S.KRAUSE

One is the Loneliest Number

2004 in review and perhaps re-view, though I am not sure whether the former and latter overlap significantly, if at all, or whether they are, perhaps, one and the same, and that the second is not merely a pseudo-hip, ironic reformulation of the first intended to emphasize something witty and insightful, if not articulated. Hip replacement, indeed.

Went on strike for two days, good relationship and friendship, family ups-and-downs, and a surprise 30th birthday celebration ... these are the things that made up 2004.

I taught two good classes this year, but perhaps spent a bit too much time being social this fall. I made it back to Idaho twice in one year, and two relatives had back surgery (among other medical procedures). Not all things came in the form of two, too, or “to ...” but enough did.

All week newspapers, websites, TV shows and the rest have been putting together their “Top blah blah blah” lists for 2004, once again demonstrating this society’s need to define itself by rationalizing the world—by ordering it, constructing narratives, and providing meaning. From Nipplegate to NBA meelees, from Fahrenheit 9/11 and Team America to four more years of terror, shock, and awe ... everyone was looking for trends, icons, and symbols.

In response I can only point out those things that to/for me were either memorable, or perhaps—more importantly—worthy of being remembered. I do not really care about Jeopardy King Ken Jennings ... sharing Celebrity Jeopardy with a variety of folks at Jen and Christoph’s place ranks higher, as does dog sitting for a week, adopting a shitload (official unit of measure) of plants for Jen and Jürgen, and learning how to make coffee liqueur and Irish Cream via simple recipes. In addition it was a year for losing weight and adding a few notches to the belt, as well as for learning to like coffee, though that is, perhaps, a luxury I cannot afford.

Parties: Only those I attended really count ...

• A HS Graduation party in June
• German Dept. Halloween
• Golden Birthday

Politics: It was really all about violence ...

• Arafat died
• Americans decided they preferred the evil they knew (along with hatred, stupidity, corruption, militarism, and fundamentalism)
• A Ukrainian presidential candidate was poisoned, and then went on to win the re-vote

Nature: Hell hath no fury ... oh, wrong quote ...

• Hurricanes in the Atlantic
• Mt. St. Helens decided to rumble a bit
• Quake followed by tsunami ...

Famous Intellectuals: Kant has been gone for 200, and E. Said a bit less, but this year we lost ...

• J. Derrida
• S. Sontag

Television: Friends introduced me to the following ...

• Lost
• Battlestar Galactica
• Stargate Atlantis

Anime: Friends introduced me to the following ...

• R.O.D. (both Read Or Die, as well as R.O.D. the TV)
• Last Exile (what the new Star Wars movies should have been?)
• Scrapped Princess
• Battle Programmer Shirase

Books: Recommendations from friends and foes, as well as random searching through the shelves, brought me the following (among others) ...

• Codex
• Possession
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond (a childhood classic)
• Cassandra’s Disk
• A Brief History of the Paradox

Movies: It was a good year for sequels, Sci-Fi (sort of) and Asian imports ...

• Spider-Man 2, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Bourne Supremacy, Shrek 2, among others
• Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (and GITS2, see above)
• Hero, The House of Flying Daggers, and more ...

... these are a few of my favorite things ...

I can only feel ambivalent about 2004 ... ups-and-downs, pros-and-cons ... but somehow I do not think that 2005 will be the same.

—December 31 2004

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