And I answer myself: as a matter of fact, I can believe it. I was ten and a half. The above picture was actually taken a few days before New Year's, on Christmas 1999.
Today I've gone through some pictures looking for evidence that the 2000s actually happened. Of course, the physical photographs I have actually peter off sometime around 2005, when we got a digital camera. But there are still quite a few from 2000-2004.
So what did happen in the 2000s? We got a dog. Bryn was born November 26, 1999, and we brought him home in February 2000. These are the first pictures we took of him:
Unbeknownst to me, my parents referred to him as "The Big Mistake" for the first few months (years?) we had him. I think they got used to him, though.
Here's a picture from his third birthday party:
Around this time, Mr. Dog got married to a pug named Honey who belonged to my friend Antonia. Honey has since passed away.
In 2003, I adopted Miss Teto. She has been the love of my life ever since. (In fact, she's watching me type this, while purring, of course). Here are some early photos of her:
Also in the early 2000s, we lost two cats. Babas (Sebastian) died at the age of ten. He was the cat we found abandoned in the woods outside of a farm when I was two years old. We later found out that he had several types of bullets in his leg from hunters. He was the gentlest, sweetest, and fattest cat I have ever had. And by fattest, I really do mean fattest. At one point I believe he weighed more than I did at the time (two or three years old) at 25 pounds.
Babas with Mr. Dog; sometimes I forget that they knew each other.
Kitty died a year or two later at the age of 20. She was the cat my parents had when I was born, and slept in my crib before I arrived. My parents adopted her from a friend who was moving away. She had mostly white fur with a calico tail and calico spots on her head and ears.
A lot of other things happened in the early 2000s. I've picked out a few favorite pictures to show in roughly chronological order ... beginning with those one of my grandmother from the New Year itself. We got this film that put dorky New Year's greetings on the bottom of all the pictures.
On January 29, 2000, we celebrated my grandmother's 70th birthday.
Here's one from my twelfth birthday. All I can really tell you is that it was a Harry Potter-themed birthday, naturally.
For a while before and after that, I was in middle school. This is me in my room. Don't ask me what I was doing; I was twelve.
This is me and my mom at the school Field Day when I was in seventh grade.
And this was shortly after, in Maine. This photograph is significant because it shows me in the room where I stayed up until ungodly hours to finish The Golden Compass. Also, just look at my hat. Is that a decent hat, or what?
This is me in my last year of middle school. When I first saw this picture, I thought I looked like a dork. Now, I still think I look like a dork in this picture, but I like it. Look at all the (cat? dog?) hair on my sweater!
Getting into the mid-to-late 2000s, now ... this was from my sophomore year of high school.
And this is from my sixteenth birthday:
Other things that happened in the 2000s (with dates where I can remember them):
Literary obsessions: Harry Potter; The Golden Compass; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; The Mists of Avalon;A Midwife's Tale; Guns, Germs, and Steel.
Favorite TV: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Felicity, Nip/Tuck, What Not to Wear, The Daily Show, 24, Project Runway, Mad TV, Strangers with Candy, 30 Rock, Fringe.
Favorite movies: The Lord of the Rings, Cold Fever, Grizzly Man, Little Miss Sunshine, CAMP, Pan's Labyrinth, The 40-Year-Old-Virgin
Favorite music: The Beatles, Beck, Peter Case, Penelope Houston, Freedy Johnston, The Plimsouls, Bonnie Raitt, Elliott Smith, Syd Straw, Richard Thompson, Teddy Thompson, The Moldy Peaches, Liz Phair, CAKE, Fiona Apple, Tegan and Sara, Lady Gaga
Best school year of those completed: Sophomore year of college; Runner up: Freshman year of college
Worst school year of those completed: Eighth grade; Runner up: Ninth grade.
Most challenging school year (academically): Eleventh grade.
Least challenging school year (academically): Ninth grade.
Notable Events
-We got the internet in our house (2000).
-I got an email account (my first email address: corgikid@juno.com) (2000).
-I wrote a novel (The Venus Pentacle). It's hilarious (2001).
-The Culture (2001?-2004?)
-I was the youngest person to win a Scholastic Art and Writing Award that year (2002).
-My grandparents moved back to New York from North Carolina.
-My two guinea pigs, Newman and Oreo, were born and died.
-My uncle married my aunt and had two adorable children.
-My other aunt and uncle had a son.
-Creation of Elliot (2005).
-I attended a summer writing program at Sarah Lawrence (2006).
-We adopted Maus (2006).
-I started working on my current novel (May 2007).
-I graduated high school (June 2007).
-Final Harry Potter (July 2007).
-I began attending Sarah Lawrence and met many wonderful people (September 2007).
-I started blogging (September 2007).
-I started knitting for serious (October 2007).
-I got my first laptop, then wrecked it (sort of), then got another one.
-Creation of Shiny Metal Flying Thingies (2008).
-Maus died (2008).
-I got a job that pays money (June 2008).
-My mom and I visited my family in Arizona (January 2009).
-I moved to the upstairs bedroom in my house (Summer 2009).
-Teto found a mouse (2009).
-I went to Oxford (September 2009).
-My parents celebrated their 25th anniversary (October 2009).
-Reached 100,000 words in "L" (December 2009).
If you can think of any others from my life or your own, please do share.
At this point I feel like I should post just a few digital pictures from 2005-2009, but to keep things simple, I'll post only pictures that predate the beginning of this blog. It's strange to think that there was ever a time when I did not blog, but there it is.
At one time, I went to high school, too. Here I am at my senior prom with Lauren:
And at graduation:
Last of all (but not least by any means), my grandfather died in 2008. He was the only grandfather I ever knew, and I miss him.
