Well it’s that time of year again, a time where I sit back and reflect at the past 12 months and look ahead to the coming year. This year much like last year was quite rocky, but ultimately a lot of good things did come out of 2009 and I hope open the door to new opportunities in 2010 and the decade to come.

Normally I would do a post looking at some of the highlights of my personal life and some of my achievements, but the fact of the matter is that 2009 has just been too damn trying to even really worry about the good or the bad.  At this point I am happy just to make it through the week.

This year I opted to focus solely on Musings For A Darkened Room since there are some changes in store for 2010.

This year was huge for Musings.  It saw some of its highest traffic numbers ever and its top 5 posts saw over 11,000 unique visitors combined.  Probably not a lot by most of bloggers standards, but for me it was definitely something to be proud of.

Coming in at the top of the list was my Twilight Soundtrack Revisited: What Plays When? post, which outlines when each of the songs from the Twilight soundtrack and score play during the film.

A close second was the infamous Blinded By Penis post where I argue whether or not Robert Pattinson is as attractive as himself versus when he plays Edward Cullen in the Twilight films.  Unfortunately this post also put my site on the map for a long list of keywords related to Robert Pattinson’s genitalia.  It’s scary how many people out there search for that kind of thing.

In third comes the post that started it all, my Twilight Soundtrack Review.  An extensive look at the Twilight Soundtrack and its music and a post that drove a large chunk of my blogs traffic until the introduction of the What Plays When? post.

The last 2 posts t round out the top 5 of the year are my mention of PlasticSurgery.com’s Miss Double D-cember coverage from 2008 and my informative post looking at the AIM Coho social experiment.  The funny thing about the Miss Double D-cember post is that it got the bulk of its traffic this past month for this year’s Double D-cember competition.

Looking Ahead

There is a long road ahead in 2010.  Tonight I sat down and put together a list of goals for the year to come, one of which pertains specifically to Musings For A Darkened Room.  As regular readers know this blog runs on a potpourri of topics that interest me, ranging from music and Twilight to search and social marketing.

Starting January 4th, Musings For A Darkened Room will start a new posting schedule that will focus on having set subjects on set days. 2010 will launch Music Mondays, Twilight Tuesdays, and Flashback Fridays.  There will be room for additional posts on these days if something post-worthy comes up, but the primary focus of these days will be on the subject at hand.

Monday and Tuesday are pretty obvious, but Friday is going to focus more on what happened over the last week and I will share some of the more interesting link finds from the various topics I cover on Musings.

Some feel I should just branch off and do separate niche blogs for each of the subjects, but the fact of the matter is I created Musings For A Darkened room to be an extension of me, it is written for folks out there who share some of the same mixed interests as I.  I understand that not everyone will care about each and every post I write, but I hope that as a reader they can appreciate that I am simply sharing who I am.

The coming year will be a journey and I look forward to sharing it with all of you through Musings For A Darkened Room.  I hope that all of my readers, family members, and friends have a wonderful holiday and a safe and happy new year.  I look forward to seeing all of you again when I return on January 4th.

Every year around the holidays, like many of you, I like to take a moment to reflect.  I do so by writing a semi-annual post about the past year of my life.  These posts act as a journal for me to look back on, as well as a way for me to communicate with friends and family about where my life has taken me over the last year.  For the rest of you it gives you insight to the life of the guy who is chatting it up with you on Plurk, or throwing links and randomness at you on Twitter.  In the past many of these have been emotional rants, but over the last few years they’ve become a bit more composed.

2008 has been both a trying year and a triumphant year for me.  So as in years past this post will be lengthy, but I hope you find some interest, inspiration or value in it by the time you’re done reading.

Relationships

2008 marked the fourth year of marriage to my wife Misty; it also celebrated my first year of fatherhood.  Sadly, it almost marked the last year of my marriage and the last year of fatherhood as I knew it.  Throughout the last few months of this year Misty and I struggled with a separation and nearly divorced on a handful of occasions.  We’ve since taken a step back to reassess the situation and have opted to try and reconcile our differences and should be at least living together again by the beginning of 2009.

As with everything negative there is a balance in the positive.  Though this experience has nearly destroyed our marriage it has, in my opinion, made me a more responsible father and has also strengthened some significant relationships that have developed over the last year.

Had it not been for a handful of close friendships that didn’t really get their foundations until early in 2008 I probably wouldn’t have made it through a number of nights during the separation.  Their love and support got me through a number of hard nights, some sober and some less than sober, and for that I am very grateful.

I am also thankful for one individual in particular who has been a shining star and a guiding light throughout 2008.  She has reminded me the importance of being true to myself and helped me find my way back to the things that are most important to me.  She reminded me how much music speaks to my soul, how lyrics can tell a story, and how the ability to write from the heart is the most powerful ally you can ever have.  Had it not been for her I would still be wandering the roads of this life lost and unhappy at the core.  She came into my life at the perfect moment and has been a huge force in my life since then.  Together we’ve built the foundation for what I hope is to be a lifelong friendship.  Her patience, understanding, and friendship has meant the world to me throughout this trying year.

Career

2008 was a big year for me and my career; mostly because I finally had the opportunity to practice search marketing.  I transitioned into the search marketing industry in mid 2007, but the unexpected birth of twins derailed my career through the last months of 2007 beginning in October.  In January of 2008 I returned to work and jumped in to SEO head first.  I became much more active in the SEO community doing all I could to learn more and gain as much insight as possible.

2008 also introduced me to the world of Social Media, and sadly a new addiction.  From Twitter, to Plurk, and everything in between you will now most likely find my face somewhere within the thousands of member profiles.  Social Media had a serious appeal to me because of the conversation, the connection, and the networking with people from all over and from all walks of life.  I have since made a number of connections and been introduced to the ideas and lives of numerous people from the search and social media industries.

This year also brought Musings for a Darkened Room into primetime.  Blogging and journaling used to come at random, but in 2008 I made it a priority and beginning in January I made a commitment to update this blog on at least a bi-monthly basis.  That pace has increased over the last few months and new posts are pounded out weekly and range from topics like SEM and Social Media, to Twilight and green living.

Green Living

In 2008 I made a commitment to myself and the planet to live as green as possible.  While there is still significant room for improvement (less dining out, more organic food, less waste, etc.)  I continue to my part through increased recycling in the work place, using organic toiletries when possible, and buying and consuming as much local and organic produce and food as I can.  Unfortunately moving to an apartment in July limited the recycling I can take part in now and also left me without energy efficient appliances.

Fatherhood

This year has brought forth a ton of great change for me as a father.  Aiden and Cambria began crawling, then they started climbing, and most recently they started taking their first real steps.  This year also marked their first trip to Disneyland, their first Jack-o-lanterns, their first haircuts, and their first time opening Christmas presents.

In 2007 they spent their first Halloween in the NICU at UCI Medical Center.  This year they got to experience the excitement of a pick your own pumpkin patch, the guts and glory of carving a jack-o-lantern, and they got to sport their first real Halloween costumes.

Resolutions

When I look back at 2008 and everything wrong with it I also see everything right about it and wonder how I can top it in 2009.  If this year taught me anything it taught me how to love, and it taught me the importance of building relationships, both personally and professionally.  Had it not been for love some of the most memorable experiences of 2008 would probably have never come to fruition.  Had it not been for some of the relationships I built this year I might not have ever second guessed my choices regarding my marriage (Thank you Lori Bourne) and I probably wouldn’t be taking the steps I am now to try and make this marriage work.

So what is my resolution for 2009?  I don’t have one.  I recently read a statistic that only 23% of people in a poll of 15,031 kept their 2008 resolutions, and that’s a bit disappointing.  So in 2009 I simply plan to do the best I can with what I have. If I lose weight great, if I become financially stable even better, and if I share some incredible moments with the people I love most I won’t complain.

Please remember that 2009 will only be what you make of it.  If you want to be skinny in 09, you know what you have to do.  It might not be easy, but it can be done.  Want to be wealthy in 09?  You’re going to have to work at it, but people are already doing it.  Want a sparkly vampire boyfriend?  Well that one probably won’t happen, but if you find a guy who really loves you, you can probably convince him to cake on the shimmery body powder they are selling at Hot Topic and you can at least pretend…

I want to wish all my readers, friends, and family a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.  I look forward to sharing my life, my insight, and my thoughts with you in the coming year.

For those of you who are close to me you know that around this time each year I usually go on my Emo rant. The past few years it was on my LJ, but this time I decided to focus more on my Blog since I haven’t used LJ in ages and nobody I am close to even has an account anymore. To a few of you that were at my birthday party you might find this amusing because I physically went emo on some of you that night. I had been drinking and everyone was there and it was just a totally emotional moment for me.

These past few years have been emotional and physical roller coasters. I’ve had my ups, my downs, and loops, but in the end I always wind up grounded and complacent. However, the end of this year has probably been the highlight of them all. I have made some really amazing new friends like Jorge, Nohemi, Russell, Rubi, and Jose. I have patched up or found old friendships like Brianne, Shawna, and Danielle. And then on top of that my existing bonds get even stronger with friends like Rick, Alisha, Joe and Eddy. It’s incredible how one’s friends can make all the difference in the world.

It seems like just yesterday that the whole Kat fiasco was just ending and I was hated by nearly everyone I was close to. I was outcast for my stupidity and in turn had lost everything I’d known. However this year surpasses the last in how great my friendships have been. I am surrounded by great friends, a wonderful wife, and an incredible family.

Tonight I took a small trip down memory lane. Shawna and Brianne posted some old photos from High School on my Myspace page and I got a little choked up looking at them. As lame as it seems High School is something that I cling to. Not for the innocence of it, but for what it helped me become. Had it not been for the bonds I made there I would not be the person I am today. In fact if not for some of those bonds, I might not even be here today. Sure I made some mistakes, made some stupid choices, and did some stupid things, but I had friends that were like family, and today I am seeing a whole new family of friends that means just as much to me. But what makes it even more amazing is that many of the same members of that family still exist; Joe, Rick, Shawna, Danielle, Brianne and now that family is joined with all new friends that I have met along the way.

Along with the friendships that have developed or grown this year I have also had a year of personal growth. After five years of serving the “House of Mouse” I finally made a huge career jump towards the industry I wanted to study. I left a job that was comfortable, that was powerful, and that had potential, to go work in an industry that was foreign to me. Shortly after that move came another great opportunity, the chance to take on the Deadboypro.com project. It had been years since I had built a site from the ground up, and last time I had Joe in the next room helping me code it. This time it was much different. It was on a larger scale, and it had to look a hell of a lot better. I took on the job and after weeks of brainstorming and hard work I had developed the site. It has since taken countless hours out of my day, but at the same time has helped me learn so much about design. The site as far as I am concerned is a work in progress and as my knowledge for the design industry grows so will the site. To me it is a continuation of my goal with Entertainment-Asylum, and I think Danny and everyone at Deadboy for giving me the opportunity.

My last but probably biggest change of the year has been my decision to go back to school. After years of half assed attempts at school I finally found a college that was more my style. The courses were accelerated, I would graduate in two years, and they offered a degree in Visual Communications with a focus on web design. The planets were aligned just right for this opportunity and I jumped at it as soon as I got the chance. So far it has been great and with just over 2 weeks left in my first two courses I have straight A’s, but there is still a long journey ahead of me.

I’m sure that 2007 will have a great deal in store for me and everyone around me. I start my next module of school on January 3 which will bring me 2 classes closer to graduation. I am starting a detox program later this month to help start my year out healthy on the inside and out and then plan to hopefully shed some of the extra weight I have gained over the past few years through regular exercise. I also plan to spend some quality time with my wife. These past few years have been hard on us and I think we have at times lost that bond we once had. My goal for 2007 is to bring that spark back and make our marriage the best it can be. I also plan to spend as much time as possible working on friendships and making time for those in my life. I have a really busy schedule now with work and school, but I plan to make time for family and friends.

None of us really know what 2007 has in store, but I want to thank everyone who has been a part of 2006. It’s been an incredible year and an eventful year. Through the good and bad we all made it through another year. I look forward to seeing those of you who are coming on Sunday and hope we have just as much fun as we did at my birthday party last month.

Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to everyone!