this time last year i took some time to write a little recap of my year (ended up being not so little) and the process was a refreshing way to close out, to add a marker, to an otherwise just-passing amount of time. in many ways this notation - making a mark where something had started and stopped - helped create a new beginning of sorts where i could measure against it as the future unfolded. this year i thought i'd engage in the exercise again. here are some of the best moments of 2019:
the first thing i can think of is skiing and taking leaps off car-sized mounds in the back bowls of vail, on a trail called cloud nine where the trees were many but generously spaced. my brother, dad, nikki and i weaved in and out of the trail's long, downhill curves, speeding without worry of many other skiiers and looking out over a vast expanse of mountains. nearby at beaver creek, i skiied with a former hockey teammate carolyn and dove down the deathly double black diamond called, fittingly, forgettaboutit. we narrowly survived.
naturally other travels come to the top of mind. i dreamt up my perfect summer vacation visiting friends in vancouver and seattle and made it all actually, seamlessly come to life, from fantasy to reality. at bass coast, i took refreshing cold swims in the river, met a gaggle of costumed characters, became a three-headed dog with my spirit bestie lexis and her male doppleganger paris, danced on stage at barclay crenshaw, and was literally hypnotized by a blonde illusionist named ~*mesmer*~ who did not break eye contact with me from the time he met me at the campsite till the time i realized he was hypontizing me, like i was his chosen subject. i closed the festival with a long, pink and purple reflection on this epiphany that humans use vibrations to communicate with the frequencies of the universe, and that when we are thinking of aliens we are really thinking of ourselves.
'
this year was definitely the year of creative parties, taking advantage of our large floor plan and maze of rooms. we remade our backyard into a more beautiful and welcoming space with our like-minded neighbors kyle and griffin, and launched it with an open house with a dj set by our friend jimmy, wearing cat ears, 'en plein air' and a bonfire and a trump pinata that hana destroyed with one swing of a golf club. i always love playing friend matchmaker, introducing people from disparate parts of my life to one another through a mutual interest i know they have and leaving them to it.
the open house was followed up with our haunted halloween house party, which kicked off with a promise on facebook for a shrine to the undead and entry to our spooky basement. as a result, we created a storyline for the evening with nikki playing the lead character, a dead suburban housewife who died from a tragic vaping-related illness:
guests were immersed in the story via decor and a full shrine to karen, and a book that was signed with dozens of notes and drawings in her honor. the empty cobwebbed basement was transformed into a full warehouse rave situation, with black lights and strobes and a dj wearing a white cowboy hat. there is no doubt this inspired my desire to - a month later - throw a murder mystery masquerade party for my birthday.
professionally, i saw a promotion and a raise, and traveled to new york twice - once for a high-stress press conference (and bacon flavored tequila shots with gwen, as a result) and an event where i had 60 seconds to pitch a room full of national journalists on the magic of the mca. through work i met kanye west and virgil abloh (and sold a pair of his shoes for 1k profit) as well as an old favorite, toro et moi, who offered me VIP tickets to his concert later that night. a slight traitor, and mostly out of curiosity, i volunteered to work at the art institute for their indoor pitchfork festival and to see panda bear. wearing a staff tshirt, i got to meet panda bear's VJ, who in our conversation made me realize that animal collective's feature length film oddsac he created was really my entry point to art entirely - through the dance of music and the visual. between this and bass coast, this year revealed to me an interesting question: is (our goal for) art just trying to be what music naturally does? to bring people together?
in my 2018 blog post, i wanted to commit to carving out more time for myself - and my independent interests. this year i journaled more, i blogged more, i biked more, and i read more. i joined two book clubs; i must say the stereotypes are true and only a fraction of what was discussed was the books. i went to more concerts - like thriftworks at bottom lounge and bassnectar at north coast, where i bought myself a new tail- and i made a routine out of yoga and pure barre. i listened to a book ive always wanted to read, zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, while rollerblading home from work during the warmer months. i began to teach golf lessons, watercolor, and windsurf. i sailed our friends sara and trevor in to shore in the midst of a thunderstorm and shifting 40 knot winds, just in time to assist the sailing staff with an emergency de-rigging situation. during a year when the lake was high and the dunes were higher, and the beach started to feel unlike our own with all of the mega mansions popping up next to sailing, it was that storm and the night that we slept on the beach in a tent that reminded me that while times change our community webbing is only getting stronger. cut to: the full extended sailing clan belting mary j. blige's "be without you" together, word for word as if we had all been practicing it for years.
one of my concerns of the year was to avoid complacency; how to remain active, adventurous, and spontaneous while my job, relationship, and living situation are desirable. one of nikki and my inside jokes this summer was 'marina city' - or pretending to be tourists and seeing chicago for the first time as we put itineraries together for the day. we biked to the zoo, had brunch at north pond, got ribs at sheffields, went to a sox game with my cousin owen, tried axe throwing, met figure skater adam rippon at a talk about his new book, and regularly pretended our apartment was an airbnb with an awesome outdoor living room (we literally brought the tv out on our patio.)
more than ever, i appreciate that my grandparents are still such an active part of my life, and i finally got around to creating a fourth etching of my sheep cartoon series so that i could go printmkaing at the chicago printmakers collaborative with my grandpa. we finished just in time for my turn at the mca staff art wall, where i gave a talk about the process of printmaking with my grandpa and the children's book i one day hope to make out of them.
i was the crux of my grandma's surprise birthday celebration at wilmette golf course, and had to nervously lie to her about bringing her there to play when i knew we werent going to. her face buckling to tears when she saw dozens of her friends on the other side of the dining room doors was an emotional moment, and a huge sigh of relief that i had, somehow, supported in making it happen. as i reflect on this moment i come back to my goals for this year and the notion of the passing of time, which kicked off those goals. 2019 felt new, awakened; i returned my focus inwards and shut out the negativity that was distracting me from myself. i didn't let others make excuses for me, and i got my katy back.
the first thing i can think of is skiing and taking leaps off car-sized mounds in the back bowls of vail, on a trail called cloud nine where the trees were many but generously spaced. my brother, dad, nikki and i weaved in and out of the trail's long, downhill curves, speeding without worry of many other skiiers and looking out over a vast expanse of mountains. nearby at beaver creek, i skiied with a former hockey teammate carolyn and dove down the deathly double black diamond called, fittingly, forgettaboutit. we narrowly survived.
naturally other travels come to the top of mind. i dreamt up my perfect summer vacation visiting friends in vancouver and seattle and made it all actually, seamlessly come to life, from fantasy to reality. at bass coast, i took refreshing cold swims in the river, met a gaggle of costumed characters, became a three-headed dog with my spirit bestie lexis and her male doppleganger paris, danced on stage at barclay crenshaw, and was literally hypnotized by a blonde illusionist named ~*mesmer*~ who did not break eye contact with me from the time he met me at the campsite till the time i realized he was hypontizing me, like i was his chosen subject. i closed the festival with a long, pink and purple reflection on this epiphany that humans use vibrations to communicate with the frequencies of the universe, and that when we are thinking of aliens we are really thinking of ourselves.
'
this year was definitely the year of creative parties, taking advantage of our large floor plan and maze of rooms. we remade our backyard into a more beautiful and welcoming space with our like-minded neighbors kyle and griffin, and launched it with an open house with a dj set by our friend jimmy, wearing cat ears, 'en plein air' and a bonfire and a trump pinata that hana destroyed with one swing of a golf club. i always love playing friend matchmaker, introducing people from disparate parts of my life to one another through a mutual interest i know they have and leaving them to it.
the open house was followed up with our haunted halloween house party, which kicked off with a promise on facebook for a shrine to the undead and entry to our spooky basement. as a result, we created a storyline for the evening with nikki playing the lead character, a dead suburban housewife who died from a tragic vaping-related illness:
professionally, i saw a promotion and a raise, and traveled to new york twice - once for a high-stress press conference (and bacon flavored tequila shots with gwen, as a result) and an event where i had 60 seconds to pitch a room full of national journalists on the magic of the mca. through work i met kanye west and virgil abloh (and sold a pair of his shoes for 1k profit) as well as an old favorite, toro et moi, who offered me VIP tickets to his concert later that night. a slight traitor, and mostly out of curiosity, i volunteered to work at the art institute for their indoor pitchfork festival and to see panda bear. wearing a staff tshirt, i got to meet panda bear's VJ, who in our conversation made me realize that animal collective's feature length film oddsac he created was really my entry point to art entirely - through the dance of music and the visual. between this and bass coast, this year revealed to me an interesting question: is (our goal for) art just trying to be what music naturally does? to bring people together?
one of my new watercolors
in my 2018 blog post, i wanted to commit to carving out more time for myself - and my independent interests. this year i journaled more, i blogged more, i biked more, and i read more. i joined two book clubs; i must say the stereotypes are true and only a fraction of what was discussed was the books. i went to more concerts - like thriftworks at bottom lounge and bassnectar at north coast, where i bought myself a new tail- and i made a routine out of yoga and pure barre. i listened to a book ive always wanted to read, zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, while rollerblading home from work during the warmer months. i began to teach golf lessons, watercolor, and windsurf. i sailed our friends sara and trevor in to shore in the midst of a thunderstorm and shifting 40 knot winds, just in time to assist the sailing staff with an emergency de-rigging situation. during a year when the lake was high and the dunes were higher, and the beach started to feel unlike our own with all of the mega mansions popping up next to sailing, it was that storm and the night that we slept on the beach in a tent that reminded me that while times change our community webbing is only getting stronger. cut to: the full extended sailing clan belting mary j. blige's "be without you" together, word for word as if we had all been practicing it for years.
one of my concerns of the year was to avoid complacency; how to remain active, adventurous, and spontaneous while my job, relationship, and living situation are desirable. one of nikki and my inside jokes this summer was 'marina city' - or pretending to be tourists and seeing chicago for the first time as we put itineraries together for the day. we biked to the zoo, had brunch at north pond, got ribs at sheffields, went to a sox game with my cousin owen, tried axe throwing, met figure skater adam rippon at a talk about his new book, and regularly pretended our apartment was an airbnb with an awesome outdoor living room (we literally brought the tv out on our patio.)
meeting one of my heroes adam rippon
more than ever, i appreciate that my grandparents are still such an active part of my life, and i finally got around to creating a fourth etching of my sheep cartoon series so that i could go printmkaing at the chicago printmakers collaborative with my grandpa. we finished just in time for my turn at the mca staff art wall, where i gave a talk about the process of printmaking with my grandpa and the children's book i one day hope to make out of them.
~ ~ ~
