Starting off with today’s breakfast. One of my classic mushroom and sausage sandwiches. Depending on how many calories you want to pile onto it, it would have tasted a little richer with some mayo on top. Add it with a mug of hot chocolate and you can ignore food for a couple more hours.

* * *

It is that time of the year again. 2007 was quick for me, perhaps because I had more flashbacks of things that seemed to have just happened yesterday.

2007 felt like it rushed passed me. There were extreme highs and extreme lows. Got my Honda Jazz (yay!) and finding out my colleague was engaged, all this being trumped by an offer for the chance to work in New York (high), and landing in New York wondering what I have got myself into (low). Being back in Melbourne in August for Vyanne’s graduation and spending time with friends and family (high), and spending the year end alone without anyone (low). It has been an emotional year and I was constantly worrying about everything. My attitude of letting things sort itself out failed me miserably. There were so many times I did not know what to do, and there was no one to tell me what to do. Even being told what I should do, it didn’t help at all.

Heh, I wrote last year how 2006 felt so settled and how unsure I’d be of 2007 as I wanted to make progress in life. 2007 was indeed like a hurricane and it left me lurching. In some situations, you either float or you sink. I didn’t want to sink and there were times I’d just survive getting through the day. As bad as it was, there were also good days in the year, when I’d get to experience new things, like a first baseball match in the best seats of the stadium, or to dine at one of the finest restaurants in the city. Work here has been a rollercoaster ride, sometimes I’m very enthusiastic and get a lot of things done, and sometimes I’d just idle away, not sure of what my purpose is.

It has been a lot of uphill trudging for me, and it has made me a better person I hope. So 2007 is the year I had to lift my game and for everything that was thrown at me, I had to respond to it in a way. Sometimes I did poorly, but I was always given another chance to prove myself. So here I am now, having survived almost 7 months in NY being physically alone here. For 2008, it would be more of the same until May, when I would have done my year and am able to go back to Melbourne. At the moment, so many things are beyond my control that I don’t really dare to wish for much to happen next year. I just want to continue to grow and discover what I want to be doing. The subprime mess of this year and the subsequent credit crunch that followed has made reality in the finance world stark at times. The only plus side is that it has provided a good learning ground.

Heh, for all the excitement and drama of this year, I’m just looking for happier, simpler times next year.

* * *

On the photography side of things, I acquired two extra lenses this year, one is the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 and my bread and butter Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8. I also plonked down for a D300 and I keep telling myself I should stop buying new equipment, but there’s always something interesting to test out. Heh, still eyeing Nikon’s own 70-200 VR lens (I already have a Sigma version), and also the 135mm f/2 DC lens. When I first picked up my D70, I had never imagined that one day I’d be spending a few thousand a year on camera equipment. After getting the D300, I just realised that I should be spending more time taking photos and testing different subjects and techniques. So I did in a way, and now I’ve set some goals for 2008. I want to print a few more albums of photos, as I made one prior to my trip to New York. One to do some black and white stuff, test different paper prints and get that whole workflow thing right. Been using Adobe Lightroom and it’s a great productivity tool once you figure out how it works. You can edit, tweak without changing the original files, do batch saves on the files you want to convert for web usage. Took my photography class, and that nudged me along. It sort of opened the door to new things and after that, I had more imagination putting searches into Google to learn new techniques and stuff. There’s still a long way to go, but at least I feel I can make mundane, everyday stuff look picturesque. Heh.

Major highlights of the year other than the ones mentioned above? I went to New Zealand, which was rushed but fun. More fresh perspectives on work and learning new programming skills. Found out that it is possible to cook for one person without having to eat leftovers 5 times in a row, although it requires more cooking effort on one’s part.

* * *

Am I happy? At the moment, a little indifferent. Maybe I just need a change of pace. I hear it’s 36 degrees Celsius in Melbourne daily these days. Is it preferable to ice and frost? Not really, but at least i will be sharing the weather with good company. I am looking forward to that trip home.