Fleeting seasons greetings.

Reaching 32 bestows the advantage of time's acceleration. Now my life has reached the fast pace of a Broadway revue, and zips through even the bad, turbulent or frustrating periods to return to the good times.

Take this year: The follies of 2001 debuted with such panache. I rang-a-dang-dang the real millennium in swanky style.¹

Then, boom turned to bust in Austin town. The computer industry's cascading layoffs swept me into the year's weak second act, with a seemingly ceaseless rendition of "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"² Months went by between work, punctuated by temporary jobs or the odd offer. When they weren’t scarce, jobs were tantalizingly out of reach.

For example, I answered a want ad for a Mac expert. I was sure I'd cinched the interview when I walked in with my platforms, gold-headed cane, and red crushed velvet hat.³

Still, the work I did obtain remained interesting, or at least a raconteur's grist for my social circles. (And to reiterate, I'm not running for governor next year.)⁴ This summer, these same, cultivated circles – Kurt Vonnegut’s “granfalloon" – fed into each other for the first time.⁵ The new mix netted me $300 from a Scottsdale, Ariz., publisher, seeking my opinion on several textbooks.⁶

Before that, I did phone survey and data mining work for an accounting firm (which shall remain nameless) on behalf of a property management company interested in San Antonio rentals.⁷ Real boiler room stuff.⁸ Then I worked at a telecom company two blocks from my home to throw stuff out of abandoned cubicles.⁹ Talk about a man’s dream: to throw accumulated girly crap away and get paid for it.

Meanwhile, I still managed to have fun.¹⁰ On Sep. 26, I participated with the Cuban Folkloric Group in a dance recital at the Austin Children’s Museum. Then, on Oct. 13, we gave mambo lessons at the International Festival at Palmer Auditorium.¹¹

Nevertheless, I couldn’t shake the feeling that my life was in the early stages of another Nantucket sleigh ride.¹² And that was before the Sep. 11 attacks. They signaled the end of an era and the year's final act, with a derivative but still pleasant twist.¹³

The whole world slid into a recession, and my life’s fortunes are on the upturn again.¹⁴ “I know life isn’t supposed to be fair. But I didn’t expect it to cheat quite so much.”¹⁵

In this case, the San Antonio office of an established New York firm contracted me to document the latest version of software for lawyers (I know there's a joke in there somewhere).¹⁶ It's a good gig. Well, aside from the commute. I typically take Interstate 35 south, past the Adams Extract Co. headquarters, to work, and highways 281 and 290, past the Nutty Brown Café, home.¹⁷

I celebrated my renewed fortune with a party at Ocean's 11, a Rat Pack-themed tiki bar at Eighth and Red River streets.¹⁸ The crew of radio show "Liberated Space" attended.¹⁹ We generated a grand gabfest in between cocktails, while Dean Martin crooned on the hi-fi.²⁰

The year’s finale brings matters back to the beginning. That is, I’m back in the season’s social whirl, and I hope you and yours are having as much fun as I am.

Happy Holidays,

Dan

NOTES
¹ AD No. 25 (Jan. 4, 2001); Rudin, Mark. "Fly Me to the Moon: Reflections on the Rat Pack" American Heritage Dec. 1998: 52.
² AD No. 26 (Apr. 27, 2001).
³ Berrey, Lester V., and Melvin Van Den Bark. American Thesaurus of Slang: A Complete Reference Book of Colloquial Speech, rev. 2nd ed. New York City: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1953: 135; Cringely, Robert X. [Mark Stephens] Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can't Get a Date, rev. ed. New York City: HarperBusiness, 1996: 188, and passim.
⁴ AD No. 28 (Jul. 10, 2001).
⁵ Hougan, Jim. Decadence: Radical Nostalgia, Narcissism and Decline in the '70s. New York City: William Morrow & Co., 1975: 226n.
⁶ Craft, Melissa et al. Exam Prep Network+. Scottsdale, Ariz.: Coriolis, 1999; Groth, David. Network+ Study Guide, 2nd ed. San Francisco: Sybex, 2001; Microsoft Network+ Certification Training Kit. Redmond, Wash.: Microsoft Press, 2001; Syngress Media Inc. Network+ Certification Study Guide. Berkeley, Calif.: Osborne/McGraw-Hill, 1999.
⁷ “Survey Says: Americans Endorse Tax Subsidies.” National Real Estate Investor Jun. 1998: 78.
⁸ Boiler Room. New Line Cinema, 2000.
⁹ Krapf, Eric. “Avaya After a Year.” Business Communication Review Nov. 2001: 14.
¹⁰ AD No. 29 (Sep. 4, 2001).
¹¹ "Recommended." XL 11 Oct. 2001: 10; Simmons, Lillian Martinez. International Society for a Free Cuba newsletter Sep. 2001: 1.
¹² World Book Dictionary. Ed. Clarence L. Barnhart and Robert K. Barnhart. Chicago: World Book Inc., 1991: II, 1160.
¹³ AD No. 30 (Sep. 11, 2001)
¹⁴ Kahn, Joseph. “The World’s Economies Slide Together Into Recession.” NYT 25 Nov. 2001: A4.
¹⁵ Royko, Mike. “My Belushi Pals.” 7 Mar. 1982. Rpt. One More Time: The Best of Mike Royko. Ed. Lois Wille. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1999: 160.
¹⁶ Fonda, Daren. “Selling in Tongues.” Time Global Business Nov. 2001: B12-B17; Harrington, John. “Bowne Stock Pressing Toward High.” CNYB 19 Oct. 2001: 46; Mehling, Herman. “One VAR’s Litigating Circumstances.” Computer Reseller News 23 Nov. 1998: 91.
¹⁷ Pack, M.M. “Not Just Plain Vanilla.” AC 2 Nov. 2001: 37-38; Wright, C.J. “Nutty Brown Café Offers Everything From Lobster to Steak to Mexican Fare.” Hill Country Sun Oct. 2001: 11.
¹⁸ Gray, Christopher. "Red River Valley." AC 22 Jun. 2001: 60+; Hylton, Hilary. “Tiki Bars.” Time 30 Apr. 2001: 20.
¹⁹ AD No. 29.
²⁰ Levy, Shawn. Rat Pack Confidential: Frank, Dean, Sammy, Peter, Joey, and the Last Great Showbiz Party. New York City: Doubleday, 1998; Schoell, William. Martini Man: The Life of Dean Martin. Dallas: Taylor Pub., 1999; Tosches, Nick. Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams. New York City: Doubleday, 1992.