2001

That was the year of my first funeral for someone I was close to (my cousin who was only a month older than me), that my mom met my girlfriend (who would become my wife), that my college roommates start getting married, my first time in Denver (to visit a high school friend doing a summer pest control job), and my first car for Christmas.

I woke up on September 11th (I hate it when people say "nine-eleven" without the year) to my roommate running up the stairs to our front door yelling "some idiot just flew a plane into the World Trade Center." He turned on the TV to show my other roommates and I what he had just heard about on his drive home from work (he did the sunrise shift at UPS for tuition reimbursement). We all watched together when the second plane hit. I showered and went to class shortly thereafter, but every building I went to had people huddled around scattered TVs watching the same footage over and over (this continued for days). The Chinese ambassador to the U.S. was on campus that day to speak on environmental concerns, but his speech got scrapped in favor of making hollow promises to help bring justice for the terrorist attacks. Ha.

The most sentimental movies released: lesser-known gems Brigham City (3/30) - my pick for "Mormon movie" of 2001; Crazy/Beautiful (6/29) - thank you for unapologetically using Spanish without subtitles; Bandits (10/12) - either this or Dogtown and Z-Boys (2002) was my first DVD; my first drive-in movie experience - The Fast and the Furious (6/22) and my first midnight opening - The Fellowship of the Ring (12/19).

Music artists I discovered or got back into: Dave Matthews Band - Everyday (2/27); Depeche Mode - Exciter (5/14); The Faint - Danse Macabre (8/21); New Order - Get Ready; The Strokes - Is This It (both 8/27)

Books I read: The Lord of the Rings trilogy, as I had a roommate that was fanatical

Restaurants I discovered: Ruth's Diner (for breakfasts) and East-West Connection (for Vietnamese)