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As 2009 came to a close, I was reminded that it was time to start thinking about my #themeword for the new year. I then asked myself, “Why should I do this again. I don’t feel like I really gave 2009’s #themeword, CHANGE, a good shot.” But the more I thought about it, the more I really wanted to commit to this year’s theme of Love. It’s one I’ve avoided in the past and have really tried to embrace. I saw a tiny glimpse of what could be possible with Love earlier in 2009 and it was enough to make a year commitment to it.

Now, Love has many meanings. For me, as my #themeword, it means:

• to love myself–this has been something that I’ve been working on the past few years via my private blog.
• to love my work–which is a true life theme for me, so much so that I have the word PASSIONATE inked on my body…for life!
• to love others–as they are, to encourage them to love themselves, to be a good friend.
• to allow others to love me–again, something I’ve struggled with for years. I’ve built many walls and have torn them down. I’m hoping to retire my wall-building skills in 2010.
• to find someone to love who loves me just as much–yes, this means what you think it means. No, the goal is not to get married in 2010, but to find someone who truly loves me, which in the past I have convinced myself will never happen. Now I’m trying to convince myself that by doing the things listed above, maybe this too will happen.

I have a lot of love to give…I always have, but have held back in doing so. Why? Because of the fear of rejection and because I want to avoid the pain that comes along if things don’t work out; if I’m not loved back…whether it’s by friends or someone special in my life. After some experiences last year, I’m ready to face the fear and possibility of what may (or may not) happen head on. (Confession–that sentence totally just struck fear in my heart and a little bit of nausea in my stomach.)

Please know that if I tell you “I love you”, it doesn’t mean I want to have your babies…it just means that I care very deeply for you and appreciate you helping me achieve my personal goal of Love.

What’s your #Themeword for 2010? Check out @ericaogrady’s post and @missrogue’s post for more thoughts on themewords.

This was a great theme word for 2009, but is one I’ll continue to work on. Post on my 2010 #Themeword coming soon…

We got a new President. I remember getting to work early to watch this historic moment…while sharing breakfast pastries with colleagues.

I got my first frieNDA thanks to @eston and @chrisabad.

@ericaogrady says it well in 140 characters or less as to one reason I ❤ Twitter.

I made it to my first SXSW in Austin and arrived in geek style, thanks to @cesart.

I also got into the best party at SXSW! 😉

While at Brunch with approximately 20 people on my last day in Austin for SXSW, we gathered around one large table and surrendered our cell phones during the meal. Someone told me this was ‘the norm’ for the Austinites as they wanted to experience each other IRL (or In Real Life) instead of via what everyone was sharing on Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Twitpic, etc. I was AMAZED that everyone gave their phones over to one person who held them all until after the meal.

We should do this more often with our internet friends…who’s with me to #PutThePhonesAWAY?

After 3 years of thinking about it, I got my second tattoo. It means Passionate and is to remind me to always be passionate about what I’m doing.

During my first day on the job with @briansolis, he was at a speaking engagement and gave this little nugget of wisdom. I’ve repeated it many times, always giving him attribution. 😀

Why not make your fantasy your reality? @missrogue definitely did this, not only with her book, The Whuffie Factor, but also with the most kickass Karaoke Across America tour, Whuffaoke, which I was able to be a part of. Thanks Tara for allowing me to be a part of your fantasy turned reality life!

I totally do this too…hope to change it in 2010.

Damien must have read my mind as I had been telling myself this same thing. Even after being open to life earlier that week, which lead to the British man I just met kissed me (which is a whole other story), @db‘s reminder came just in time for a night out with someone new.

You know you’re a geek when you let the food wait to claim your Vanity URL. It was like the Gold Rush of Web2.0. You can find me at http://facebook.com/khartline.

Yes, I totally did this. No, he never knew.

Preach it @ryanorr! There is never a person who has all the right answers and I sure don’t trust ‘know-it-alls’ so what’s the harm in admitting ‘I don’t know’? I’ll respect and trust you more for it.

Love the open API for Twitter because it allows things like this to keep me entertained in life. I never knew who sent this…

No, @rogerniner…THANK YOU!! Roger Niner lists his occupation as “Facilitator of your Rock and Roll Dreams” and that he did. He saved the day for @whuffaoke as we kicked off in San Francisco and set the standard for our 2.5 weeks on the road. He is the absolute BEST KJ (Karaoke Jockey) in the WORLD and I’ll kick you in the face if you disagree.

I got pulled over in Illinois while driving the winnebago for Whuffaoke…and 100+ people watched it all happen live on Justin.tv. I only got a warning and we totally missed the chance to karaoke a song by  The Village People with a real live cop! #FAIL

@EmmaPersky got the Whuffaoke crew into Milk & Honey, a members only bar in NYC. What an experience! We had our own mixologist who created drinks for us, including a unique champagne based drink inspired by the cities we were each from. It was then I decided that I want a man who can create tasty nomz and libations for me. If this is you, please inquire within…

Relationship means so much more than just ‘dating’ someone. If you aren’t open to exploring the areas Adrian Chan lists above, then you’re not ready for a relationship. Yes, it’s probably going to be a bit messy, but will be worth it.

*Do you see the ‘relationship’ theme here??* I totally agree with @scandalous that relationships take work. The problem with trying to find the balance is knowing how much effort the other person is willing to put into it. It’s like a teeter-totter…if takes a mutual effort for one person to not end up with their ass on the ground.

@pamela_lund is a wise, wise woman. Moments are PRICELESS and life is too short. </endcliche>

I asked the Universe “Is it possible for one person to actually make another person happy or does to HAVE to come from within?” and it answered me. Just one more thing to add to the list of things I want in a man.

I learned this many years ago when I was in a Sorority, but had to revisit it this year being in the new club of Social Media. San Francisco has some tech/Web2.0/Social Media event ever night, it seems, and I stopped going to most. If I was going out, it was to catch up with my friends that I wanted to make time for and even then, I didn’t get to connect with EVERYONE I wanted to because they were usually out at the events I was avoiding. There is nothing wrong with saying NO, which @cupcate would approve of!

I hate networking…it feels superficial. I prefer to build relationships, which means, as @avflox says, getting to know someone. Why do we define ourselves by our jobs? We are all much, much more than what our business cards say.I know…I still can’t believe it! Thanks to everyone for celebrating the New Gig with me.

Hoping my soul mate got the GPS I sent him for Christmas…BTW, @thedailylove is very inspirational and will be a big part of my life for my 2010 #Themeword.

@lucaspup is the new love of my life. I can’t tell you how much better life is with someone who loves me unconditionally…especially when I have a treat in my hand.

Come on…I’m not the only one who does vanity searches. You know you do too. @Chrisabad just happened to OH my confession of it.

Again…relationships! It is not about the numbers but about the people you know. Thanks @db for keeping it real.

Who knew Karaoke could be such a violent sport? BTW–If I’m banned from singing Celine, @brett should be banned from, well…everything.

Trying to make it easy for the fellas. What I didn’t realize is that Amos Lee isn’t touring right now. *sigh*

If you’ve read this far, I’d love to see some of your tweets that were interesting from 2009. Leave a comment. 😉

I met with a new friend (@chancebar) a few weeks ago. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure what the reason was behind him asking to get together and was a little skeptical seeing as we briefly met the week before, but decided to make time to get together. We grabbed drinks and started the small talk (so what are you working on? why are you in town?) and about 15 minutes, there it was…the suggestion of me helping him with some upcoming events. I had to decline as I’m swamped with my full-time job right now and for my own sanity can’t take anything else on. At the same time, my brain started searching through my mental rolladex to think of someone else who was in the same space that I could connect him with.

Then he rocked my world in a way that’s never been rocked. He asked what he could do for me.

I was completely taken off guard with this question and again, my brain kicked in to overdrive trying to think of something. I had nothing. Then he called me on it…he asked why that was hard for me to answer and told me my demeanor completely changed. I was very uncomfortable.

I love giving gifts and doing things for others. I do it because I love the joy it brings to others, not because I expect something in return. I’m very independent and will drive myself into the ground before I ask for help with something. Alright, I call it independent. Others may call it stubborn. You say potato…I say potato. *Hmmm…that doesn’t really get my point across without audio.*

So why is it so hard for me to ask for help or even think about ways others can help me? Sometimes I wonder if this independence and self-sufficiency has lead to my lack of a dating relationship. I’ve been told I give off this ‘vibe’ that I don’t need a man…which I don’t, to be real honest, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t mind having one around. It has definitely caused me great stress in work situations as I won’t ask for help with work things as I feel it’s my responsibility to get things done. We’re all busy with our own things, so why would anyone have time to help me? *This is a pattern I’ve been working on for years and still can’t come to break it.*

So, I still don’t know the answer to his question of “What can I do for you?” Will I ever come up with an answer? Who knows. He did tell me he’d continue asking until I had something. I guess part of being a giver is learning to be a receiver as well. *Minds out of the gutters, kids…let’s keep things clean here!* Maybe you can help…what are things you need that I can help with? Or better yet, what are things you think I might need that you can help me with?

My name’s Karen and I’m a Twitter addict. *Hi Karen* If you know me, you’re not shocked by this confession. Twitter has truly changed my life and I really think it’s going to take over the world soon. Think of it as the Web2.0 Will Smith.

I heart Twitter so much that I not only applied for a job (I wanted to be @ev’s assistant. His loss!), but I even took them cupcakes to say congrats for their expansion. Yes, there was a slight ulterior motive behind the cupcakes (see previous sentence). Thinking I should send a bouncy castle or something for their recent news of fundraising.

As I meet new people, I often ask if they’re on Twitter. If they are, we exchange handles. If they aren’t, I get to rock their world with an intro to it. Yes, I’m that girl. It is my first choice for social media. Heck, even my blog URL is my Twitter handle (partially because karenhartline.com was taken.)

Twitter is a personal thing for me, which is why I don’t follow everyone back who follows me. It would become too overwhelming and I wouldn’t enjoy it nearly as much. I’d guess about 85% of those I follow are people I’ve met, yet I don’t follow everyone on Twitter I’ve ever met. The other 15%? People or brands I find entertaining.

I tweet multiple times a day and lately, have been trying to hold back. There’s just so much I want to share with others. There’s a sense of community when I send a tweet into twitter-space. I KNOW people are reading and I read all replies (thanks to Tweetdeck. Srsly…download this puppy if you haven’t already!)

I landed in the UK just almost 36 hours ago and will be here for 9 days. I already know it may kill me that I can’t tweet from my Blackberry, as the charges are redonkulous. If I’m not back in San Francisco on February 26th, you know why…

One final note…If you’re reading this and I don’t follow you on twitter, leave me a comment or reply to me on Twitter with your favorite cereal, band/music artist AND color and I’ll be happy to follow you. 😉 That at least makes me feel like I know you a little. And so you feel like you know me, I like Lucky Charms, Little Jackie and Green is my favorite color.