Dear [Your Name Here],
So, since I’ve been doing a million different things this year, I thought it would be interesting for you and possibly for me to write up a brief summary of my 2009.
First – the year in work. As of the end of 2009, I am not working in journalism, save for the odd freelance piece (mostly Washington Post Date Lab columns!). At the beginning of the year, I had a contract job with the Washington Post’s website, mainly producing online chats. And it was great fun. I took that job in early 2008 hoping it would be a foot in the door for a full-time job there, but as we all now know, this wasn’t really the year for that to happen. My position there was eliminated in the spring. One friend tried to cheer me up by saying, “Just think, someday you’ll be able to tell the story of how you got laid off in 2009!”
Fortunately, I am a freelancer very rich in friends if not always in cash. I managed to stay mostly busy and usually happy through the rest of the year. I worked with the National Building Museum and 4Site Interactive Studios on two series of video tours for the NBM website (one on DC’s Great Green Places, the other on green roofs). I filled in at the St. Columba’s communications office for several months while Anne Stone was on maternity leave, and loved editing four issues of the newsletter (Aug-Nov). And since mid-October, I’ve been working at the Inter-American Development Bank writing and editing content for MajorityMarkets.org, a new satellite website showcasing ways the business community can engage with the world’s poorest people. In each workplace I’ve learned new vocabulary words, met dedicated and smart people and have been very proud of what I’ve produced. I’m still figuring out the exact mix of gigs for 2010, but I’m looking forward to it.
So that brings us to the year in friends and family and fun. I am the doting auntie to nephews Henry (5) and Noah (almost 3), sons of my sister Meghan, and to niece Lucia (18 months), daughter of my sister Amy. I’ve seen them all several times this year and was especially honored to serve as Lucy’s godmother at her baptism in May. In between visits I spoil them with postcards and care packages. Other highlights of the year included a vacation in Paris and Barcelona with my sister Ellie, my 15-year college reunion at Yale, another reunion on Cape Cod in August with my dear Parisian friend Agnes and her wonderful family, and getting started with a new group of teenagers as a youth leader at St. Columba’s. And then there’s just happy regular stuff like my yoga class, shows at Wolf Trap and 9:30, and great friends to eat with and watch cult TV with and so on. I already have some great travel plans for 2010, including a trip to Ethiopia I won in a radio station drawing… seriously! So I guess radio is still doing good things for me.
Wishing you and your friends and family all the best for Christmas and the new year.
Love, Elizabeth
