December 17, 2006, 10:41 PM: Hello from sunny Seattle! After several weeks
of procrastination, I think my "Year in Review" is pretty much done. I am
planning to send out an abridged version as post card by the end of the year (or
maybe early next year) as soon as I get people's mailing addresses. If you want
to share your snail-mail address, if you find any errors or if you just want to
say hi, drop me a note [j5poedr02(at)sneakemail(dot)com].
(Or if you have any pictures that prove my existence from the first half of the
year.)
2006 - Shenanigans, Tomfoolery, Etc
Let’s review.
I rang in 2006 at a friend’s Condo in downtown Seattle, overlooking fireworks
atop the Space Needle. After hugs and kisses I took off to a blues party in the
U District (that would be the district around the University of Washington)
where I danced and made merry until about five in the morning.
I guess I spent most of January 1 tired.
2006 was a good year. A busy year. A fun year. At times stressful (see
June). At times a bit scary (see March).
In general, though, a blast. Now that I’ve flown around the sun just over 27
times, I figure it would be a good time to go beyond the paragraph my mother
gives me in my parent’s Christmas letter.
I digress.
January
I didn’t get enough dancing in on the first, so I flew out on the sixth for
Washington, D.C. The event: Cabin Fever Blues. My host: my good friend, AJ—at
the time she was in training to join the Foreign Service. She was kind enough to
put up with me for the weekend.
Cabin Fever Blues is what we call in the dance community an
Exchange. Actually,
let me back up a second. I’ve been doing
Lindy Hop, which is a type
of swing dance, since the summer of 1999—my first internship in Washington.
There are Lindy "scenes" throughout cities in the US and around the world.
Seattle widely considered to be be one of the largest and best Lindy scenes in
the world. Blues dancing is a spin-off of Lindy Hop that focuses more on bluesy
music. I picked up blues dancing when I moved here in 2002. Many moons ago,
people discovered that it was a great deal of fun to travel to different cities
and spend a night (or maybe a weekend) dancing with the natives. I can attest:
this is one of the most amazing features of social dancing. You can just show up
in a town, find a dance, and go make friends. Far more fun than scoping out the
local bar scene.
Anyway, this type of open invitation to out-of-towners got formalized into
the exchange. Pick a weekend. Set up a website. Get volunteers to host guests.
Get venues for evening dances (before midnight) and late-night dances (after
midnight, usually till dawn). Chaos ensues.
Cabin Fever was the first of quite a few exchanges I did during 2006. I had a
blast. I met some great dancers from around the country. On two occasions I
found myself trying to navigate the subway system alone, at dawn, after dancing
all night. Thankfully people in DC are used to lost tourists.
After almost two weeks of work I took off again for the
Sundance Film Festival in Park City,
Utah. Let me say first: having a film festival in Utah in January is insane. I
thought Iowa winters were cold. Damn! I was traveling with 3 friends from
Seattle. We rented out a cabin that we ended up sharing with (I think) three
(maybe four) other people. We got our tickets late so ended up watching a bunch
of moving (and quite depressing) documentaries. Thankfully there was another
Film Festival—Slamdance—going on at the
same time. (Yeah, it’s kinda like opening a Seattle’s Best Coffee across the
street from a Starbucks.) Thankfully, the coffee—er movies—were quite good and
the lines were all inside. (Again think Utah in January.) I also ran into (well
saw) several movie stars. Who? Well that was that girl from American Pie. And
that guy from that boy band. And that dude from Sideways. And that guy from
Wayne’s World and the West Wing. Oh, and William H. Macy. I guess I should read
US magazine more often.
For my next film festival, I’m debating between Honolulu and Miami.
After another 3 strenuous days at the office, I took off for
Whistler, British Columbia,
Canada for a snowboard trip. I’ve been snowboarding since the winter of
’99-2000. Actually living in a state with world-class snow (and the accompanying
mountains) is amazingly nice. This trip to Canada was particularly nice because
I both remembered my passport and I didn’t almost die (see
March).
February
Aside from a team ski/snowboarding trip to Steven’s pass, I worked a lot.
On the last weekend of February, I joined the ranks of the few, the
indebted-up-to-my-eyeballs, the home owner.
Now, I’ve had my signature down on this particular condominium since June of
2004. After over 18 months, it was soooo nice to finally answer “yes” to “Have
you moved into your condo yet?”. I bought a unit in the
Braeburn in the Capitol Hill area of
Seattle. Aside from being walking distance to just about everything, I’ve shaved
15 minutes off my commute in the morning. Not bad for being the most over-priced
city in America.
A lot of people expressed congratulations on my purchase. Really, buying a
house is easy. There are plenty of people willing to loan you lots of money. The
congratulations should be for the signing process. Ridiculous! I now understand
why doctors have sloppy signatures. This page says that you paid this much in
escrow. Sure. This page explains your insurance. Fine. This page is the deed.
Whatever. Left kidney. Alright. First born son. Etc.
My favorite part of moving: dumping my existing junk drawer into a bag and
then dumping the bag into my new junk drawer. Some things just aren't worth
going through.
I'm still not over the fact that I own a garbage disposal. I've heard this is
called growing up. Scary.
(I'd like to take this chance to publicly thank my good and lifelong friend
Rebecca for helping me haul stuff from my apartment late on a school night—hours
after the bulk of the help went home. I honestly think the untiring friendship
she demonstrated that Sunday night has made me a better person. You have my
humble thanks, hon.)
I did a road trip down to Portland for the Portland Lindy Exchange (or
Portland LX as the cool kids call it). I shared the small living room of a small
house with (I think) 7 other people from Seattle. Thankfully I managed to get
dibs on a couch. As is custom, I had never met the person I stayed with. This is
part of the fun of an exchange. The dancing was amazing. One of the venues—the
Crystal Ballroom—actually has a spring-loaded floor. You dance even when
you’re not dancing.
Fast forward to the end of the month, I traveled to meet my parents in New
York City to see my brother perform for the Metropolitan Opera Competition. This
was my first time in New York. I realized it’s “the” city. Not just “a” city,
but “the” city. I was also amazed at how compact it all was. From the top of the
Empire State Building, you pretty much get a feel for the whole island of
Manhattan. (Favorite Mom quote: “Meg Ryan was here!”) John sang well. Really
well. I realized I have a brother that's a world-class singer. Little shit. We
got to do the tourist bit. The last night in town I ventured down to the Village
to see the
Village Vanguard. It's the
smallest hole-in-the-wall club you can imagine (underground, no less). You can
hear the subway running through the wall. The music was amazing, regardless.
Aside from catching the flu and spending my first day back in Seattle in bed,
it was a great trip.
I spent the last weekend of the month in Whistler for another snowboarding
trip with work friends. Note to self: the “CLIFF” sign hanging from pieces of
rope is not referring to a character from Cheers. At least I can say I’ve
survived snowboarding extreme terrain. I didn’t even fall (unless you count the
20-foot drop-in). This is why I don’t tell my parents I’m going snowboarding
until I’m on the way home.
April
I went to the Cheap Thrills Blues exchange in St. Louis. (The blues events
seem to have more original names than the Lindy Events.) This was my first time
in St. Louis. Well, except for the time I flew through going to Des Moines.
Actually, I think I may have been "in the oven" when my Parents went in ’79. Not
sure if that counts.
Anyway, the dancing was fun. My host was an Orthodox Christian, so I got to
learn about a whole slice of Christianity about which I knew little. I also got
a chance to go up the Gateway Arch. I spent half the trip calling it the Space
Arch. I just assumed that the tall shiny thing in every city started with
“Space”. Made sense to me.
Unexpected highlight of the trip: St. Louis has Jimmy Johns! Ordering a #11,
no tomato brought back memories of 3am sandwich runs in college. It's the little
things in life, right?
May
Nothing happened in May. Well, I’m sure something happened. I probably got a
haircut.
Ah, June. Now I have legitimate work stuff to discuss, so let me rewind a
bit.
I’ve been fulltime at Microsoft since the summer of 2002. I interned at
Microsoft the three previous summers. I’m a program manager. No, that doesn’t
mean I manage people. It means I go to a lot of meetings, send a lot of emails,
and get yelled at when things don’t go right. I work on something
called Windows Presentation Foundation. Since the name of my product is boring,
it means you probably will never use it. Trust me, it’s cool. Yes, I’ve met Bill
Gates. No, I don’t see him often. No, I won’t ask him for money for you. No, I
don’t have an Xbox 360. No, I don’t have a Zune. No, I can’t fix your computer.
Did I miss anything?
In June I became a pseudo-manager. I got my very own intern. His name:
Chipalo. From Washington, DC. Smart guy. Really into the Red Skins. I've heard
management is like parenthood—you are never ready for it and you spend most of
your time just winging it and for the most part, things work out okay. I’ve
heard having an intern is more like having a pet (where real management is like
having a child). I think I’ll stick with interns for the time being.
In mid-June, I left my intern to fend for himself and went to Boston for a
conference. This is the second time I’ve been asked to speak at a major
Microsoft event. It was also my first time in Bean Town. I got cursed giving a
talk at the end of the week. I’d rather just get it over with. I actually spent
the week rewriting the bulk of my presentation. My reviews were good. For some
reason procrastination continues to pay off for me. Boston was amazing—very cool
to be in such an old city. The only complaint: they honk their car horns way too
much.
You're still reading? Wow. Thanks. I hope it's not out of sheer boredom.
Demented curiosity? Fine.
July
I came back to sunny, flat Iowa for the 4th to go to the wedding of a high
school classmate and friend, Meghan. Note: wool suit + Iowa + July = bad idea.
The weather was beautiful. The wedding was beautiful. Meghan was beautiful. My
memory of the event even has that soft glow photographers superimpose on the
ring picture.
Anyway...
It's always good to see the parents. They always seem happy to see me even
when I eat all of their food and take showers at 2 in the morning. Saw a lot of
good friends from back in the day. (Am I old enough to use that cliché?)
Back in Seattle, my friend Erik was assistant directing a short film. He
asked me to be an extra. More on movies latter, but now let me just say making
movies is no where near as cool as you think it is. Dressing in up in clubbing
clothes on a Sunday morning, going to a club with taped up windows and
pretending to be excited about the last 60 seconds of a song after ten
takes—well, let's just say you have to be really excited about the final
product, really bored, or really desperate for screen time. (Not sure which one
I fell under.)
I started Tango lessons. Yes, I've seen dancing with the stars. No, real
social dancing is nothing like what's on the show (although I will attest to the
quality of professionals they hire.)
I also started volunteering for the "No on 933" campaign. Initiative 933 is
the definition of why money needs to be sucked out of politics. A rich developer
from New York can throw down $100 thousand and force hard-working citizens in
another state to spend countless hours and millions of dollars to put down a bad
idea. I was happy to offer technical assistance, donate software, and do data
entry for them. (Anything but make phone calls.)
There were more weddings in July. The second was for a co-worker at
Microsoft. My good friend Diane was kind enough to bring me as her date.
Drinking with people from the office is always—how should we say—interesting.
I've found most married couples consist of a wife who loves to a dance and a
husband who either can't or won't. Note: don't dance too well with the wife of a
guy you'll see Monday morning.
The third wedding was for my good friends Shanna and Johan. How do I know
these wonderful people? Let's rewind. I moved out here in 2002. My good friend
Rebecca (from HS jazz band, Ernie's sandbox) moved out here in 2003 for Grad
School. Shanna was Becca's roommate their first year here. I've met a whole set
of amazing people through Rebecca's UW connections.
Anyway, the wedding: insanely hot. The whole program was outside at
Tracy Castle. The wool suit was a
really bad idea. (I wear a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers to work every day so I
wanted to get my money's worth for the fancy clothes.) The music was great.
Lot's of people who love to dance. Open bar. Good times.
July closed out with another Microsoft conference--this time in Seattle. I
got to present again with my good friend Robby. (I guess all of my friends are
good friends. I try not to hang out with my bad friends.) My commute was a walk
down the hill to the convention center--perfect.
August
The month started with the Seattle Lindy Exchange. In my effort to return
Karma to the universe for the use of other people's couches, I host three lovely
ladies from Vancouver, BC. Wow! Three women who need day, evening, and
late-night outfits take up a lot of space. As you may have guessed, amazing
dancing till the wee hours. Going to work on Monday after these weekends is
always painful.
I traded three Canadian dancers for two Midwesterners a few days later. The
parents came into town for a long weekend before my birthday. As is custom, we
took a Ferry ride to somewhere quaint. I exposed them to my favorite vegan
restaurant (for the uninitiated, vegan food not only has no meat, but no other
animal products: eggs, dairy, etc.). They didn't seem to mind. (After their last
trip out two years ago, they said that didn't want to have Indian food again.) I
think I'll hold off taking them to Sushi next time they're in town.
The parents and me on a ferry.
It's nice having the folks in town. I rarely play tourist in Seattle, but
it's certainly fun to do. We did the
Underground Tour, which is an informational and quite comical look at
Seattle colorful history.
Not long after the parents headed east, I started casting for a short film.
Again, a rewind. I met my good friend Erik through the swinging dancing
community in Seattle. Aside from being a great dancer (from what I've seen, we
don't dance together that much), Erik does film and video production, directing,
lighting and editing. While driving to a dance event in Portland in 2005, Erik
and I hatched and began writing a screen play for a short film. After a few late
nights in the winter of '05/'06 we finished the screen play. The working title
"Subtext". The plot: a comedic outline of the issues with office romance.
Casting is interesting. Dozens of people come through and perform their
monologues. The ones you like, you have read a part from the actual screen play
(this is called a "side"). If you like that reading, you bring them back for
call-backs. Filling out a cast of seven was a lot of work.
August ended with celebration of my life and works. Er, maybe it was just an
excuse to have good food and good drinks. Rebecca was kind enough to coordinate.
I lucked out that there was a blues party that night--that would be a party
where there is blues dancing.
Rebecca and me at my birthday dinner.
The night ended with a jump in Green Lake at 5 in the morning. Year 27 was
off to a great start.
September
Spent a weekend in early September at a cabin on the
Hood Canal with friends.
The weather was beautiful, the cabin was cozy. Aside from snowboarding, I rarely
get out into "nature" in the Northwest. We cooked, played catch on the beach and
sat in the hot tub.
We started filming "Subtext" in late September. I spent two full weekends in
an office building downtown. (See July for comments on the excitement of
production.) I'm still amazed by the talent you pull together for free in
Seattle. Being on the production side of a film was educational. I have a much
better idea of how a seemingly simple concept in a screen play can manifest
itself into a day of hair pulling on set. As of writing this, we're still
editing the footage--hoping for film festival submissions in 2007.
On the set of "Subtext". Yes, I'm tired and confused. Welcome to movie
making.
October
In October I started another set of tango lessons. A college roommate and
good friend, Steve, stayed with me for a couple of days. Sadly, this is only the
second time I've seen him since graduation (the first was when I was in DC in
January). How quickly one forgets the importance of old friends (well, I guess
Steve isn't that old). He's in grad school in San Francisco now.
I learned another important lesson in October: film making need not be a long
process. Erik and I (along with a bunch of old and new friends) participated in
the Northwest Film Forum 24-Hour Film
Challenge. We received instructions at 8pm on Friday, the 13th. We were to
deliver the final product at 8pm, on Saturday, the 14th. The process was intense
and we were very pleased with the final product (all five minutes of it). We
screened the film, which was titled "Both Ends", on Halloween night. There were
about 15 other submissions. It wasn't a contest, but it was very interesting to
see how the quality of our film stacked up against the others. Always cool to
talk to other film makers.
November
More dancing. This is the second year of the Emerald City Blues Festival in
Seattle. Three nights of great dancing. One day of classes (well, there were two
days of classes, but I slept through the second day).
All day November 8, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. No particular
reason.
I also traveled home for Thanksgiving. The weather was actually nicer in Iowa
than in Seattle, which is quite rare. Aside from eating way too much, I got to
catch up with friends, teachers, family. My parents always like it when all of
us are around the house (although we take up a lot more space these days). It's
always nice to be taken care of.
This was supposed to be a serious picture of the Brothers Moore. Brian
didn't get the memo. No, we didn't shave for Thanksgiving dinner.
December
The weather has been crazy in the Northwest this year. Works already been
called off twice for snow and wind--a rare thing in Seattle. On the upside, the
snow has been amazing. I spent the second day of December snowboarding at
Crystal Mountain. Here's hoping it all
doesn't melt before January.
Me, Mike, and Andrew at Crystal. They are skiers. I forgive them.
I'd be snowboarding more, but my weekends have been pretty full--lot's of
holiday parties and such. Work's also been busy. We shipped Vista in November
and my team is off planning and designing our next release. Long hours, but I
really enjoy my job.
I'm taking off on December 24th for Oakland with my good friend Jenn. We're
spending Christmas in the Bay Area and then heading to San Diego (via rental
car) for the Rhythmic Arts festival over New Years weekend. (Hopefully we get a
chance to do some site seeing along the way. I haven't spent much time in
California.)
Looking forward
So that's my year in a nutshell--a big nutshell, admittedly.
What are my plans for the new year?
Work: start development of our next release.
Dance: more tango lessons. A least one trip planned in the Spring.
Travel: plotting some tentative plans for Europe with family and friends.
Home: I've had the honor of being asked to give the graduation address at
Okoboji High School for the class of '07. I'm hoping I've learned enough in the
last nine years to give the graduates some interesting wisdom.
Pictures: I plan to take more pictures in 2007.
In the mean time, here's wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season and
happiness in the new year.
Peace,
Kevin