In what is becoming a bit of a tradition, the end of December marks a time when I would sit down and reflect on the year that was. Last year, it was a year of firsts: my first year out of school and, consequently, my first year of having a full-time job. It was also the first year that I was going to spend in New York with no definite end in sight. Suffice it to say, then, that it was an exciting year with a lot of promise for this one.

At the beginning of this year, I set out some goals for what I wanted to accomplish: there were professional, physical, intellectual, and social aspirations. How did I do? To be honest, pretty terribly. While I think that I have done quite well in my career at Bloomberg over the past year, my dedication to the gym/diet has been inconsistent (with a full three or four months of inactivity), the CFA never happened (for work-related reasons), I haven’t been cooking as much as I would have liked, and I still feel that friends back in Canada have been given less attention than they are due. But there are some gems in 2009 that I feel compelled to share and archive:

1. Work has been quite amazing this year. I feel that I have significantly increased my exposure at Bloomberg and have been working on really cool and important products. This year has been one of transition for my team, as we have been hiring aggressively and have been adjusting to a new management style, and I have been able to get involved in projects and with people beyond the realtime space, which is my current area of expertise. The highlight was delivering our flagship realtime product to the BlackBerry and iPhone platforms, which was a huge win for the team and our clients.

2. I found an amazing church. I have written about Forefront before, but much has changed since that original experience. The first thing was getting involved with a small group, which was a big step in getting connected and developing a commitment to the church. Then it was deciding to lead a small group. Then it was deciding to help out with the worship team. I haven’t feel this plugged into a church since the days of insanity at The Embassy, where I somehow had my hand in a lot of what the church was doing. Volunteering has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience and I cannot wait to get more involved with this great community.

3. Part of the reason that I am so keen on getting more involved with Forefront is because of some of the people that I have met there. The small group in the spring/summer grew together quite quickly and a bunch of great friendships were borne from it. There was this cool balance of people there, with the right mix of humour, sarcasm, vulnerability, boys, girls, shyness, craziness, Canadians, and so on. From small group, I got plugged into the community group (which is a gathering of several small groups). It’s kind of like a church away from church. In this larger group, I met even more wonderful, genuine, talented, and passionate people.

But this year wasn’t just about meeting new people; despite earlier claims of leaving my friends in Canada high and dry, I think that I have been doing better than before. I have certainly maintained my friendships, and have managed to reconnect with some old friends from whom I have not heard in many years. (Clearly if they haven’t deleted me on Facebook yet, that means I’m doing something right, right?) I feel really blessed to be surrounded by such amazing people from both far and away, and I really hope that I can be a better friend. Even for those from whom I have not heard in a while, I am assured that it is still not too late. (Encouraging everyone to get on Google Talk is step number one!)

4. Love was everywhere! I went to a handful of weddings this year where friends of mine were getting married to other friends of mine, and there were other still that I couldn’t attend; indeed, a group of FOURTEEN of my friends got married to each other!! It was such a joy to have been a part of the weddings (and apologies to Laura/Phil and Ashley/Chris for missing out!) and I wish all of you the happiest of days ahead.

5. I did lose someone special: my grandma. But even though it was a loss for me, she has been freed from her broken body and is hopefully in a better place now.

6. At long last, I have moved into my own apartment! This is a big step in my life and has opened up all sorts of doors in my life. (I had some excellent roommates but, let’s face it, I can’t have roommates forever.) As I continue to fill the apartment with things that make it more homely, I am very much looking forward to taking advantage of the new freedoms that having my own place affords me. Especially the delicious kitchen.

So, given all of this (and there is much more that I haven’t said), I think it stands to reason that 2009 was a very good year for me! Probably one of my best, actually. Perhaps the icing on the cake is that there is so much to which I can look forward in 2010; I wait with bated breath for what’s in store.

As the year winds down, I hope that all of you have had many fond memories of the year that it was. Of course, all the best to an even better 2010!

I had a chance to get a hands-on experience with the new Google phone, the Nexus One. (Thanks to my colleagues at G-town for hooking me up!) In no immediate order, here are my initial impressions:

• UI is very slick. The responsiveness is very good and it is the fastest Android phone that I have used. Plus, some of the 3D visual effects are really nice. It’s definitely a polished interface.
• The lack of the “bounce” that iPhone users have when they reach the top or bottom of a screen. That little visual indicator is not implemented across all applications and I think the UI experience is weakened by this.
• No multitouch. Those used to the iPhone may be irked by this but, again, this is nothing new for Android users.
• Amazing form factor. Many people have said that it is thinner than the iPhone and it is very sleek. Solid build and it feels just right in my hand. Didn’t get it to a scale so I have no idea how much it weighs. It’s pretty light though.
• Incredible camera. I’m guessing it’s a 5.1 megapixel camera, with autofocus and flash. It rocks the socks out of my current mobile camera (but it’s not hard to beat the iPhone 3G’s hardware on that front).
• Google Goggles is amazing. I pointed it at a wrapper for a tea bag and it found all sorts of things about the manufacturer and the product. There is some serious voodoo magic going on at Google.
• Mediocre keyboard. For a pure virtual keyboard, it’s not bad (read: it’s about on par with the iPhone’s) but it can’t hold a candle to the amazing keyboards RIM has been pumping out.
• Mediocre trackball. It’s set pretty deep (unlike my BlackBerry Bold’s) so it’s a little weird to use. Pressing it doesn’t wake up the device either.
• Google Maps has been enhanced with some cool features (like finding out what the address is by holding your finger at the location in question).
• The Gallery application, which displays the photos and videos, is really nice. Nice eye candy and it makes sharing quite straight-forward.
• Beautiful screen. It’s sharp and bright, like the Bold. Love.

Bottom line: If I were to get an Android phone (which I want to), this would be it.

Over the American Thanksgiving weekend, I took a big step in my life: I moved into my own living space.

The move itself was pretty smooth (thanks to some fellow non-Americans who kindly helped!), and I would like to think that I got the space set up relatively quickly; within a week I had my first guests over and there were no boxes or other odds and ends lying around. (There was, and continues to be, a distinct lack of artwork so the bareness of the apartment which leaves much to be desired.)

This transition came with some concerns. Chief among them were the financial constraints that I have placed on myself; since the [higher] rent and utilities now fall squarely on my shoulders, the amount of disposable income has decreased quite substantially. Indeed, this is the most that I have ever paid for rent (albeit not by too much), and I’m feeling it. While I have budgeted around my current income, let’s just say that I am really, really, really [REALLY] keen on getting a raise!

Another concern was the amount of time that I would end up having to myself. Sometimes, this is amazing and just what the doctor orders. In other times, I felt that I’d miss the random sounds of shuffling, a sign that there is life outside of the room I occupy. I have had some pretty excellent roommates in the past, and the many great times will certainly be missed. So far, my life has been jammed full of things to do so I haven’t had much time to consider the solitude, but I know the day will come.

That said, I think that a lot of good has come from these concerns. In my state of heightened fiscal responsibility, I have started to cook a whole lot more. (In fact, the kitchen in the apartment was one of the primary reasons that I wanted to live here!) So the combination of doing something I love, eating health, and saving money is pretty awesome, and I don’t expect that will let up any time soon. If only there was a ridiculously awesome grocery store like Fairway around here…

Secondly, being on the Upper East Side (UES) has brought me much closer to many good friends. In a city where I never expect to see anybody I know on the streets, I have already ran into a couple friends. And a bunch of others are just a stone’s throw away. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to building out relationships here!

Speaking of “here”, I think that I need to clear the air in terms of the UES. There are those out there who think that the UES is full of yuppies, snobs, post-grad frat boys, and other socially scorn-able archetypes. Make no mistake, there are many of each of these types of people around. And there are plenty of their favourite hangout spots around, too. (Yes, I’m looking at you, beer-ponging, boat-racing, flip-cupping filthy college bar.) There is also a lack of many useful things, as well. The most noticeable of these is a second subway line; the 4-5-6 trains are suitable for a social experiment concerning human-sardine likeness, but not appropriate for normal commuting. And hats off to Citibank for being wildly successful at only having branches where I don’t need them. Thus, I have had a general aversion to the UES, in line with many New Yorkers, because of these assumptions.

But there is much more than these disdainful characteristics. It’s right by Central Park which, when the weather starts making a turn for the better, will be a haven for my bike and my running shoes. There are some great places to eat up here (although it is no Hell’s Kitchen). It’s quiet. You can see the sky. It doesn’t feel like you’re traveling to another country to come here. (Sorry, Brooklyn.) There’s even a Costco up here.

Can I stay here forever? Of course not. Few things beat having a home with a nice front lawn and a big backyard with a barbeque. But I can’t really get that anywhere in Manhattan. So as long as I’m here in New York, I have to say that being on the UES is going to be pretty okay to me.