as i’m sure others have said, the year has flown by. at the same time, though, it seems like so much has happened in the world, in america, and in my life. i’m in such a different place in my life now than i was at the beginning of the year; january 2009 seems so long ago….

here’s a month-by-month breakdown. maybe not the sexiest way to do it, but maybe the easiest?

January

• the department in which i was working at american savings bank (evil) was sold to another insurance agency (even more evil). many of the people with whom i spent the previous seven, or so, years either retired or were laid off. it was a strange and unsettling transition to deal with and i almost immediately started looking for work elsewhere.
• one of my closest hawaii friends left the islands to pursue a post-doc, returning to his country of origin.

February

• house bill 444, house draft 1 passes out of the hawaii state house. it is a huge victory and step forward in the fight for equality for same sex couples. hb444 would make civil unions legal in hawaii.

March

• finally left the even-more-evil insurance agency, taking a pay cut to go work as the office manager for the democratic party of hawaii. a much, much better job. finally my hobby and career diverged.
• make a new friend that i thought might develop into something more, but alas….
• the civil unions bill is mired in the hawaii state senate. the senate judiciary committee vote splits and the bill stalls in committee. calls start for the bill to be pulled out for a full floor vote.

April

• another close friend leaves the islands to greener pastures in DC, political mecca of the US. sad, sad, sad….
• my application to the university of hawaii law school is rejected, with little surprise on my part. my LSAT score was abysmal.

May

• one of my oldest and best friends ties the knot in chicago. of course, i attend as one of the groomsmen. the actual wedding takes place on the same day as my 31st birthday; their anniversary will definitely be easy to remember. the whole weekend is such a blast and a reunion of sorts with numerous college friends, that i attempt extend my stay in chicago.
• meet a very cool girl, a friend of the bride, during the wedding weekend extravaganza. too bad she’s spoken for… and lives in london.

June

• michael jackson dies. such a tragic loss of a musical icon. he was definitely an odd man, but i personally never believed he ‘diddled’ little children.
• the health care debate heats up in DC. back then, the deadline was august; clearly that didn’t happen….

July

• the oahu county democratic party votes to ‘reprimand‘ one of its members, a state senator and former republican, on his active opposition to the hawaii civil unions bill. the decision is appealed by the senator to the state central committee, the governing body of the democratic party of hawaii.

August

• an old, former friend with whom i had a huge falling out, visits. she stays at my house, after telling her she couldn’t, and generally annoys me…. and apologizes for her actions that ultimately perpetuated our falling out. thankfully its just for a couple of days.

September

• september 18th was my last day of work at the democratic party of hawaii. the economic downturn put a sizable dent in the party’s ability to fundraise and, as a result, i was let go. there are no hard feelings; i’ve been able to collect unemployment since then, which has been a nice and interesting experience. i still spend a fair amount of time there, i’m just not getting paid for it now.
• i start working (volunteering, really) on a couple of different campaigns: one gubernatorial candidate and one lieutenant governor candidate. its nice to be able to spend doing this type of work, which i haven’t been able to do much in the past, given my work schedule. yea for unemployment!

October

• i became an uncle… again.

November

• thanksgiving in mokuleia this year. its always a very nice and very relaxing time. no television. no internet (except on the awesome iphone!). just relaxation, drinking, eating, and swimming. no pictures, as the memory card in my camera went kaplewy… grr.

December

• confirmed a job at the legislature starting early next year (on the 4th, in fact). pretty excited and definitely looking forward to it.
• spent nearly a week in mokuleia for the christmas holiday. i just LOVE it up there. with a new memory card, here’s pictures!

all in all, it was a pretty good year. its a bit hard to believe its already 2010, but that’s how it goes, i guess. here’s to a good one! happy new year!