Goodnight, 2011.
Some friends have summed up their years on tumblr. I enjoyed reading them, so I thought I would do the same. Feel free to ignore this post.
To sum up 2011 for Curtis:
January-May: I worked. A lot. Generally, 10-14 hours a day, every day, because I had nothing better to do: I was single and lonely. I had 3 days off from January to May: First two, I had food poisoning from eating too many eggs on New Year’s Brunch with Amy, Diston, Mayer, & Durfee (January 1st & 2nd) [Also, someone else…Ellena? Gomez? I lost the memory the next day when I puked it out on my bathroom floor.] On my third day off, February 25th, I moved out of a great apartment, but got a great roommate. Started writing a web series with Dave Bartin. Started a new improv group, with Shannon Taing, Dan Hodapp, Mayer, & Bartin. No more days off until June.
June: Forced myself to take days off by visiting my friends on the west coast. I’m not good at taking vacations. Taking this one made me realize I need to take more. Also realized that I had just done a year’s worth of work (or more) in only 5 months, and I had a saving’s account again. I could relax. I could buy new clothes. Signed up for OKCupid. Went on several dates. Deactivated OKCupid account.
July: Mayer’s 4th of July. Fantastic. Prepared to shoot web series with Bartin. Worked a lot. Stopped accepting new jobs for a while, to lessen my workload.
August: Rented an office with Bartin. Started shooting web series. Asked for help from many friends, who miraculously agreed. Ben & Amy gave up many weekends to help us shoot. Many other friends gave up time to act. Visited a friend in Cape Cod. After two very fun days, I suddenly realized: I haven’t been depressed the last two days. It’s like when you’ve had a cold for a while, and you suddenly realize how great it is to not have to constantly wipe your nose. That’s a poor analogy, but I’m sticking with it. Hurricane Irene arrived on my 30th birthday. Both passed without incident.
September-December: Worked, but less than before. Improv. Wrote a little, played guitar a lot. Relaxed a bit. Met lots of new people. Despite my premonitions to the contrary, not one of them said “You’re weird. Stop talking.” Instead, they seemed to enjoy, or at least tolerate, talking to me. Also, many of my friends started having very good things happen. Was surprised how I felt honestly and completely happy for them, without a hint of jealousy.
To sum up: People were nice to me. Is that a minor thing to comment on? Maybe. But it seems like the most important possible thing to say. In 2010, I grew apart from some of my closest friends. It was comforting, in 2011, to find that there are many more people out there whom I can talk to, even if it’s only every once in a while. This year, many people have gone out of their way to say complimentary things to me, or do kind things for me. Even if I haven’t told you this directly: I noticed. I appreciate it.
It’s been nice to know that I don’t exist solely in my own head, that there are other people out there. I love New York, but it’s a tough city sometimes, and it’s easy to forget simple things such as these.
PS: The web series will be released soon. It is a mammoth undertaking. It has also been incredibly satisfying to work on. And holy shit guys, I think it’s going to be really good.
