Let's face it, it's not

Let's face it, it's not easy to make a list of great things that happened in 2001. My mental list of bad things probably could stretch for days, but I dug up a few highlights in an otherwise dreadful year:

- I got to broaden my skills at a variety of employers and client projects this year. Although it wasn't as peaceful and stress-free as working steadily in a single place, being forced to do several different things (usually new things with each new week) has broadened my skills further. I've gotten a lot of new opportunities I wouldn't have gotten unless I was branching out and doing new things.

- Without trying at all, 2001 turned into quite a press blitz for me personally. A phone call out of the blue in January turned into an interview which became the feature article which became me on the cover of a national magazine in May. A few weeks later, my first mention in the New York Times. The month after that, an interview with me and a picture in the NYT. One July morning, the phone rang and CNN wanted to come over 45 minutes later, resulting in this. August brought my third mention in NYT this year, and finally in December, another interview came out in a magazine. I'm not one to brag and boast, but I must say I'm surprised I got that much coverage in a year. There's no secret to it, I just kept toiling at something and one day the random emails and phone calls from reporters started.

- In total, I got to spend almost half the year working from home, instead of a stuffy office. There's added stress with freelancing much of the year, but there's also something to be said about taking a bike ride across the Golden Gate Bridge on the few bright, sunny days San Francisco has to offer, getting daily errands done sans crowds, and getting myself to finally start running, biking, and walking again.