So long 2010

I once read that the most common first line of any personal blog is, "Sorry it's been so long since I last blogged!" and that is exactly how I feel about my blogging experiences.

It's been so long!

Last year I wrote a blog about 2009 (http://bit.ly/eociyv) so I think it is only fitting to start recapping 2010.

I didn't do near as much traveling as I did in 2009 but I still was able to venture out of Oklahoma for a bit.

In March I went down-under to Australia. Australia was a very unique trip. It was definitely a little outside of my comfort zone. The flights were between 15-17 hours at a time and a total of 24 hours getting there which was quite rough on the body, especially when you only have 5 days to spend there and come back to Oklahoma to go throught the jet-lag all over again.
In Australia, I got see a professional Cricket match in Melbourne, watch tons of rugby, try to snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef and surf on the coast of Sydney. Australia, I could live there, but for future travels, I think I'll stick north of the equator.

I bought a car this year (nothing fancy, '03 Civic) but it was a huge upgrade from the 17-yr old 190,000 Honda Accord I was driving...how I was able to pick up a girl like Marek in that car is beyond me.

The OKC Thunder finished the 09/10 season with 50 wins...obliterating the season before's 23 wins. As I write this, they are 26 games into the 10/11 season and are 18-8 and on pace for 57 wins. The team is incredible to watch from the stands and I constantly remind myself how lucky I am to transcribe player interviews after the home games. Not only do I get to witness their dominance from the stands but I actually get to see their character "behind the scenes" and these guys are the real deal. Over and over I've witnessed acts of kindness from these players when the cameras are off...great things that just can't be found throughout other teams around the league. We are not only blessed to have a team from the NBA in OKC, we are blessed to have THIS team from the NBA in OKC.

Maps 3 passed in 2009 and we just had the one-year anniversary of the historic date. As coalition teams are being formed and locations/details are being hammered out, one bit of great news has come about...sales projections. The penny sales tax is generating more money then the analysts figured...and that's a good thing considering the haters of Maps 3's complained we wouldn't reach the $775million goal at the end...haters will hate.

Sandridge also began the destruction/construction of their complex:



This has been exciting/depressing to watch. I'm sure the final product will be MUCH better than watching the dilapidated buildings sit there for decades but (as a fan of history and urban development) it was kind of sad to see the buildings get knocked down and not put to use.

Devon is currently constructing their 24th floor (of 50). Cranes are now taller than the Chase Tower (Cotter Ranch) and everyday I get to walk in view of the entire building during my two block walk from the parking garage.
Project 180 started this year, "the three year, $140 million redesign of downtown streets, sidewalks, parks and plazas to improve appearance and make the central core more pedestrian friendly" which has completely put every downtown worker in a frenzy. It seems like every road is torn-up, closed or down to one-lane. Crazy stuff.

On a more personal level, dad was named Public Official of the Year by Governing Magazine and the World Mayor Project named him the 2nd best mayor in the world...sometimes all the accolades still don't balance out the negatives said by the few online trolls trying to make a name for themselves.

I got my first dog this year! Mr. Bogart Cornett (Bouvier des Flandres). He is spoiling me on owning a dog. Best dog ever.



I am still working at Jones PR and recently got promoted to Account Executive. It was a happy/sad week as getting promoted is great, but the same week my working mentor, THE Sam Sims, moved on to another company...the random Family Guy comments around the office have now sadly stopped.

In world news, the BP oil spill this summer was probably the biggest man-made disaster Mother Earth has had to recover from.

33 Chilean Miners were trapped underground for 69 days.

The SF Giants won their first World Series since 1954 (I got to go to game 4 in Texas and watch Bumgarner dominate).

The Colts lost to the Saints in the Super Bowl. booooooooooo

Facebook surpassed Google as the most popular online site, currently boasting 550,000,000 and company CEO Mark Zuckerberg was named Time Person of the Year.

So long, '10. It's been fun.