2011 in review
1. What did you do that you'd never done before?
2007 : Drove by myself legally, passed all my units
2008 : Kept a job more than a few weeks, cooked a potato :D
2009 : Went to Sydney and Melbourne, took up violin
2010 : Went to North America and Canada, knit a jumper
2011 : Completed my final year of undergraduate studies, drove on the right hand side of the road
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
2007 : It was to pass all my units, so yes :P The other one was ye olde "I will lose weight this year" which I failed at. I'd like to lose weight next year. Honest.
2008 : I tried. I really did try. I think rather than a weight resolution next year I think I'll try to save money a bit.
2009 : I did save money this year! I opened a savings account, paid for my trip to Melbourne with it and it still isn't empty! I think that in 2010 I'd like to buy a car.
2010 : Well, still no car, but at the moment I have 12 days of free car hire, so I'm getting closer!
2011 : Didn't buy a car this year because of the whole moving-to-America thing.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
2007 : No
2008 : No
2009 : No
2010 : No, but people are certainly getting engaged and married left, right and centre
2011 : No
4. Did anyone close to you die?
2007 : Obaachan
2008 : No
2009 : I went to my first funeral this year. I don't think I'd like to go to many more :(
2010 : No
2011 : No
5. What countries did you visit?
2007 : What, physically or mentally?
2008 : Stayed in Australia. But people pay heaps of money to come visit here, right?
2009 : I've always thought of "over east" as another country.
2010 : North America, Canada
2011 : USA, Canada
6. What would you like to have next year that you lacked this year?
2007 : Money / consistant income. Maybe a car?
2008 : Hmmm, still that car.
2009 : A better sense of security and certainty.
2010 : A degree
2011 : I have very little idea of what the next 12 months will hold. Staying open minded.
7. What dates from the year will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
2007 : Nothing is overly memorable. It seems the year just flew past.
2008 : Good Friday would be the most memorable day I think, and I got the memorable part out of the way before the sun had done its warm up stretches.
2009 : Nothing in particular.
2010 : 25th November, it was literally the longest day of my life so far.
2011 : Whistler in February was amazing.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
2007 : I don't know I had anything I'm overly proud of.
2008 : Finally I got an HD in something rather than always just missing.
2009 : Anita Borg Scholarship
2010 : Microsoft Internship
2011 : Completing Undergrad.
9. What was your biggest failure?
2007 : Trying to juggle doing too many things at once, definitely.
2008 : Losing some friends I would like to have kept.
2009 : Electronic Engineering. Ugh.
2010 : Nothing comes to mind, everything went pretty well all up.
2011 : Again, things went pretty well in general.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
2007 : Other than the usual? I had conjunctivitis.
2008 : I was surprisingly healthy for most of the year, really.
2009 : Found out I'd been misdiagnosed for 6 years.
2010 : Nothing serious
2011 : Maybe a few more colds than normal.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
2007 : Define best. The thing that probably changed my lifestyle the most would be my DS and CycloDS.
2008 : My mattress and camera compete for that honour
2009 : My EeeMac
2010 : Dunno. My Macbook Pro and Canon 7D are both pretty awesome.
2011 : I didn't really buy anything I couldn't live without, just did a lot of upgrading.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
2007 : No one's I can think of offhand ;P Everyone had their ups and downs.
2008 : Dunno
2009 : My niece, who had to take care of her father and brother while my sister was doing fly-in-fly-out work, while doing TEE and still managing to be the star of the school's year 12 art exhibition.
2010 : Seb did good in his Prof Comp :)
2011 : Seb for coping with my moody demeanor in semester two.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
2007 : Various politicians, though no more than usual.
2008 : Those Californians who voted yes to proposition 8.
2009 : -pending-
2010 : My Aunt's, who is not very well-off financially, and is therefore lying to my Grandmother to try to convince her to disinherit my side of the family.
2011 : No one in particular
14. Where did most of your money go?
2007 : Fabric/sewing supplies
2008 : Photographic equipment, furniture & homewares
2009 : Rent, food and bills
2010 : Living it up in the US :P
2011 : Rent, food and bills
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
2007 : Nothing. I guess I may have been most excited about waicon, since I didn't have many things to be excited about this year.
2008 : Moving out of college and being able to cook for myself
2009 : Sydney and Melbourne!
2010 : Coming to the US
2011 : Getting a great job offer
16. What song will always remind you of this year?
2007 : I don't think any song will remind me of this year. I don't generally associate songs with years.
2008 : Ditto
2009 : No change here
2010 : Next year I'm changing this question
2011 : This year I'll bite and say The Tain by the Decemberists.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder?
2007 : A little happier, but christmas usually depresses me.
2008 : Happier. I love my life at the moment.
2009 : Little more depressed at the moment
2010 : Happier
2011 : Happier
ii. thinner or fatter?
2007 : About the same
2008 : *sob*
2009 : Same
2010 : Same
2011 : I certainly gained thesis weight.
iii. richer or poorer?
2007 : About the same, i.e. I currently have roughly $5 to my name.
2008 : Richer, but I did only have 17c in the bank until I got paid yesterday so I can't really talk.
2009 : Richer. I have savings for the first time in my life :D
2010 : Richer. Hooray for high paying internship!
2011 : Richer, just got a large lump sum payment from the company sponsoring my thesis.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
2007 : Ask for help if I need it
2008 : Watched what I was eating, sewed
2009 : Understand Electrical/Electronic Engineering
2010 : Home Cooking, Sleep
2011 : Pay attention to non-thesis units
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
2007 : Chocolate
2008 : Spend money on random stuff
2009 : Stress
2010 : Procrastinate?
2011 : Eat convenience food
20. How will did you be spending Christmas?
2007 : With Nic's family
2008 : In Manjimup, trying to have the whole day pass unnoticed
2009 : Knitting & dinner with Seb's family
2010 : Skiing at Whistler
2011 : Dinner with Seb's family
21. What LJ users did you meet for the first time?
2007 : Too many to list! Mostly unisfans.
2008 : Did I meet anyone for the first time? Hmmm, I don't really recall
2009 : Various Melbourne Lolitas
2010 : No-one
2011 : No one I can think of
22. Did you fall in love in 2007?
2007 : ;P
2008 : *choirs of angels sing in the background* uh...
2009 : I manage to fall in love again everytime Seb shaves ♥
2010 : ♥
2011 : ♥♥ (I still love Seb more than the Guinea Pigs, no matter what he says)
23. How many one-night stands?
2007 : I can count the number on no hands.
2008 : My legs get sore after a few hours standing, don't think I could handle a whole night
2009 :
2010 : no.
2011 : none
24. What was your favourite TV program?
2007 : Worst jobs in history / Chaser's war on everything
2008 : Project Runway / Vampire Knight
2009 : True Blood
2010 : Scrapheap Challenge? I watched very little TV
2011 : Sherlock. Again, our TV doesn't even have an aerial.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
2007 : Some people have certainly gone down in my point of view.
2008 : Hate is a strong word...
2009 : No
2010 : No
2011 : No
26. What was the best book you read?
2007 : *checks bookshelf* I didn't really read anything great this year.
2008 : *sigh* Nope, nothing worth mentioning this year either. I just haven't had much time to read.
2009 : I'm doing a lot of audiobooks and books in the public domain this year, but none of them have been that great. The Sherlock Holmes books would probably be the best.
2010 : I re-read most of the Harry Potter books, that was good! I have a Kindle now, so I'm able to do a lot more reading, but I'm mostly re-reading the books that I read many years ago and have been hoping to read again.
2011 : I enjoyed Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
2007 : Eh. Nothing.
2008 : Within Temptation I guess.
2009 : Armolithae
2010 : The Decemberists
2011 : Nothing.
28. What did you want and get?
2007 : To pass all units, cake
2008 : To move out of college
2009 : To visit Sydney & Melbourne
2010 : To move in with Seb
2011 : To finish uni
29. What did you want and not get?
2007 : A car, to study Japanese at uni
2008 : Still want a car, kind of
2009 : So... that car, hey?
2010 :
2011 : Seb can't come to America with me...
30. What was your favourite film of this year?
2007 : Stardust
2008 : I didn't really think any films of this year I'd consider a 'favourite'
2009 : Nothing that memorable
2010 : I didn't see that many, none that I'd be hyped about seeing again
2011 : Honestly? Probably Tangled.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
2007 : 19, studied for the exam I had the next day
2008 : 20, studied for the exam I had the next day
2009 : 21, and I don't even remember.
2010 : 22, studied
2011 : 23, studied
32.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
2007 : A consistant source of income
2008 : Food I could eat at college
2009 : 30 hours to a day
2010 : Seb coming to the US with me
2011 : Something something thesis.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept this year?
2007 : Whatever smells least / Misguided victorian
2008 : Hey, Misguided Victorian would be a kind of neat name for a fashion label!
2009 : Eh.
2010 : At the moment - anything warm
2011 : Maturing a little
34. What kept you sane?
2007 : The Silence of the Chambers in my Mind
2008 : My wonderful boyfriend, who has endless patience
2009 : Still the wonderful boyfriend (though I think sometimes I'm slowly wearing away at his patience...)
2010 : See above
2011 : Just grinned and bore not being sane for most of it :D
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
2007 : Noone
2008 : I just don't fancy celebrities/public figures
2009 : As above
2010 : I pay so little attention to celebrities/public figures that this question is pretty meaningless. This question is out next year, too
36. What political issue stirred you the most:
2007 : Abortion/RU486
2008 : Homelessness
2009 : The Great Firewall of Australia
2010 : Equality for LGBTs
2011 : Same sex marriage & Marijuana legalisation
37. Who did you miss?
2007 : My host family
2008 : My host family
2009 : My host family
2010 : Seb
2011 : Some people who have already graduated
38. Who was the best new person you met?
2007 : I met too many new people to judge this. Again, the definition of 'best' is complicated.
2008 : Didn't meet enough new people this year to judge this.
2009 : ?
2010 : Once again, met too many.
2011 : Abbey, one of my supervisors.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned this year.
2007 : Ask for help if you need it.
2008 : That my happiness shouldn't depend on someone else's.
2009 : Time management is really important
2010 : There are some things I don't suck at.
2011 : I might be making a terrible mistake, but all I can do is see what happens.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
2007 : I don't believe a year can be summed up in a song lyric, so have a lyric of what I'm listening to at the moment. Judge it's appropriateness for yourself.
"One last perfect verse
It's still the same old song
Oh Christ, how I hate what I have become"
2008 : Um. Uh. First thing I can think of -
"I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts (diddle de de)
There they are a-standing in a row (bump bump BUMP)
Big ones, small ones, some as big as your HEAD!" (yeah, I got nothing)...
2009 : No.
2010 : Still No.
2011 : .