At precisely 9:00 pm on Saturday, January 5th, 2008 my plane touched down in New York City marking the start of my NYC adventure.

Yesterday was a mixed day of emotions. There were emotional highs about the adventure that lays ahead. There were also trying lows. I wrote this a short moment after waving goodbye at the airport and disappearing out of view of loved ones.

I explored the city today, it was really my first time discovering it. It was a day marked with firsts.

My first day waking up in my new city. First time seeing the Empire State Building. First run in Central Park. First time feeling the wave of miss that occurs when you’re far away from friends and family.

Here’s a photo of my building.

Overwhelming thought of the day: this is going to be an emotionally intense year (and one hell of a city to live in).

If you’re in the city let’s grab a drink.

Economics and Design. Design (in every respect) is one of the major areas associated with web 2.0.

Many stories of the past few years are explained like this: web 1.0 idea + great design (usability + …) = success. Increasingly we’re seeing design fuel industry changing innovation across a wide range of markets. It’s only going to increase by an order of magnitude in the coming years. Here’s a good post on the 11 things you should learn about Economics and Design.

Don’t think so? Evan Williams discusses the importance of right brain creativity for creating breakthrough ideas with The Economist. Main points: constraints + experiment.

Finally, in a world of scarce attention the big myth is that content is king. Not so. Context rules the roost.

These are all big thoughts that I’ve been exploring and plan to discover with you this year.

“Walk away now, and you’re gonna start a war.”

The National’s 2006 album, Alligator, is an album that needs to be chewed on in order to be fully embraced. It’s thick and rich and heavy.

Boxer, their follow-up album released this year, was similar though failed to produce the same results. Filled with complex lyrics delivered simply by Berninger’s trademark baritone voice the songs are strong but few stood out.

One song which continues to move me is Start a War (listen to it here), a track where, as Pitchfork put it, “the possibility of loss looms threateningly.” This is classic stuff from The National and is my 9th favorite song of the year. Complexity that develops layered over music that grows. It’s possible to simultaneously have no clue about what’s spoken yet fully understand what’s sung. That’s the joy of The National.

Here’s a video of the band performing the song after dinner, outside under a tree using a few guitars, some cutlery, and wine glasses. Beautiful stuff.

The year is 2001. The setting is Kingston, Ontario, a beautiful old town with bitterly cold winters and chilling winds, located at the tip of Lake Ontario.

Your author, a 19 year old first year student, is tucked away in a small dorm room on the 6th floor of Vic Hall. It’s the beginning of the self discovery period of his life and the soundtrack is powered by an ethernet connection and #DSP on IRC.

Atmosphere, Aesop Rock, El-P, Sunny Day Real Estate, and the like made management of the 4 gb hd difficult.

Songs appeared. Life happened.

One day Saul Williams made an appearance, receiving a cautious greeting. The album, Amethyst Rock Star, was hard to define. Was it spoken word? Was it rap? Was it rock? Whatever it was, it was intense. It challenged. It pushed. And it advanced.

One song in particular resonated. Wine.

This year Saul Williams reentered my life. An album produced by Trent Reznor and released under a pay-what-you-want model, it was clear that Williams continued to advance. Art forms, business models, and trains of thought.

Williams and Reznor did an exceptional job with the album and it delivers strongest when listened to in its entirety. Here’s Raise to be Lowered, a rallying song (“To through away the pen and pad and simply be the poem”) that gives you a good taste of what Williams is about and my 10th top song of the year.

I’m not a soothsayer I just play one on this blog. In the days (let’s be realistic) weeks ahead I’m going to share some thoughts on what we’ll see in 2008. Here’s what’s coming:

1) What my mom can teach us about technology adoption.
2) Zach Morris and the most important social graph.

3) How everyone in the world came to embrace their inner exhibitionist.
4) Obama, Hilary, Giuliani: How the web makes things that actually matter, matter.
5) Why the best way to succeed in 2008 is to stop doing what made you a success.

Let me know by show of hands which one you want to read first.