Here we are almost at the end of another year. I can’t complain (though I will.) I’m paying my bills, I have a pretty nice apartment and a car that runs and friends and family who care about me. Things are okay and at the same time I’d say that 2010 has been…fair. Obviously many people out there are having a much tougher time and many are barely getting by. So I try to be grateful for what I have – I’m doing well. I’m the kind of person, though, who always has that vague feeling that “there’s gotta be more than this.” And yet there probably isn’t. Sometimes I’ll think, if I only made more money, if I could travel more, if I were younger, if I had religion, a nicer car, a bigger apartment, blah blah blah. Nah, this is it right now for good and bad. And really it’s not that bad at all.

As for my move to Denver, it’s been interesting and still hard to say how well it’s going. I’ve met some very nice people since I’ve been here, which I’m grateful for, and also some not so nice. (For example, what was with those catty remarks from that CD the other night?) Believe me – I’m only half joking ;-) I thought that Colorado would feel much more like home than L.A. did, and I guess it does, but to be honest I’m not completely sure. And in any case, home does have a way of sometimes giving one the willies. I still suspect though that I’ll be here for quite some time to come as I don’t know if there really is a perfect place to be. I heard a funny account on “This American Life” on the radio recently about “the mediocrity principle,” the scientific notion that there really is nothing special about humans or the earth, that we share 96% of our DNA with chimpanzees and occupy a minor planet in a minor wing of a minor galaxy. And the upshot is that no particular place is any more special than any other place in the world. So Denver’s as good as any.

Well, not to end on a downer note, and I want to emphasize that things really are going quite well. Like many, I just always get reflective and a bit melancholy this time of year. Let’s hope for the best for the next decade – wait, did it start in 2010 or does the new one start in 2011? Well, in any case let’s hope for the best whatever it is! And if you’re reading this, have a nice time during these final weeks. Be with friends and family if you can and, well, maybe get tied up or tie up some other willing captive if you have the chance! Happy Holidays!