Looking back at 2010

The last article for this year from my side. A lot of different things have happened. And many experiences gained. All in all it was a great year. A week old events seemed like 2 months old, at some point I even considered that I should take a small break to get my sense of time back. Nevertheless I got accustomed to the fast pace. Though next year I'm going to take it more slowly and relaxed. Writing this to be able to compare it to next year and all the coming ones. As I will forget most of the things probably ^^;

It proved to be extensively hard to choose pictures for this article. After considering the time consumption and such, decided to go with the images I had already posted, excluding pictures from abroad and the ones that hadn't appeared here before.

Starting with some cloud pictures from Spring. Year starts with January however. Year started with lots of groundwork and preparation. And writing the core part of DC. I was still quite 'green' and now looking back, if I had known all the things I know now, then it would have been a lot easier and faster. Many hours being spent in front of the pc screen with testing and re-writing and fixing and upgrading and such. Winter was a bit warmer though than it is now.

On February, I uploaded the first test version, without design and anything, just a plain black/white version to see the functionality real-time. And at the end of February already slowly started to style everything.

The time was just not enough to keep to my schedule, because of the high school final exams. Switching between studies and work, is tiring, but while most of people around me were trying to convince me that the first priority should be studies, I couldn't really agree to it. And kept as first priority non-school stuff. That's also the reason why I finished with just 1 A level, where I could get at least 3 A levels out of 4, if I had just put a little bit effort into studying.

Putting school related things aside, Spring was the beginning of the real action. As the core of DC had been developed, I started to dedicate more time to 'information and material gathering' process as well as front-end development. I also returned to photography, though, I guess, the first pictures are lame not to say more.

My relatives actually persuaded me to learn photography professionally and buy better equipment. They failed again though. The photography is thing I enjoy, and if I take it to next level by forcing myself, then it would be like an obligation to do something and later to succeed. I decided to let it develop naturally. And at this point, when taking pictures, I already start to feel the lack of quality, so currently I'm looking at Lumix GF2, scheduled for January.

Spring came also with meeting many new people and gaining acquaintances all over the world. The most interesting was sightseeing with members of Kobe Philharmonic Chorus. A truly memorable event, and they were really nice people. ^^

Met also a person, which turned out to be a very good friend. Actually, I'm not sure how to express my gratitude for guiding me through many labyrinths. Sometimes a simple 'Thank you' is just not enough.

Cached up to summer pictures. A nice red bug ^^; Not sure what kind of bug, but I was at the right place, in right time.

Summer, if I had to describe it, it was the fullest season of all, starting with graduating from high school, then relaxing, working and finally falling in love.

Actually, I find it rather strange. 90% of my friends are women, and 70% of my acquaintances are men. But the point is, that even despite having so many girl friends, in August, I realized, that I didn't really understand what it means 'to love' someone.

The difference between 'passion' and 'love'. I had been writing on that topic before as part of my assignments. But then I realized that 2/3 of what I had written are wrong and that my understanding was only superficial.

The main points in 'passion' are urge and impatience. While the main points in 'love' are having a calm feeling with a strong presence of safety.

If there is stronger background behind the passion, then most likely it can turn into 'love'. Though if it is just a momentary feeling, then there is nothing behind it, and sooner or later it's ought to fail.

This might be improper explanation, and I guess, each person has different understanding about it. But this is how I generalized it for myself.

The summer.. In June had graduation, it was really exciting. Had also a first photo shoot, that was even more fun to do. Most of the Jule went by working outside(mostly on balcony or in summer house), doing photography, enjoying the summer, and having fun with friends. Slowed down acquiring new acquaintances, and concentrated on the work-flow I had.

August started with a meeting of a really great person, which up until this day has played a real importance in my life and I guess will also in the future. Not for me to decide though.

Applying for university, where I'm currently undergoing 'Asian studies' program with major in Japanese. And sorting large amount of pictures from trips. Currently there are still many more to sort, and once I get my hands on it, I will post them.

And this is me ^^; I really didn't have much choice, because there are almost no pictures I don't pose in, or don't make stupid faces in ^^; This picture was the 'sudden' type one. You could say, 'Hey! Turn around, stand still and smile' type picture. ^^;

The hottest summer I have experienced in my life. I don't complain though. I prefer heat instead of cold.

Got also my driving license. To be more precise underwent the course, had the license only in October. Due to pushing back the dates, and not having time to actually drive, I did retake exam a few times. Though, now, when I'm actually driving, then there are no problems at all.

Started also participating in commercial projects. And many new roads opened up to me. But it started to become harder to dedicate enough time for my own things.

But my first priority and my belief in general, has always been to do things I like to do, and enjoy them. As I'm not the workaholic type person, it started to become really tough, and I actually started to work during nights to be able to meet deadlines. Not going to do that again though, being relaxed and laid back is more for me. Enjoying the life to the fullest, because it's too short to waste it, or throw just out because of the work.

As the summer came to and end, I got rid of all the side projects and put concentration only on my own things. Had also been slowly developing a new idea, which is about to go online in a matter of week.

Entering the Autumn, a student life had to start for me. But actually, as the studies began, I kind of didn't have anything to do. The material taught, I already knew it all. So I just kept doing all the tasks upfront and then hand in them when needed. But then teacher asked me to write them properly, and so then I started to actually prepare for lessons, which I didn't do before.

Many might get the feeling, that I'm being arrogant and full of myself. And that's most probably true. The reason behind it though is that I've always been able to understand things quickly and I've never put an actual effort throughout 12 years of my school time. I put effort in things I only want to do and if I'm doing something for someone really important to me.

A HQ of a bank. Found it to be an interesting shape for a building. September was still warm, and beginning of October as well, which was great. After the 15th it started to become cold, unusually cold, and on 22th there was first snow. This is definitely a record of the earliest snow.

November was the busiest month. I picked up my last commercial project for this year, and had 2 of my own projects. And while, I had lots of set-up work to do for TA, my own deadlines were pushing for DA. And so I chose to dedicate majority of the time to DA, out of my free time.

Now I understand why most of the people work only on 1 project at a time. But somehow I went on with 3. And kept pushing deadlines back for DA and TA, couldn't do that for the one I was hired on though.

December continued with me working on 3 projects. Finished the last one in first half, and since then have been working only on DA, the reason why I was able to finally push out 4 major upgrades. Going to write 1 big announcement somewhere later on 31st.

First of all to launch 2 websites. TA and one for my parents company, which I agreed to do voluntary. Next I'm going to concentrate generally on some serious work. Because I have large plans for summer. And major preparations are to be done.

Initially this website was intended(and still is) to be a community driven, where people would share their experiences from all over the world. Like an introduction to different places. Nevertheless it became something like my blog. Somehow it's an undesired result.

Anyhow, in the beginning of the next year, if there are no people to actually post, which is most likely to happen. This website is going on indefinite hiatus again. When I get my hands on sorting the pictures from Greece, Italy and Spain, and have time to actually write quality articles, I'm going to do that. Other than that, I won't be able to keep on updating regularly.

Taken through a car window while driving ^^; The sun somehow looked nice ^^ Just spent 2 and a half hours for looking through the year and trying to emphasize the main events. A reference for the future.



This years song ^^

Wishing everyone a happy New Year, going to leave you with the rest of the pictures. ^^;