So That Was 2008
Every year’s basically the same as the one before. You pay attention to the details though—the ones that made this year different, harder, more beautiful, more heartbreaking. The things that made it feel like something actually happened.
The first half of 2008 wasn’t worth living. I’ll be honest about it. Breakup, then everything fell apart at school, then someone just erased my best friend from my life. No warning, no goodbye. The logical ending to that sequence would’ve been something final and dramatic. But that’s not who I am.
So we get to the second half. Parties. People. Work that meant something. A new apartment. The city. All of it together made me feel like living again, which I wasn’t sure was still possible. And then the music. My iPod was constantly overflowing—Lykke Li, The Ting Tings, Santogold, Ladyhawke. Everything I needed that year, there exactly when I needed it.
By the end I was bowed before the whole thing. 2008 was cruel and unfair and overstuffed with feeling in both directions. Mandy and Basti and I all agreed on the same thing: 2009 had to be better. It had to be. I kept thinking about the little one I wanted there when the year ended, when the fireworks started. I hope they don’t get you.