Review of the year meme: 2009
I have never done this meme before! So, I'll give it a go.
1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
I got past the first round of a mooting competition.
I was called to the Bar, and became a "barrister at law."
I travelled to Ankara and Bodrum -- first time for both. This involved travelling by train in Turkey, which was a first for me. Ankara is also the furthest I've travelled on my own in Turkey and probably the biggest city I've ever been in on my own. I didn't think of these things at the time! I also went to the Chora Museum in Istanbul for the first time.
Then I started pupillage and became a pupil barrister.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't have any new year's resolutions per se, but I did have a last minute idea for a new year's experiment, which was to try six months without any of my normal hair-removal routines. I stuck to that. Actually, I'm all hairy again now too -- haven't done any plucking, shaving or waxing since I began pupillage. Not a conscious decision except insofar as I've decided I don't like shaving and haven't had the money to get things done at a salon.
I have a very stereotypical resolution for next year. It is slightly over 11 months until I turn thirty and I plan to be significantly thinner and fitter on that day than I am now. I'm aiming for the size and shape I was in summer 2004. If I overshoot, so much the better. So, I'm resolving to join the Kings Hall Leisure Centre around the corner from my house, exercise three times a week, and cook more (with its converse -- eat out less!).
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Joey and Jessica!
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, thank goodness.
5. What countries did you visit?
Turkey and Canada. :)
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Tenancy!!! A relationship might be nice, but now is perhaps not the time to really pursue that. A better body image. Financial security. To be confident I can stay in my home as long as I like and won't be made to move.
7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
None, I don't think. Perhaps 5 October, the first day of my pupillage?
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I'd say beginning pupillage, but I secured that last year. My call, I suppose, and my graduation with an LLB.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not achieving an Outstanding on the Bar Vocational Course. I feel I really let down the me of 2009 who went through debilitating panic attacks the week before my Graduate Diploma in Law exams and emerged triumphantly on the other side with a Distinction. I pushed myself through my GDL year by sheer hard-nosed determination because I wanted so badly to get a First on my LLB. By failing to get an Oustanding on my BVC, I failed to get that First. 2007-2008 me stepped up to bat. 2008-2009 me struck out.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Over the Christmas holiday last year I had a very bad pain in my shoulder, literally debilitating, which wasn't quite better until I got back to London in early January. Other than that, thankfully, no.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
I can't think of anything.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
My mother and stepfather, and extended family, as usual. Emotional support one can still expect at 29, but financially I ought to have been cut off, and I haven't been -- or not completely.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
The BNP and those who voted for them. The various politicians gathered at Copenhagen, though the result was, to me, so expected as not to "disappoint," per se. That idiotic young man on the Amsterdam-Detroit flight. The regime in Iran.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My holidays -- to Turkey, and back home for Christmas to Vancouver. Finding out Joanna, Jessica and (much later) firenightingale were expecting. Seeing Joanna and Jessica's babies, Jack and Zayden.
16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
None, I don't think. I expect I will always love "Fidelity" by Regina Spektor but I doubt I'll remember it came out in 2009 -- or rather, that I would have, were it not for this meme.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i) happier or sadder? About the same. I was headed back to mock exams last year; this year I'm headed back to the continued uncertainty of pupillage.
ii) thinner or fatter? I think about the same? Too fat, in both instances.
iii) richer or poorer? Poorer. I didn't appreciate how generous the loan the bank gave me was until I began to live off my pupillage grant!
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Getting off me arse and out the house. Exercise.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Eating junk food. Eating in general. Wasting time on the internet.
20. How are you spending Christmas?
Mum, Keith and I did presents, had a late breakfast, and walked downtown over the Granville Street Bridge. We had coffee in the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, which was a bit of a fiasco (suffice to say neither Mum nor I, when Mum ordered an Americano, expected that a posh hotel would serve Americano made from some mix instead of with an espresso machine!), then saw the display of gingerbread houses in the Hyatt and of decorated Christmas trees in the Four Seasons. We then walked back to Kits and saw Invictus at the 5th Avenue Cinema, followed by a dinner of leftover nut roast, steamed veggies and potatoes.
21. And New Year?
We went to my grandmother's for another quiet family dinner.
22. Did you fall in love in 2009?
...
Heavens! I appear to have got through an entire year without falling in love with anyone!
23. Did you have any one-night stands?
In the hopes never to have do so again, I will answer honestly and in the affirmative.
24. What was your favourite TV program?
I very much enjoyed Desperate Romantics.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't think so.
26. What was the best book you read?
...
Add "reading" to the list of things I should have done more of.
...oh, Mum leant me The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews, a Canadian author, which I finished a few days ago. That was really good.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Oh nothing, nothing. I found out I like Regina Spektor, Feist, and Arcade Fire, but the world discovered them ages ago.
28. What did you want and get?
A holiday in Turkey. Christmas in Vancouver.
29. What did you want and not get?
A relationship. Financial security. Housing security.
30. What was your favourite film of this year?
Invictus or Where the Wild Things Are, I think.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 29 and went to see the "Wild Things" exhibition and then for a lacklustre Asian-ish meal in Chinatown with Janet.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Probably a relationship. Or maybe just getting off me arse and out the house and reading more.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
I wouldn't!
34. What kept you sane?
Sheer bloody-mindedness.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Can't think.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Climate change, as usual, though it gets exhausting feeling so strongly about something that people in power just refuse to address. The European elections and rise of the BNP. The stolen election in Iran.
37. Who did you miss?
My far-flung friends and family, of course. This is a stupid question.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
Raheena, I think. And girl_in_blue.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
Not to trust myself to achieve what I'm capable of.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I'll think on this and come back to it.
1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
I got past the first round of a mooting competition.
I was called to the Bar, and became a "barrister at law."
I travelled to Ankara and Bodrum -- first time for both. This involved travelling by train in Turkey, which was a first for me. Ankara is also the furthest I've travelled on my own in Turkey and probably the biggest city I've ever been in on my own. I didn't think of these things at the time! I also went to the Chora Museum in Istanbul for the first time.
Then I started pupillage and became a pupil barrister.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't have any new year's resolutions per se, but I did have a last minute idea for a new year's experiment, which was to try six months without any of my normal hair-removal routines. I stuck to that. Actually, I'm all hairy again now too -- haven't done any plucking, shaving or waxing since I began pupillage. Not a conscious decision except insofar as I've decided I don't like shaving and haven't had the money to get things done at a salon.
I have a very stereotypical resolution for next year. It is slightly over 11 months until I turn thirty and I plan to be significantly thinner and fitter on that day than I am now. I'm aiming for the size and shape I was in summer 2004. If I overshoot, so much the better. So, I'm resolving to join the Kings Hall Leisure Centre around the corner from my house, exercise three times a week, and cook more (with its converse -- eat out less!).
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Joey and Jessica!
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, thank goodness.
5. What countries did you visit?
Turkey and Canada. :)
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Tenancy!!! A relationship might be nice, but now is perhaps not the time to really pursue that. A better body image. Financial security. To be confident I can stay in my home as long as I like and won't be made to move.
7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
None, I don't think. Perhaps 5 October, the first day of my pupillage?
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I'd say beginning pupillage, but I secured that last year. My call, I suppose, and my graduation with an LLB.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not achieving an Outstanding on the Bar Vocational Course. I feel I really let down the me of 2009 who went through debilitating panic attacks the week before my Graduate Diploma in Law exams and emerged triumphantly on the other side with a Distinction. I pushed myself through my GDL year by sheer hard-nosed determination because I wanted so badly to get a First on my LLB. By failing to get an Oustanding on my BVC, I failed to get that First. 2007-2008 me stepped up to bat. 2008-2009 me struck out.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Over the Christmas holiday last year I had a very bad pain in my shoulder, literally debilitating, which wasn't quite better until I got back to London in early January. Other than that, thankfully, no.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
I can't think of anything.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
My mother and stepfather, and extended family, as usual. Emotional support one can still expect at 29, but financially I ought to have been cut off, and I haven't been -- or not completely.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
The BNP and those who voted for them. The various politicians gathered at Copenhagen, though the result was, to me, so expected as not to "disappoint," per se. That idiotic young man on the Amsterdam-Detroit flight. The regime in Iran.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My holidays -- to Turkey, and back home for Christmas to Vancouver. Finding out Joanna, Jessica and (much later) firenightingale were expecting. Seeing Joanna and Jessica's babies, Jack and Zayden.
16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
None, I don't think. I expect I will always love "Fidelity" by Regina Spektor but I doubt I'll remember it came out in 2009 -- or rather, that I would have, were it not for this meme.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i) happier or sadder? About the same. I was headed back to mock exams last year; this year I'm headed back to the continued uncertainty of pupillage.
ii) thinner or fatter? I think about the same? Too fat, in both instances.
iii) richer or poorer? Poorer. I didn't appreciate how generous the loan the bank gave me was until I began to live off my pupillage grant!
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Getting off me arse and out the house. Exercise.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Eating junk food. Eating in general. Wasting time on the internet.
20. How are you spending Christmas?
Mum, Keith and I did presents, had a late breakfast, and walked downtown over the Granville Street Bridge. We had coffee in the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, which was a bit of a fiasco (suffice to say neither Mum nor I, when Mum ordered an Americano, expected that a posh hotel would serve Americano made from some mix instead of with an espresso machine!), then saw the display of gingerbread houses in the Hyatt and of decorated Christmas trees in the Four Seasons. We then walked back to Kits and saw Invictus at the 5th Avenue Cinema, followed by a dinner of leftover nut roast, steamed veggies and potatoes.
21. And New Year?
We went to my grandmother's for another quiet family dinner.
22. Did you fall in love in 2009?
...
Heavens! I appear to have got through an entire year without falling in love with anyone!
23. Did you have any one-night stands?
In the hopes never to have do so again, I will answer honestly and in the affirmative.
24. What was your favourite TV program?
I very much enjoyed Desperate Romantics.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't think so.
26. What was the best book you read?
...
Add "reading" to the list of things I should have done more of.
...oh, Mum leant me The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews, a Canadian author, which I finished a few days ago. That was really good.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Oh nothing, nothing. I found out I like Regina Spektor, Feist, and Arcade Fire, but the world discovered them ages ago.
28. What did you want and get?
A holiday in Turkey. Christmas in Vancouver.
29. What did you want and not get?
A relationship. Financial security. Housing security.
30. What was your favourite film of this year?
Invictus or Where the Wild Things Are, I think.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 29 and went to see the "Wild Things" exhibition and then for a lacklustre Asian-ish meal in Chinatown with Janet.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Probably a relationship. Or maybe just getting off me arse and out the house and reading more.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
I wouldn't!
34. What kept you sane?
Sheer bloody-mindedness.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Can't think.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Climate change, as usual, though it gets exhausting feeling so strongly about something that people in power just refuse to address. The European elections and rise of the BNP. The stolen election in Iran.
37. Who did you miss?
My far-flung friends and family, of course. This is a stupid question.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
Raheena, I think. And girl_in_blue.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
Not to trust myself to achieve what I'm capable of.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I'll think on this and come back to it.