There was plenty to love this year, sure. But for now, join us as we turn into a pillar of salt by looking back and taking the piss out of the whimsical / iffy moments of 2009 in the Bay Area.

• Users stopped talking about Twitter on Twitter. Just as the mirror couldn't care less what you think of its reflective qualities, no one cared to hear how amazed you were with writing 140 characters or fewer. People finally started using Twitter for its intended purpose.
• Like a recessionista article come to life in gastronomic form, San Francisco navel gazers soiled themselves silly over food from an automobile or cart. The trucker baseball cap didn't die; it transformed into Mission Street Food.
• While Gavin wasn't able to make it all the way to Sacramento (not yet, anyway), he had a banner year: his wife, Jennifer Siebel, pooped out a beautiful baby girl, he got a great seat at the inauguration, and he returned to being our icy yet affable mayor. After all was said and done --- the talk of life coaches, trips to Hawaii, finger wagging at CBS 5's Hank Plante -- it was nice to have him back.
• For better or for worse, Oscar Grant, who was killed on New Year's Day at the Fruitvale Bart station, became a household name.
• Graduate school journalism students and authentico journos scribbled on the world wide web, complete with people-on-the-internet-are-mean posts and other aggressively thoughtful nuggets. Sure, most of them still don't know what a "meme" is -- inexplicably, everyone from local bloggers to local politicians considered themselves a meme in 2009 -- but they did learn the magic of hyperlinking. Finally.