Thursday, April 18

So. Very. Full.

4

2007 was a big year. At least, I think it was. *thinks* Yes. Yes it was. Don’t ask me to iterate why. I can’t recall the specifics. I’m bad at that.

Reading Jennifer’s blog made me want to write something. Because she put my blog on her links list (yay!) and I don’t want to be the blog on the link list that hasn’t been updated in forever. :)

I can’t remember exactly what I was doing early this year. I don’t recall it being all that important. I do remember Jon leaving for Dallas in early February, and driving through the worst ice storm in years. Warren and Athena got married that same weekend and I spent 35 hours driving in 3 days.

2007 was the first year I have lived alone. My whole life. I discovered, after a brief few months that I didn’t like it. But I adjusted and am pretty happy with things.

I bought the last of the necessary equipment for my professional photography, put up a Professional Photo Site advertising my work, and after one false start, started advertising on the Knot. Ads should be up today. We’ll see how that goes. I’ve been talking and planning and working on getting this started for years, and it looks like things may finally take off.

I get out more. I had to. For several months, I hardly left my apartment, and though I enjoyed catching up on years worth of lost TV :), I was a little depressed. But I have great friends, who I found I had to make some effort to keep in touch with.

I discovered that I don’t like living without the internet. I spent 6 months without it, from Nov 2006 – Mar 2007. I found it cut me off from people I care about. I know people (mostly techy snobs (i love you guys)) say that Facebook is evil, but truth told, it prevents my family and friends from retreating into their little holes.

Because, I come from a family of Introverts (mostly all of us, to one degree or another), and many many of my best friends are introverts. Without the internet, we don’t speak to each other. Much. ;)

I’ve discovered that more than Facebook, I really really like Twitter. Best app ever. Honest. When my Grandma died this Fall, half my extended family got hooked up. It was the best way to keep track of a dozen or more families, and keep them updated about her and the funeral arrangements. And now that most of them are on, I hear and know about whats going on with them in ways I simply never would have otherwise. And, they are talking more to each other.

The naysayers seriously underestimate the damage distance can have on relationships. Twitter makes me feel close to people I consider important, when they live halfway across the country.

I traveled some this year. Not overseas, but I did go to Louisville to see Tamara (had so much fun) and went down to South Carolina to see the Bergeys and meet Drew for the first time. I had really missed the Bergeys. For a couple I’ve only met three times in person, the Bergeys are some of my very best friends. The first two times I met them (Jenn’s graduation, then Daniel for the first time and Jenn for the second time at their wedding) was hectic and busy. But this time, I got them all to myself, had time to relax, talk and just enjoy company. I consider it the highlight of my year. :)

Well. I’ve spoken long. I did more, but these are the really important things. At least, the important things to me. 

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4 Comments

  1. Math verification wow. Jason we are not a family of
    Interverts. Most who are related to a READ knows not a stranger, will talk to anyone who has anything to say. Just remember your Gma, and when we (our siblings) get togother, we have to take turns talking, we are that way with all wo respond. Besides we have our faith to talk about, and that is boundless.
    Congradulations on the Photo Bus. If I had not been a railroader maybe a photographer.???? Best to ya Uncle

  2. The naysayers seriously underestimate the damage distance can have on relationships. Twitter makes me feel close to people I consider important, when they live halfway across the country.

    Don’t you love the fact that you live in the day of the internet… without it would be miserable.

  3. Harrison: absolutely. I can’t imagine life without it. or, rather, i can, but can’t abide the possibility. :)

    Uncle Riley: Its true, the Reads are a garrulous bunch, and many in my extended family are pretty extroverted. I think what I meant to say is that my immediate family is mostly introverted (to some degree or another), excepting Andrew (who gets around).

    But even extroverts can be bad at keeping in touch when distance (or even not much distance) is between. The beauty of Twitter is that it creates openings for conversations you wouldn’t normally have, and provides a mechanism for the discussion. One thats easy to maintain and accessible.

  4. I have always wondered why some people are extroverts and while others are introverts. Sometimes I can be inbetween the two.

    What happens when these combinations meet:

    *extrovert/introvert
    *extrovert/extrovert
    *introvert/introvert