changes | pretty soon you're gonna get a little older

It's been 2009 for a week now.

Isn't the separation of years funny sometimes? Why January through December? All it really is is the change of a date. The eight changed to a nine. That's it. But it means more, doesn't it?

I imagine people wanting to lose weight in November but waiting for January to formally announce their goal. I imagine slates getting wiped clean and records being thrown out. Records of wrongs, I hope.

Obviously, with all the observation spent on the phenomena of a new year, people will notice change. And like any other 12 month period, a lot has changed for me. One year ago, I was in school, desperately trying to finish everything so I could graduate. I was anxious about trying to figure out what would come after that. I took baths. And I was already completely over the whole election thing.

Now, I am a college graduate, I have moved away from Knoxville for the first time in 5 years. I am leaving for St. Croix in four days, and now I take showers. Oh, and the election is FINALLY over - (you'd think I am an old man from the amount of cynicism I have already built up toward politics and its media coverage).

But on top of all these logistical life changes, I can't help but want to acknowledge a change within me as well. I hope that I have become a better friend, son, and brother. As melodramatic as it sounds, I am serious - I absolutely love my friends and family.