Angry Little Tree

As 2009 rolls to a close, dragging the first decade of the 21st century with it, it’s nice to look back at how things have gone. Ten years ago, I had just started work as the web master for a nondenominational denomination called the Willow Creek Association. I’d recently made the move to PCs after a lifetime of using Macs, I was orbiting around a doomed long-distance relationship, and I was just just starting to make plans for a project that would – years later – bring me into contact with the Drupal development community. Today, Catherine and I are in a new house that’s cozy and spacious, I’m more confident about where I’m going in life, our kittens have turned into cute hellions, and 2010 looks like it will be full of interesting developments. (A skiing trip with friends, an interesting SXSW panel, helping organize the CMS Expo…)

Humans are big on milestones: we like patterns and we like dividing our lives up into big, easy-to-explain chunks. I’m reminded of a Feynman quote (possibly apocryphal)…

You know, the most amazing thing happened to me tonight. I was coming here, on the way to the lecture, and I came in through the parking lot. And you won't believe what happened. I saw a car with the license plate ARW 357. Can you imagine? Of all the millions of license plates in the state, what was the chance that I would see that particular one tonight? Amazing!

So I’m a little hesitant to analyze the milestones too closely: they’d be there regardless of the year on the calendar. That said, It’s been one hell of an interesting decade. I’m curious to see what the next one holds…