2017: The Year of Uncertainty

2017's Tune of the Year, taken from the incredible concept album from Ferry Corsten, this is Venera, Vee's Theme:

     Well, seems it's that time again. Time to put away the Christmas decorations, start those resolutions, and soak in a couple solid months of winter. Yes, the new year is here and with it comes joy, hope, and a fresh outlook towards the future and whatever it may hold. But first, as always, I'm going to take the time to reflect back on the year that was 2017. While there weren't as many big changes this year as there were in 2016, there were still a lot of unknowns. What direction was our country headed in and how should I respond? What direction should my career head in and what did I need to do to move it that way? Who could I trust and who would I have to realize would never change? Where should I travel, what new things should I try, and how else should I branch out? So many questions and so much happening that I was driven numb by the end of it all. But, it was because of this that 2017 was my year of uncertainty.

     The year started out in a strange way, for me as it seems it did for most of the country. Somewhere between laughing at the memes and flooding the streets in cities across the country we welcomed in a new president, who has been as advertised. I was one of countless others filling DC's streets that day after the inauguration. The metro trains bypassed stations near the center of it all and I casually walked along side John Kerry as he walked his dog. But, as I observed and internalized many times in 2017, the world kept turning and life went on.

     As the calm winter rolled by and spring came, I marked the first anniversary of my time working for US SIF in May. Through a variety of changes, I became one of the more seasoned veterans of the organization. The busiest time, as always, was in the weeks leading up to our annual conference. This year had more logistical challenges than my first time, as we hosted the event in Chicago. My greatest role for this event was the creation, deployment, and on-site support of our mobile app. This was a responsibility I gladly took on as the only millennial in the organization and I'll be taking on that challenge again this year. Getting to spend a few days in Chicago with a great group, putting on a successful conference and exploring the city where the pizza is incredible, was wonderful. I continued my role at US SIF through the year and I look forward to seeing what happens in 2018.

     My adventures in trance continued this year, as I got to attend several solid shows down in DC. The best show was in May, when the one of the founders of the trance scene, Ferry Corsten, came to DC as a part of his Blueprint album tour. Getting to meet and chat with him a bit after the show was surreal, knowing that he's been at it since I was a little kid. But, that was the only artist I got to hang out with, as Aly & Fila came to town in October and I got to say hello them them as well. It wasn't all about going to concerts however, as I continued producing my own show, For the Soul, each month. I'm excited to have a massive landmark episode 50 coming out shortly after my birthday in March. I also started to dedicate time to using all of the DJ equipment that I now have to practicing live sets. My goal is to hopefully take my DJing beyond my bedroom in 2018, but I'll have more on that in the months ahead.

Meeting Ferry Corsten, a true trance legend, for the first time

My third time going to one of their shows, hanging out with Fadi from Aly & Fila.

My biggest adventure of the year, as it has been for the last few years, was my vacation with Tyler. This time we went farther than I had ever gone before, venturing across the pond to London and Ireland. We spent the first half of the week in London, getting to enjoy the wonderful subway network that I can only dream of having in DC, visiting every castle and major landmark around the city, and saying hello to the Queen's Guard and Beefeaters along the way. Late on Tuesday, we made the hop over to Ireland, where we spent the first day seeing one Cathedral after another in Dublin while seeing yet another castle. Dublin has lots of history to see, as London does, but it was much more depressing. They even having an entire museum about all of those who have fled the country throughout Ireland's history. But then came the day I had been waiting for since I was a kid. On Thursday, we went north to Belfast, where I finally got to see where the Titanic was built over 100 years ago. The drawing rooms where she was painstakingly designed by hand, the slipway where the hull was built, and the dry dock where she was fitted out and made ready for launch is all still there and I explored it every part of it. It was humbling to stand on the same spot where thousands of workers hand built the largest moving object ever built by man, at the time. We ventured through the four story museum located at the tip of the slipway that taught me even more than I already knew about the grand ship. That day was truly a high point of my life thus far, fulfilling a childhood dream and reaching the pinnacle of my Titanic fandom. We came back to Dublin the following day and saw a few more sights before taking the long flight back home.

Seeing Big Ben for the first time

Hangin' out with one of the Queen's Guard

Out in front of the Titanic museum. The sign here is the same size as one of the hull plates on the Titanic.

The slipways where the Titanic and her sister, Olympic, were built side by side over 100 years ago.. Titanic was on the left, Olympic on the right.

Down in the dry dock where the Titanic was fitted out. The dry dock here is only 5 feet longer than the Titanic was, 887.5 ft to Titanic's 882.5 ft length.

Titanic's slipway at night time, all lit up to show the massive size of the ship that once sat in this very spot.

Titanic's drawing rooms, where every detail was carefully and thoughtfully designed by hand.

     I enjoyed a variety of other adventures throughout the year as well. I went to my first Wizards game since the days of Gilbert Arenas, and although the game wasn't all that great, at least there was a truck blimp. I gathered a group friends and went to a Nationals game, which turned out much better in terms of the score. I even went with another friend to see one of the last performances of Barnum & Bailey's circus. In August, I took a long road trip down to South Carolina to meet up with Tyler and his family to watch the solar eclipse. I have to say, watching daytime become night as if someone was turning down the lights in a theater, and feeling the temperature drop rapidly, was one of the greatest displays of the universe at work that I've ever experienced. Then, right at the start of October, I took a 3 day journey with my big brudder Matt down to Nashville to see what the music city was all about. Although it turned out that there wasn't too much to see, we had a good few days spending some one on one time together, something we hadn't done since our trip to NYC long ago. Finally, in December, I fulfilled another childhood wish by going to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert. It was quite the three hour show, complete with pyrotechnics and a wonderful live version of their most famous song.

Ready for the eclipse!

An incredible sight to see!

Brudder was droppin' the beats

The Parthenon in Nashville

     Despite all of this, this year wasn't all fun times and keeping sane with the madness of the world going on around me. Back in March, shortly before my birthday, I gave my dad a call after church to check in on a few things in St. Mary's. When he answered, he gave me news that caught me by surprise. He said he just came back from the vet where he had just taken our apparently very sick dog, Sandi. Having never had any issues and always being happy throughout her lifetime, I didn't know what to think or do. In the weeks that followed, I made it home twice and saw her there, as always. She definitely wasn't in great shape my first visit, but she was on the mend by my second trip in the middle of April. However, the next weekend, she took a turn for the worse and passed overnight in her sleep on April 25th. This hit me hard, as Sandi was an especially close family member to me. From the time we brought her home shortly after my sophomore year of high school, she and I formed a special bond. I was the main one there taking care of her and playing with her, as Kaitlin was already off to college and my dad was working all the time. There were many days when I relied on her for comfort and friendship, spending lazy summer afternoons napping with my head on her belly before chasing her around the fields. I was the only one ever able to keep up with her as we silently, yet knowingly, challenged each other to see which of us would tire out first. From high school graduation, through college, and through my first few jobs out of school, she was always around for me to come home and tell my stories to. She would always sit loyally by me, staring out into the world and flopping her black-spotted tongue as I talked. But, as it does for us all, her time came and I had to say goodbye to my forever puppy-dog, a piece of my heart, and a major connection piece between me and my St. Mary's home.

My favorite picture of Sandi and me

     With a flurry of good and bad over the course of the year, 2017 really was the year of uncertainty for me. Various changes shook loose some of the attachments I had to my home land, both in regards to the farm as well as this country. Reading books and seeing others accomplishments made me continuously question my career path and what my next steps should be. Time went on and yet there's still uncertainty, but perhaps progress, as to where I may be living next. Elements of my faith and of what I believe to be core values of Christianity were shown to be not universal among other believers. I've learned that I don't need to worry as much about relating with and trying to understand and work with others, and that I need to accept that some may never change. But, being an optimist as I wrote about in an earlier blog post, I'm looking forward to the changes that will come in 2018. I'll be celebrating the 50th episode of my show with some big surprises planned, travelling somewhere new yet again, further advancing into the second half of my 20s, and hopefully getting a better grasp on what to do with my life. Remember though, as with everything, any changes you want to make happen and any hopes you have for the new year, always start with just a thought.