Out with the old, in with the new

It was nice knowing you, 2006, how colorful you were.

• You brought one new family member (my daughter Yuna, who was born in San Francisco on April 1), but you also took one away (my uncle Rick who died in Philadelphia on October 21st from lung cancer, may he rest in peace).
• You saw to it that I moved away from the quasi-intellectual night life sophistication of North Beach to the comfortable bosom of suburbia in Millbrae. That was a good move -- the time was ripe for fruit trees and extra bedrooms to replace stunning views of the bay and adolescents barfing on our front steps.
• I went to Japan twice, Portland once, Austin once, and Tahoe once. I hurt my back badly enough when we were in Tahoe that I walked funny for over a month afterwards.
• Many friends and family were there when we needed them. I won't mention everyone individually -- you know who you are and so do we.
• I started riding the Caltrain this year and riding my bike to get there, so I get at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise daily now. I lost 25 pounds early in the year, then gained it back after the stress of parenting induced me to eat more ice cream than I used to. OK, it may also be that I just like ice cream.
• Working at Splunk continues to deliver beyond my highest expectations - the work is interesting, the people challenge you to stretch yourself in new ways everyday (if you work at Splunk you know that this does NOT mean what most people think it means), and management continues to surprise (Erik Swan, in particular, for throwing me a gigantic vacation lifesaver right around the time we were having our baby).

Now, on to reckoning with 2007. Now hear this:

• Now that we've got many months (and varying styles) of child rearing under our belt, I hereby declare that you will NOT be kicking our butts this year like you did last year. We WILL finish the projects around the house (garage cleaning, sprinklers, and bookshelves: I'm looking at YOU), we WILL eat healthy and not feel bad about how much time it takes to cook and clean, and we will go out to see a movie dammit. I'm THIS close to finishing up the play area in back room just to make my point.
• With almost a full year of regular exercise under my belt, I'm going to make sure I can actually see my belt more often. This may mean more Wii boxing at work (because we use it to resolve technical disputes, I am currently the undisputed champion), but it probably also requires less ice cream at home. I resolve to make sure that my daughter will never have a reason to ask me why I'm fat nor why my belly button looks different than mommy's. She can't talk yet, so I have time.
• I borrowed a chapter from my brother-in-law Frank's book and now keep in touch with my parents every weekend. This has been a very good thing, so I'm going to widen the circle.
• Instead of being annoyingly wistful, and regardless of whether or not I keep my day job, this year I will start an independent venture. All talk and no action makes Jack a dull boy.
• We need help and we know it. Land a choice housekeeper, accountant, and babysitter. If you know people that can be trusted, send me your recommendation.
• I was born on March 2, 1971, so I'm a yin metal boar (inoshishi in Japanese, some incorrectly refer to pigs in English). Apparently, we're just leaving the metal cycle and into water, which means that the last three years of extra-good-luck are going to temper into just regular luck. Darn.
• Oh yeah, blog more and blog better.

Finally, some small predictions, because I can't resist:

• By the end of the year, it will be far more common for people who use the phrase "web 2.0" to be ridiculed than to be taken seriously. I realize this is already the case in some circles, but I'm thinking it'll be more like how we think of hoop earrings.
• Someone will solve the non-comparability of the AJAX model with the page views model in a refreshingly simple way, leaving us all wondering why there was so much fuss about this in the first place.
• The number of small companies trying to compete against Flickr is going to go way, way down. The Wikipedia entry for photo sharing currently lists just over forty competitors.
• Blu-ray will win out over HD-DVD because of the titles being released and because of the installed base of the PS3.
• Though the Wii will remain popular on the low end, the PS3 will own the high end. Again, this will largely be because of the content -- Final Fantasy XIII, Gran Turismo 5/HD, etc.

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