Year Review meme, why not?
I have failed to write much during the year, so maybe I might summarise things by using these things (I'll also have the 2015 objectives achieved/not achieved
[spoilers: it's mostly the latter] thing coming up in January I guess).
Has 2015 been a good year for you?
Yes. Probably the best in the 2010s.
What did you do in 2015 that you'd never done before?
Believed in my own worth without needing constant external validation. Shot a first-class score in archery, ridden 100km on a bike, and ended up in the first
aid facility of a place of public entertainment (after falling over while ice skating and slicing a couple of cm of face open with my glasses). Talked to somebody where
my relationship to them is "I'm a huge fan of your work" (Jess Morgan).
What goals and plans do you have for 2016?
New EVERYTHING. (Job, house, bike, girlfriend, possibly car....). Also to have a proper holiday for once (carry that one over from this year when I didn't). Only
some of these will actually be achieved, naturally.
How did you spend Christmas?
With family in Exeter, struggling to breathe properly and finding balance and looking at bright things both a bit tricky due to a nasty cold. Still, other than the obviously
wasted time finding out where parkruns in Exeter were, it was nice.
How will you spend New Year?
Probably sat in this chair playing Crusader Kings (and then later watching cricket from South Africa). The only person still in Cambridge who actually invites me to
parties does her NY elsewhere.
How much travelling did you do this year?
Not much. Some time down in/around Exeter at my sister's, some long weekends in various locations around the country, nothing particularly exciting. I got too
distracted by other things to make travel plans.
What would you like to have in 2016, that you lacked this year.
Enough endurance (or the correct strategy) to cycle 160 km/100 miles on a bike - my second 100 km was easier than the first, but they're still pretty hard at the
moment.
What events from 2015 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Breaking up with Fiona, my own personal experience with the error/mistake distinction which I have often talked about with others. (Actually more accurately it was
waking up the next day, expecting to feel terrible and unexpectedly feeling happier than ever).
What was your biggest achievement of the year? What was your biggest learning experience?
For learning experience, see above. Achievement, probably at work, since seeing an entire promotional campaign being based in large part on my work or work I'd
contributed to was pretty awesome.
Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing serious (unless you count ongoing autoimmune disease but it didn't get any worse so no real suffering involved) but I did have an extremely annoying slow
to heal ankle strain in my left foot which I managed to aggravate twice just as it was roughly recovered. It does seem to be better now though, and I managed a
26-minute 5k (on a route with something that looks a bit like a hill in it) just before I came down with this cold so things are looking up.
What was the best thing you acquired?
A sense of self-worth. If you're going to insist on a material object it's probably the keyboard stand my parents bought me for Christmas which is definitely
superior to my keyboard being on the floor.
Where did most of your money go?
Quicken says that Rent beats Taxes by £623 through the end of November, with food a distant third place (Quicken doesn't count Pension as an expense).
What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Co-operative boardgames, Cambridge Folk Festival, Fiona, Marta.
What songs will always remind you of 2015?
I am with you in Rockland (the acoustics there aren't as good as the ones in the Junction, it sounded better live). Picturecards, for all that I first heard it in 2014 (at a
live gig, and I didn't catch what the song was called - it took until my third Jess Morgan gig for her to play it again and me to know what it was). To some extent,
probably Katzenjammer in general.
Did you acquire any new hobbies?
I don't think so. Though I started taking the ones I have more seriously. Also quite possibly going to take Badminton back up again, but my one attempt in 2015 was
what caused the ankle injury.
What do you wish you'd done more of in 2015?
Writing. I have always been terrible at writing fiction in a timely manner; this year I was also terrible at writing nonfiction.
What do you wish you'd done less of in 2015?
Aggravating ankle injuries. Agonizing over decisions rather than making them.
Did you fall in love this year?
No. I may well have created the conditions for it to happen in 2016, though.
What music did you listen to most in 2015?
Which question did you wish was more specific in 2015? By genre, probably folk, though a lot of my favourite music represents edge cases (I have seen
Katzenjammer classified as "balkan cow-punk" which is an almost entirely incomprehensible genre).
What TV did you watch in 2015?
Mostly sports coverage, occasional history programs; Dan Snow's Armada was remarkably good for being a predominantly Spanish account (and also being done by
somebody who knows his sailing).
What was your favourite movie of 2015?
Pass. I think I watched one movie in a cinema this year, and thought it was kind of average.
What books did you enjoy most in 2015?
I really enjoyed reading through the collection of Roger Zelazny's short stories, novellas etc. It's got six volumes, I've read the first four. For non-fiction,
The Greatest Knight, a biography of William Marshall, a 12th- and 13th-century knight, Earl of Pembroke and Regent of England, was a Christmas present I'm finding
really interesting.
What was your best culinary experience of 2015?
I, um, don't remember food that well. I can remember cooking duck legs for atreic improvising based off the theme of a recipe that I'd found on the internet and
both of us agreeing that I should definitely do that again. I can't actually remember what I did but I appear to have bookmarked the recipe so maybe that's something
else to do in 2016...
What political issue stirred you the most?
The demise of American conservativeism. It is, ultimately, the root of many of the problems currently facing the west, in that the intellectual incoherence left in
American foreign policy as a result of the death of the isolationist party...well, it certainly put the mess back in Mesopotamia, at any rate.
What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
My birthday conveniently has Cambridge Beer Festival on it, which usefully covers for me being terrible at forward planning. I made a cake, met people at a beer
festival and fed it to them. Also, giggled at Fiona's attempts to eat a steak sandwich.
Who was the best new person you met?
Marta. Probably.
Who did you miss the most?
Pick one from Polaris and requiem_17_23.
What did you want and get in 2015?
A manner of seeing senji more often; a forest of new PBs in athletic endeavours.
What did you want and not get in 2015?
New job, house, injury-free year.