Happy New Year! As we start off 2020, I wanted to look back at my past year and see things from a bird’s eye view. When we’re in the thick of it, it’s hard to see larger themes or even stop for a moment to count our blessings and opportunities.
As I mentioned in my previous post, 2019 was a year filled with changes and unexpected challenges. Looking back at this past year has helped me realize that despite the challenges, I was still able to live life to the fullest. In this post, I’ll review 2019 accomplishments, travels, hobbies, and best-of lists from yours truly.
Major 2019 Accomplishments
- Hit my 6-year mark living in San Francisco and experienced my first move within the city, to a different room in the same unit
- Experienced my first surgery requiring general anesthesia (hernia repair) and recovered with no complications
- Got promoted and started leading a team of amazing folks as the product owner of our platform’s core application
- Continued a freelance writing gig for an online sportswear company, creating 1-2 articles a month
- Continued co-leading a church community (small) group, completing the 4-year mark
- Continued volunteering for Back on My Feet morning runs, hitting the 3-year mark as a volunteer and completing my first year as an assistant leader
- Snowboarded 20+ days at 5 cities in 3 different countries
- Rode my motorcycle on some of my favorite roads in the Bay Area on 8 separate occasions
- Led multiple backpacking excursions with friends, including a revisit of the four-day Lost Coast backpacking trip
- Stayed active with swimming, basketball, hiking, and yoga
Cities Visited in 2019
- Whistler & Vancouver (1/26 – 1/30)
- Denver x2 (2/16 – 2/23, 9/15 – 9/20)
- Aspen (2/23 – 2/27)
- San Diego x2 (3/2 – 3/3, 9/28 – 9/30)
- Sapporo, Niseko, & Otaru, Japan (3/11 – 3/19)
- Seattle (7/26 – 7/29)
- Milan, Monza, Como, Modena, & Bologna, Italy (9/5 – 9/12)
- Phoenix, Sedona, & Grand Canyon (12/25 – 12/29)
- LA x8
Concerts & Music Festivals in 2019
This year, I attended my 31st music festival since 2012. It’s been an incredible year for music, and living in SF affords many opportunities to see some of my favorite artists. The list definitely skews towards house & techno, and I attended almost half of these solo. I had a blast at every single festival, show, and set!
- CRSSD Festival Spring 19 @ San Diego (3/2 – 3/3)
- Carl Cox @ The Midway (3/22)
- Coachella @ Indio (4/12 – 4/14)
- Amelie Lens @ Halcyon (4/18)
- Avalon Emerson @ Public Works (5/18)
- Higher Brothers @ The Regency Ballroom (5/22)
- Richie Hawtin @ Halcyon (5/27)
- Boiler Room North America Tour @ Danzhaus (6/1)
- Second Sky Festival @ Middle Harbor Shoreline Park (6/15)
- Parameter Finale @ Public Works (8/16)
- Boris @ Great American Music Hall (9/26)
- CRSSD Festival Fall 19 @ San Diego (9/28 – 9/29)
- Secret Project Festival @ Los Angeles (10/12 – 10/13)
- Black Coffee @ 1015 Folsom (10/15)
- Gesaffelstein @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (11/7)
- Illenium (Throwback) @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (12/13)
Hiking/Camping & the Outdoors in 2019
If last year was the year of car camping, then this year was the year of backpacking. One of my prouder accomplishments from 2019 was leading multiple backpacking excursions for my friends. For quite a few folks, these trips marked the first backpacking trip of their lives or a bucket list backpacking location. The other trips included fun car camping, hiking, and glamping trips.
- Muir Beach (6/1): hiked the 6 mile Dias Ridge to Redwood Creek loop to start off the season
- Joshua Tree National Park (6/7 – 6/9): my first RV glamping experience, stayed in an Airstream and explored Joshua Tree sights
- Lassen Volcanic National Park (6/22 – 6/23): car camped at Butte Lake Campground and hiked to Cinder Cone & the Painted Dunes
- Desolation Wilderness, Rubicon Trail (7/12 – 7/14): two-day backpacking trip in the South Lake Tahoe area
- Sequoia National Forest, Jennie Lake Trail (7/19 – 7/21): Mike’s two-day bachelor backpacking trip
- Yosemite National Park, Clouds Rest Trail (8/10 – 8/11): second time on this fun and challenging ~12 mile hike, finished the roundtrip in under 7 hours, with plenty of time spent at the top
- Butano State Park (8/24 – 8/25): two-day backpacking trip to prep for the Lost Coast, hiked into Trail Camp and enjoyed the redwoods
- Lost Coast (10/3 – 10/6): an epic four-day backpacking trip on the remote beaches of the Lost Coast, a 25 mile section of sand, rocks, and tide zones
- Mt. Tamalpais (11/16): late-season last hurrah, solo camped one night at Pantoll Campground
- Lake Tahoe (x3): continued with the Epic snowboarding pass as well as the Ikon snowboarding pass
Glen’s Favorite Movies of 2019
Unfortunately, with the rise and fall of MoviePass, I wasn’t able to enjoy nearly as many movies this past year. You’ll see that my list only includes movies that I watched, and for the first time in a while, I have just about as many movies that are on my need-to-watch list as I do on my favorites list. Below are my favorite movies watched from 2019:
- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
- The Last Black Man in San Francisco
- John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum
- A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
- Ford v Ferrari
- Avengers: Endgame
On my need-to-watch list are Parasite, Uncut Gems, The Irishman, Knives Out, The Farewell, and Little Women – I missed all of these. Shame on me. I’ll try harder next year!
Glen’s Favorite Albums of 2019
One of my biggest realizations this year on the recorded music front is that there are now Gen Z artists coming up. It’s simultaneously stressful and hopeful, because slowly but surely, our generation is no longer the new kids on the block (aka it’s making me feel old). At the same time, I see so much creativity, energy, and talent from the newbies that I have no concerns for the future of the industry. Check out my best-of 2019 list below:
- Cheap Queen – King Princess
- WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? – Billie Eilish
- Good Faith – Madeon
- Crush – Floating Points
- SOUND & FURY – Sturgill Simpson
- CASE STUDY 01 – Daniel Caesar
- Gold & Grey – Baroness
- Ignorance is Bliss – Skepta
- No Geography – The Chemical Brothers
Glen’s Favorite DJ Sets of 2019
In 2019, I listened to over 160 DJ sets on SoundCloud & YouTube. With a typical length of 1-2 hours, you can see where most of my music consumption happens these days.
I really like DJ sets and mixes because the best ones are coherent and speak to the selector’s vision, and it’s super cool to pick those out while enjoying some sweet beats. Below is my list of best DJ sets and mixes from 2019, including bass/footwork, techno, house, and EDM sets:
- Sherelle – LDN: Bass & Percs Special
- Helena Hauff – Mixmag Live 2019 Tour @ Corsica
- Ki Sung – Only Rare Grooves
- Porter Robinson – Worlds Live @ Second Sky 2019
- Clouds – Dekmantel Podcast 212
- DJ Seinfeld – BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix
- Yu Su – Boiler Room x Sugar Mountain
- Objekt – Dekmantel Selectors 2019
- Gerd Janson – Boiler Room Bali
Update on 2019 Goals
From my previous New Year’s blog post, my main theme for 2019 was health – primarily staying injury free, getting old injuries checked out, and building healthier lifestyle habits. I’d also wanted to learn a new fun skill, such as cocktail mixing or motorcycle maintenance.
Unfortunately, with the surgery, move, and search for several new roommates during the year, I wasn’t able to make much headway on these goals. I suppose I did recover well from the surgery, so I’ll consider that a win for my health.
About three-quarters into the year, I was feeling pretty discouraged before concluding that it’s totally ok to not achieve everything I set out to achieve at the start of the year – enjoy the ride and try again. So this sets me up well for 2020.
Goals for 2020
My main theme for 2020 is contentment – living a life that wants less, is grateful for my blessings, and can enjoy the present moment, whether that’s with friends & family, hobbies, or other interests.
I’d still like to learn a new fun skill this year. I do have my eyes set on taking a cocktail making course or motorcycle maintenance course. At the end of this past year, I bought a mini DJ mixer so I’m looking to play around with learning how to mix music. And I’ll continue to focus on health, including exercising, eating healthier foods, getting old injuries checked out, and staying injury free.
2020 will be a special year, and it’s started off so great already. Follow me on my adventures and musings here – I’ll be posting more. Here’s to a new decade!
2020 at www.RandomTidbitsofThought.com.
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