Hmm, the entry for the last of 2000, and some people would say the last day of the millenium. Me, I'm quite willing to say that the first millenium after Christ has 999 years. No need to be that exact, I mean we did gain or lose a whole month when the Gregorian calendar was corrected. Enough of that. So what were the high points of 2000, what were the low points? This is hard, because I have a memory like a sieve. That's why I write this journal, to make sure I don't forget. But then I don't like reading old journal entries, so that kind of defeats the purpose.

Anyways, major events. The Star Trek campaign, which I think has been more up than down. It's given me a chance to show my stuff to my friends and run a campaign the way I would want it run if I were a player. Well not totally, but some elements I've introduced because that's what I've wanted as a player in other people's campaigns.

Shannon and Kimberly's wedding. A great chance to see people I don't see much like Matt and Billy and John. The Memphis Star Trek/Xena convention. Got to meet some people I've only corresponded via the Internet. Also a nice vacation where I actually went somewhere and not just stayed at home. The Palo Alto convention was also nice, as I got to meet more people. DunDraCon is another high point of the year, although not a great one. I like the traditions: drinking, the food, Monday breakfast and helping Eric pack up his gear. But the convention itself was only so-so for me. Hopefully I'll do more this year, and someday maybe I'll even run a game.

My new PowerBook, that has to be a high point. Same for the CoolPix 990. Tech toys are cool, though expensive. My camera work still leaves something to be desired, but I just have to practice more. I still forget to take my camera or to shoot pictures once I'm there. Notice I have no pictures of Shannon's wedding. It's not a natural thing for me to do yet. Next up is a digital camcorder so I can shoot movies and digitize tapes and such.

I can't really think of anything else in my personal life. Minor things like my brother's high school graduation, seeing the Martina McBride and Britney Spears concerts, voting for the first time. But those are not really important. As for disappointments, not any big ones that I can think of. I'm not the kind of person who dwells on the bad things once they're over.

Professionally I did finish one major project almost singlehandedly, and even though I want to see it buried and forgotten, it's still an accomplishment. I guess the low point would be working on that project for the first half of 2000, by myself and sort of demoralized. At least work is more satisfying now, if not as varied as before.

It's amazing what you get done in one year, and amazing what you don't. I still have a to-do list a mile long, and getting longer, not shorter. Lots of things dealing with my personal web site and now Tartan's site too. Lots of reading and cleaning and keeping in touch with people and doing things.

You know what I'd like? Sometimes I'd like to go back a few years. Back to when things were simpler. I had less responsibilities, less things I was doing and had to keep up (if only for my own personal sense of duty). No web site, no fancy computer or camera, no writing, no high-pressure job, no game to run. Back when I could just fade into the woodwork and nobody would notice. Oh well, you can't go back. Not that I would really want to anyways. It's just that you only remember the nice stuff of yesterday when dealing with the bad stuff of today. Sometimes you forget all the good things of today that you didn't have or were back then.