2000. I left the coolest job in the world to move to LA and get into filmmaking. The ex-job was translation/adaptation editor for a startup comic company doing online English versions of Japanese comics. The whole day was thinking about the best transliteration of "sound of heart thumping" or "sound of head smashing into pavement." Here's the first book of one of the cool titles we did, Tomie by Junji Ito. It really was an excellent gig, but oh well, following dreams, all that, and anyway that company folded with the burst of the dotcom bubble.
2001. Around 9/11, I got a new job as a professional card player and learned about a whole new world of scum and villainry, resulting in some of my more popular blog rants. Oh, and 9/11 happened. That seems like it should be on the list...
2002. I have no notes on this year. I think I spent most of it hanging out with my girlfriend. Girlfriends can be great in that they keep you from knowing what's going on in the rest of the world. Seriously, if there was a nuclear explosion this year, I've forgot about it, 'cause we were probably deciding which Indian restaurant to go to.
2003. There was a special recall election that made Arnold Schwarzenegger the governor of California. I still have difficulty believing that happened.
10 More Things That Seriously Totally Happened This Decade And Now You're Like Over It: Friendster, Facebook, the poker fad, the Tsunami in Thailand, Hurricane Katrina, Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy, Bush & his Oil Buddies invade Iraq for why?, same-sex marriages, Ipods, text messages. I just want to say that again 'cos it's funny: TEXT MESSAGES.
2004. I shot an independent science-fiction movie and had a run-in with the Department of Home Security. The short version is: never ever park your unmarked grip truck next to a government property during the Age of Terror, even if you have a filming permit.
2005. The last Star Wars movie came out this year. That was a big deal just because it threw into sharp focus that being 30 was gonna be a lot less fun than being 5. My review here.
10 Best Films of the Decade: Brick, Half Nelson, Iron Man, The Savages, Macross Frontier, Michael Jackson's This Is It, Day Night Day Night, 40-Year Old Virgin, Donnie Darko, Primer. (OK, Macross Frontier isn't quite a movie, but there is a feature version released in Japan, so by a technicality.)
2006. I can't remember much of this year except there was a lot of pining and casino douchebags. Also, somehow this year I got the brilliant idea to buy a condo on an adjustable-rate loan. I spend much of this year and the next sweating through attacks of cold panic and depression.
2007. The Warriors won a playoff series. I mean, if you remember how much the Mavericks killed everyone that year, and how not very good the Warriors generally are, that was pretty awesome.
2008. It's hard to pick out of all the important stuff from this year (getting out of the ill-advised condo, script-doctoring gig, leaving the Bicycle Club, the Olympics in Beijing...) but I think the best thing was we got Obama, and more importantly, got rid of George Bush and the GOP-run Congress. To all the Obama-haters...look, the Justice League couldn't undo all the Bush-era evil shit in a year. The Bush people were titanically evil and lame. I mean, really, everything they did was evil. They couldn't even go on a hunting vacation without shooting a friend with a rifle, that's how dedicated they were to evil. The world is a much better place now.
2009. Newly laid off by jerkoff investor-employers from casino job, I complete my profile as an Economic Collapse Anecdote: bought crappy home, lost crappy home, lost job, check all. But, just in time, the screenwriting projects picks up. I write some scripts I'm very excited about, one of which won a few nice awards from Tribeca and Sundance. Life changes for the better, if not the richer.
2010. My big resolutions are to make my movie (you can help!), develop my Asian-casino-action screenplay, keep pushing on the "Look For Water" movie, eat more green vegetables, get a better pillow, and watch every Natalie Tran video in existence. As the guy says in the movie, something wonderful is gonna happen.
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