never cease)

  10. 90% total solar eclipse (Yogi Berra laughs in his grave)

  11. EFL tutor for TPS 8.29.17

  12. First first snow

  13. Most knitting since the Great Shawl Explosion of 2011; LEAST READING SINCE 2013

But THAT’S NOT THE ONLY EXCLUSIVE I OFFER YOU TODAY. I knew this year would be a benchmark before it started, so last New Year’s Eve I decided on an extra layer of documentation. Recording Big Moments and superlatives seems obvious, but a year so full of them almost begs you to chronicle the everyday, mundane memories too. I started using this app called “1 Second Everyday” to make a video with at least one second, of absolutely anything, from every day of 2017. The idea appealed to me because it seemed impossible to ruin it with perfectionism, impossible to consistently capture a beautiful or relevant clip each day, so I figured it could accurately reflect the background of all those shinier moments, even in its construction. The final product captures my year in fun banalities exactly the way I hoped. Some of my seconds are pictures, some are in fact more than a second (?), some are borrowed captures from Elisabeth or the news of the day, some are senseless and some are stupid - but all await you at the end of another unlisted YouTube link. Tip: listen good. 1SE 2017! Happy New Year!

Song of the year: VET by Martin Kohlstedt

“Pleasure and action make the hours seem short.” -Othello

“In the LORD I put my trust. How can you say to my soul, ‘Flee as a bird to your mountain’?” Ps. 11:1