I'm bizzack, and ready to roll. I've actually been procrastinating since I got home (yeah, surprise surprise, right in ya eyes, right?). Anyways, I was supposed to do this right away, but hey, NBA 2K7 comes first, right? I've actually got some time to do this now, so I'm gonna give it a shot. I figured it would be easier to break things down into different sections, just to make it easier on myself (ah, the highroad). SO without further ado, here goes nothing. This is my year in...
...Kicks.
Like I would've started anywhere else, right? My haul this year was, in a word, DOPE. I kept my shoe game tight from start to finish. If I'm not mistaken, I got at least 11 new pairs this year; I can't actually be fucked counting now that Fonz's asleep and I can't check his room to count.
If I were to pick the shoe that dominated my year, I'd have to go with the Dunks. Fonz and I (yup, we share, it's all a part of the brotherly love...or in other words, Fonz spoiling me ) copped a shitload of Dunks this year, and the best thing is, almost (not really feeling the Luchadors, Fonz!) every single pair looks SICK. From the stash that I actually wear:
- White/Red SB Highs - my first pair of kicks for the year, proof that nice and simple still goes a long way (*cough*gross fucking Safari pack*cough*)
- Send Help SBs - possibly the sickest colourway, if not sickest shoe overall, that Fonz copped this year
- Purple Pigeon SBs - my personal pick for favourite shoe of the year , I stalked these fuckers for a good two months before performing the romance explosion at SP3 when I found them
- Un-Tiffany Lows - illness wrapped in a reflective crocodile pattern, the colour scheme is just...FUCK YO COUCH sick.
- Jordan III Dunk Lows - was weary of these at first, but I realised they look better when you're actually wearing them; simple, but not, if that makes any sense
And this doesn't include Fonz's haul (i.e. Jordan I Dunk Lows, White/Whites, etc.)
In other news, other pickups worth mentioning include:
- Mars Blackmon Air Jordan IVs - to put it simply, 'hot fire with laces'
- Green/Yellow/White Court Force Highs - a pair I've affectionately nicknamed as my Seattle pair, I'm still too scared to wear these for fear of scuffing them
- White/Black/Red Air Max 90s - My first pair of 90s, and here's hoping not my last, although there haven't really been any hot 90s recently, it goes well with my theme of white/black/red shoes
- Grey/Purple BAPEstas - still pretty hot, even as BAPE gets ubersaturated and overplayed
- Citrus Air Force 1 Lows - my penchant for bright-ass colours manifested itself in a hot-ass pair of kicks
- Black/White Superstar Lows - keep it simple, stupid
- Black/Purple/White Zoom Kobe 1s - strictly for playing ball
Anyways, another huge thing this shoe year was Fonz bestowing upon me a closet containing his old kicks. That's about ten shoes, overnight. Hoorizzle dizzle.
Shoe of the year: Purple Pigeon SBs
Final word: might possibly slow my roll this year, seeing as there aren't really any new kicks grabbing my attention so far. Then again, knowing me, expect me to contradict this statement sometime within the next two months. If the Foamposite Retros drop this year, my July trip to Europe is in serious danger (sorry, Mich! ).
...Music.
A huge year in music, as far as I'm concerned. I listened to more Hip-Hop this year than in previous years. It was actually kinda hard to listen to some of the shit that floods the airwaves nowadays, but luckily enough, I found refuge in a few good albums. Not all of these albums came out this year, but they ran my iTunes this year, and therefore get their spot on my list.
- Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor - Lupe brings the heat with this head-turner of a debut. Songs like Hurt Me Soul and Daydreamin' are sure to hold up as classics in a few years' time. The kid's got talent, to say the least. Perfect for almost any mood, and thus hardly ever gets a respite on my iPod. Personal pick for favourite album of the year.
- Silent Alarm - Was thisclose to saying that Lupe gets the album of the year nod hands down, before remembering this album. Just packed from start to finish, with enough time in between to let you catch your breath before the next song sends you in a head-nodding, finger-drumming, foot-tapping frenzy.
- Oh No - Seeing as OK Go was a crazy solid debut, I was salivating in anticipation of the follow-up, which IGN called a brilliant example of pop mastery. Needless to say, I was far from disappointed.
- Garden State Soundtrack - Took me a while to warm up to it. Eventually did, and now some of the songs hold near-permanent places on my chillout soundtracks. Sweet soundtrack to go with a sweet movie.
- Elevator/Make Up The Breakdown - Hooray for Hot Hot Heat. Old albums, I know, but I'd be seriously lacking if I didn't add these. Both got high rotation because they were fairly quirky and VERY catchy, without being the least bit contrived. If you can't snap out of a bad mood after listening to MUTB, consult a psychiatrist.
- Music From The OC Mix 2/Mix 4 - Two very good mixes, which I have a special fondness for because they helped me get through the first couple of weeks of Uni, before I had settled into any sort of groove. Plenty of great music, recommended if in the midst of a long break in between classes and in dire need of a chillout period.
- Hell Hath No Fury - Listened to this album on the plane, and figure to listen to it a whole lot more this year. Stands out, even amongst the drug-addled rap getting airplay nowadays, simply because The Clipse don't just give you dope rap, they give you "talented wordplay laced with ill Neptunes beats" dope rap.
- In My Mind - Definitely not as bad as I thought it was gonna be. I realise P's rap game isn't exactly gonna get him any Hip-Hop Quotables anytime soon, but once that's out of the way, his album can be taken for what it is: a collection of halfway-decent rhymes mixed with slick beats that showcase Pharrell's overall talent rather than attempt to portray him as one of rap's best lyricists.
- Illmatic - Old-school Hip-Hop at its finest. Right up there with Ready to Die and Reasonable Doubt; in fact, those three comprise my holy trinity of old-school Hip-Hop albums. Nas destroys the album (in a good way) by not only coming with sick lines, but entire songs packed with heat.
- Late Registration - Fell into semi-heavy rotation after the Kanye concert. Another album that wasn't as bad as I originally thought, and came correct with some good music made the way only Kanye can: rhymes laced with bravado but delivered with a sense of style and flair, complemented perfectly by near-flawless production.
- Speak for Yourself - Imogen's album is beautiful. Hauntingly ethereal in some parts, brilliantly catchy in others. Imogen tiptoes the thin line between sweetly quirky and too crazy, and manages to fall down somewhere in the vicinity of pop music brilliance.
- Fishscale - New York needs a saviour to bring it back to life. Ghostface did his part this year by bringing us this album. I liked it for the fact that it was different (read: better) than a lot of the other shit, and that Ghostface had some (okay, a LOT of) lyrical talent, as opposed to being a product of mass manufacture and marketing. Although I wouldn't regard it as a classic, I enjoyed it enough for it to make the list.
Album of the year: Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor
Song of the year: Fuck, this is hard. I've got a lot to choose from, so I'll go with a split decision.
So, in no particular order: Title and Registration, New Slang, Goodnight and Go, I Gotcha, What You Know
Artist of the year: Hmm, another hard decision. I'll have to split it between Lupe and Death Cab.
...Academics.
At the end of the year, I was talking to Mich about how I went, and whether she thought I overachieved or underachieved. She made a great point: I just achieved, period. My results were, dare I say it, sweeeeeeet. But, at the same time, I know that if I had put in more effort (instead of sleeping in lectures, skipping classes, leaving my work to the last minute and the copious amounts of procrastination) I could've gotten higher marks. But, also at the same time (fuck a lot's happening at the same time, huh?), I could've done a lot worse, taking all the above factors into account. I'm actually scared that they might've mixed up my marks with someone else's.
So in short, I achieved, which is to say, I both underachieved and overachieved at the same time, and they managed to cancel each other out.
Session one:
- Introduction to Southeast Asia - 78, Distinction
- Microeconomics 1 - 81, Distinction
- General Mathematics 1B - 84, Distinction
- Psychology 1A - 85, High Distinction
Term WAM - 82.000
Session two:
- Emergence of Modern Europe B - 69, Credit
- Fundamentals of Physics - 75, Distinction
- Critical Thinking and Practical Reasoning - 76, Distinction
- Psychology 1B - 76, Distinction
- Life Science - 85, High Distinction
Term WAM - 75.125
Overall WAM - 78.563
...General.
A very crazy year, overall. I've learnt a fair bit this year. New friends were made (and sad to say, new friends were lost), new experiences were, well, experienced. If I were to say five things about my year, they would be:
- Life is about working smart, not necessarily working hard. Ah, the slacker's code.
- Every man is an island. But it also helps to have friends around every once in a while.
- Family is the safety net that I could not make it in life without.
- No matter how many clothes or shoes I own, I still don't consider myself better than others. I mean, I'm as cocky as all get out, but there's a line between cocky and condescending that I never let myself cross.
- Don't sweat it. Life has its ups, its downs, its 'oh fuck, what the hell is going ons,' but it always, always turns out fine in the end. No matter how long it takes.
The (long-ass) quote to sum up my year, care of Dr. Perry Cox:
"Relationships don't work they way they do on television and in the movies. Will they? Won't they? And then they finally do, and they're happy forever. Gimme a break. Nine out of ten of them end because they weren't right for each other to begin with, and half of the ones who get married get divorced anyway, and I'm telling you right now, through all this stuff I have not become a cynic. I haven't. Yes, I do happen to believe that love is mainly about pushing chocolate-covered candies and, y'know, in some cultures, a chicken. You can call me a sucker, I don't care, because I do believe in it. Bottom line is that couples who are truly right for each other wade through the same crap as everybody else, but the big difference is they don't let it take them down. One of those two people will stand up and fight for that relationship every time. If it's right, and they're real lucky, one of them will say something."
FUCK YO COUCH, that took long. Anyways, later days!
- marty..
ADDENDUM: My bad, thought the Luchadors were Dunks. Turns out they're Vandals, but hey, not like anyone's counting, right?
END COMMUNICATION.
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