Matthew Knott

Personally, the worst year I've had in the last 15, but despite all the adversity I've faced, so much has been positive.

I want to recount it for myself rather than to preserve it for future generations. This year has pushed me to the limit and I want to remember that I beat it, just.

Part 1 looks at the positive experiences and memories of the year.

I wanted to start my review of 2009 by recounting the positive experiences and memories, to buffer the massively negative part 2, but also to show me that despite the way I feel about this year, it's been an important one, and not all bad by a long-shot. So, in no particular order...

NinePlanFailed

The new musical sensation that is NinePlanFailed have provided the soundtrack to my year. This is the year that saw me go from casual listener to full-on groupie. I love their music, that much is plain, but the best bit has been the experiencing of trailing them about, from pub to club, from Ebbw Vale to Aberdare, and back to Swa nsea. The gigs were great, the t ipts/tiny_mce/themes/advanced/langs/en.js" type="text/javascript"> hrill of the live performance, seeing them get better with each note, and more together as a group. Another fond memory I'll have from this year is the other great bands I've discovered along the way, The Effects, Psycho Kiss, and Darling Waste. NinePlanFailed came along at a time when I needed more purpose in my life, and I'd like to think I've helped them out, if not by dropping and banging their equipment, then by providing a familiar face in a crowd of strangers and a sounding board for new songs.

I think the highlight of their year, if not just Demetrie's, is having the video for "Transiberia" produced by cult indie film producer, Damon Packard. It's so exciting to be a part of this, and to see how excited Demetrie was to work with someone, and I'm putting words into his mouth now, but someone who he would consider a legend, possibly an idol. I think it was a dream come true, his own personal Packard. To put it in perspective, it would be like a fan of Picasso having his zo mbified corpse turn in their own personal cubist portrait. 2010 will be even bigger for them, several "reunion" gigs with the fantastic "Out Innocence Lost" and "Darling Waste" are on the cards, as is the chance to play a major UK festival.

Being Pregnant Again

On May 18th, a month and 3 days after Michaels birthday, we found out that Lisa was pregnant. She, and we're fairly sure it's a she, is due to be born in under 4 weeks, and I can't wait. We always saw ourselves with at least 2 children, and Michael is so gorgeous and lovely it would be a crime not to have another.

Work

Originally this was set for the mixed bag category, but thinking about it, work has been 90% positive. We've gone from strength to strength, deploying large areas of our portal and developing lots of great solutions. Things look set to get exciting early in 2010. They paid for me to go on a C# course in February which has really helped me this year and resulted in much better solutions. I'm proud of what we've achieved, and hope to do so much more next year.

Michael

My Son, My first born, what can you say, he's been the one thing that's kept me going this year. He's changed so much, walking, talking, and generally being lovely. Everyday something new and wonderful happens with him, so I couldn't possibly recount the specific experiences. His become such a loving boy, coming in for a cwtch and patting your back, putting his toys away, and eating his food so well. He has so many comical quirks, he makes every day worthwhile.

Facing Up To Abuse

You might think this is a strange thing to have in the good category, but facing up to what happened to me when I was younger has been such a weight off my mind, and helped me immensely. It broke the constant worrying about how to talk about it, and relieved some of the guilt and the pain, I'm so glad I made that breakthrough.