The Year Meme - 2013
Well, I didn't quite manage to do this before the year turned, but it's pretty close...
1.What did you do in 2013 that you'd never done before?
I played various games I'd not previously played, saw some live ballet, officially became self-employed, completed a tax return (scarily grown up, that one!) translated (most of) a book, went on a steam train, became a volunteer performance coach and learned to knit.
2.Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
In the not strictly resolutions camp, I said last time around that I 'would like to have both myself and the flat in better shape by the end of the year'. I've not done enormously well on either of those, but A and I have a plan for a massive clearout and fix-up for which he will hopefully be taking some time off in January.
3.Did anyone close to you give birth?
It depends how you define close, but A and I now have another niece on his side of the family.
4.Did anyone close to you die?
Strictly speaking, no, but I found out this year that the guy who abused me in my teens died a few years back, which definitely had an impact.
5.What countries did you visit?
Just France - Paris, for my birthday. The budget hasn't really been up to much travel this year..
6.What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?
An income which exceeds my outgoings. And a self-repairing flat would be nice. ;)
7.What date from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
I'm not sure I have any particular dates which were significant.
8.What was your biggest achievement of the year?
It depends on how you look at it. Most people would probably see translating a book as the most impressive, but learning to knit was a bigger challenge for me, and eliminating the phrase 'stupid bitch' from my self-talk has been a good step forward, from a mental health point of view.
9.What was your biggest failure?
Still not doing any proper cardio-vascular exercise, although at least I have managed to do weights work fairly regularly this year.
10.Did you suffer illness or injury?
Well, there is the usual headweasels thing, although it has been under rather better control most of this year.
11.What was the best thing you bought?
Until recently, I'd' have said the thermal/light-blocking linings for the bedroom curtains, which have rather improved my chances of getting a decent amount of sleep on any given night. But they've recently been overtaken by an electric blanket, which has made the recent breakdown of our central heating slightly more manageable.
12.Whose behavior merited celebration?
All the people who haven't given up on trying to make this country a slightly better place, despite all the current obstacles.
13.Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Countless Tories and Lib Dems, with a particular focus on those who demonise benefit claimants and immigrants, and Michael ****ing Gove, who could hardly be causing more damage to education if he were doing it on purpose...
14.Where did most of your money go?
If you leave out mortgage and other non-avoidables, the biggest expense in the average week was Sunday lunch with the guys.
15.What events did you get really, really, really excited about?
I'd probably want to take out the two 'really's, but the Fields of the Nephilim gig earlier this month was pretty spectacular. I'm glad I already have my ticket for Alt Fest, so know I will be seeing them again in 2014.
16.What song will always remind you of 2013?
The only thing which comes to mind is that awful 'Blurred Lines' song.
17.Compared to this time last year, are you:
i.happier or sadder? About the same - it depends which day you catch me.
ii.thinner or fatter? I've put on about another half a stone, sadly, but I appear to have stopped gaining, and am feeling a bit more optimistic about getting back to a healthy weight in 2014.
iii.richer or poorer? Significantly poorer. If it weren't for the savings from my previous job, I'd have been completely stuffed this year...
18.What do you wish you'd done more of?
Exercising, obviously. And clubbing - I didn't achieve my '12 clubs challenge', and will definitely have to do more new clubs in 2014, as well as going back to the favourite old ones.
19.What do you wish you'd done less of?
Being stressed about money. Arguing with A (there wasn't all that much of it, but the bad arguments have been really bad this year).
20. How did you spend Christmas?
At my sister's place, same as last year.
21.Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
Almost certainly the parents, as I don't really phone people and most of my friends are no more likely to pick up the phone than am I.
[22.Did you fall in love in 2013?
23. How many one-night stands?
These questions have been discontinued for repetition]
24. What was your favorite TV programme?
Fresh Meat and A Game of Thrones continued to be excellent. I also very much liked The Newsroom and Orphan Black.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
[Also discontinued, on the grounds that I don't make a habit of hating people]
26. What was the best book you read?
In non-fiction, Is That a Fish in Your Ear? - the Amazing Adventure of Translation by David Bellos and How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran. In fiction, it wasn't a great year, as I read a lot of not particularly impressive genre fiction (plus a few better tales from Jim Butcher's Dresden Files) but I liked A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery or rediscovery?
A lot of the year was spent with old favourites rather than new discoveries. The best 'new' (to me) act was Jordan Reyne.
28. What did you want and get?
Various completely unecessary shinies - books, CDs, etc. Work which didn't drive me completely insane, unlike the previous job
29. What did you want and not get?
Enough work which didn't drive me insane to provide enough money to live on. But I have an application for a third strand of self-employed work awaiting completion, so there is hope...
30. What were your favourite films of this year?
I'd say that the best were Stoker, Byzantium and Joss Whedon's excellent version of Much Ado About Nothing.
31.What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
We went to Paris for the weekend. On the day itself, we visited the Orangerie Museum and the Opera Garnier, had a very non-French curry for dinner and did the Eiffel Tower at night, to see the city lit up. As for how old I was...a year older than the previous year, funnily enough.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
See answer to q29.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2013?
Since money has been rather less plentiful than time this year, I went back to my historic charity-shopping habits. I've also got back into layering in a big way.
34. What kept you sane?
This tends to imply that I was sane.The main thing was quitting the job that had been driving me batshit. Keeping an eye on things like food and sleep also helped.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most/least?
I can't think of any celebrities or public figures who fit that bill. I did rather fancy Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow, which we've been watching on the Universal channel, but that's much more about the character than the actor.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Everything this government has done to make life even harder for the disadvantaged. Things like cutting benefits, cutting legal aid, worsening public sector workers' pay and conditions...
37. Whom did you miss?
Unless my memory fails me, I don't think I managed to meet up with gothstew this year.
38. Who were the best new people you met?
Some of the other volunteer performance coaches, with whom I did my training, were pretty impressive people.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013:
I'm not sure I have any that quite qualify as 'life lessons', but I did learn that if you want to get near to the river to see the London fireworks on New Year's Eve, rather than getting 'trapped' in Trafalgar Square, you need to leave your chosen dinner venue a lot earlier than 11.30pm. ;)
1.What did you do in 2013 that you'd never done before?
I played various games I'd not previously played, saw some live ballet, officially became self-employed, completed a tax return (scarily grown up, that one!) translated (most of) a book, went on a steam train, became a volunteer performance coach and learned to knit.
2.Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
In the not strictly resolutions camp, I said last time around that I 'would like to have both myself and the flat in better shape by the end of the year'. I've not done enormously well on either of those, but A and I have a plan for a massive clearout and fix-up for which he will hopefully be taking some time off in January.
3.Did anyone close to you give birth?
It depends how you define close, but A and I now have another niece on his side of the family.
4.Did anyone close to you die?
Strictly speaking, no, but I found out this year that the guy who abused me in my teens died a few years back, which definitely had an impact.
5.What countries did you visit?
Just France - Paris, for my birthday. The budget hasn't really been up to much travel this year..
6.What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?
An income which exceeds my outgoings. And a self-repairing flat would be nice. ;)
7.What date from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
I'm not sure I have any particular dates which were significant.
8.What was your biggest achievement of the year?
It depends on how you look at it. Most people would probably see translating a book as the most impressive, but learning to knit was a bigger challenge for me, and eliminating the phrase 'stupid bitch' from my self-talk has been a good step forward, from a mental health point of view.
9.What was your biggest failure?
Still not doing any proper cardio-vascular exercise, although at least I have managed to do weights work fairly regularly this year.
10.Did you suffer illness or injury?
Well, there is the usual headweasels thing, although it has been under rather better control most of this year.
11.What was the best thing you bought?
Until recently, I'd' have said the thermal/light-blocking linings for the bedroom curtains, which have rather improved my chances of getting a decent amount of sleep on any given night. But they've recently been overtaken by an electric blanket, which has made the recent breakdown of our central heating slightly more manageable.
12.Whose behavior merited celebration?
All the people who haven't given up on trying to make this country a slightly better place, despite all the current obstacles.
13.Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Countless Tories and Lib Dems, with a particular focus on those who demonise benefit claimants and immigrants, and Michael ****ing Gove, who could hardly be causing more damage to education if he were doing it on purpose...
14.Where did most of your money go?
If you leave out mortgage and other non-avoidables, the biggest expense in the average week was Sunday lunch with the guys.
15.What events did you get really, really, really excited about?
I'd probably want to take out the two 'really's, but the Fields of the Nephilim gig earlier this month was pretty spectacular. I'm glad I already have my ticket for Alt Fest, so know I will be seeing them again in 2014.
16.What song will always remind you of 2013?
The only thing which comes to mind is that awful 'Blurred Lines' song.
17.Compared to this time last year, are you:
i.happier or sadder? About the same - it depends which day you catch me.
ii.thinner or fatter? I've put on about another half a stone, sadly, but I appear to have stopped gaining, and am feeling a bit more optimistic about getting back to a healthy weight in 2014.
iii.richer or poorer? Significantly poorer. If it weren't for the savings from my previous job, I'd have been completely stuffed this year...
18.What do you wish you'd done more of?
Exercising, obviously. And clubbing - I didn't achieve my '12 clubs challenge', and will definitely have to do more new clubs in 2014, as well as going back to the favourite old ones.
19.What do you wish you'd done less of?
Being stressed about money. Arguing with A (there wasn't all that much of it, but the bad arguments have been really bad this year).
20. How did you spend Christmas?
At my sister's place, same as last year.
21.Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
Almost certainly the parents, as I don't really phone people and most of my friends are no more likely to pick up the phone than am I.
[22.Did you fall in love in 2013?
23. How many one-night stands?
These questions have been discontinued for repetition]
24. What was your favorite TV programme?
Fresh Meat and A Game of Thrones continued to be excellent. I also very much liked The Newsroom and Orphan Black.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
[Also discontinued, on the grounds that I don't make a habit of hating people]
26. What was the best book you read?
In non-fiction, Is That a Fish in Your Ear? - the Amazing Adventure of Translation by David Bellos and How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran. In fiction, it wasn't a great year, as I read a lot of not particularly impressive genre fiction (plus a few better tales from Jim Butcher's Dresden Files) but I liked A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery or rediscovery?
A lot of the year was spent with old favourites rather than new discoveries. The best 'new' (to me) act was Jordan Reyne.
28. What did you want and get?
Various completely unecessary shinies - books, CDs, etc. Work which didn't drive me completely insane, unlike the previous job
29. What did you want and not get?
Enough work which didn't drive me insane to provide enough money to live on. But I have an application for a third strand of self-employed work awaiting completion, so there is hope...
30. What were your favourite films of this year?
I'd say that the best were Stoker, Byzantium and Joss Whedon's excellent version of Much Ado About Nothing.
31.What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
We went to Paris for the weekend. On the day itself, we visited the Orangerie Museum and the Opera Garnier, had a very non-French curry for dinner and did the Eiffel Tower at night, to see the city lit up. As for how old I was...a year older than the previous year, funnily enough.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
See answer to q29.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2013?
Since money has been rather less plentiful than time this year, I went back to my historic charity-shopping habits. I've also got back into layering in a big way.
34. What kept you sane?
This tends to imply that I was sane.The main thing was quitting the job that had been driving me batshit. Keeping an eye on things like food and sleep also helped.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most/least?
I can't think of any celebrities or public figures who fit that bill. I did rather fancy Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow, which we've been watching on the Universal channel, but that's much more about the character than the actor.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Everything this government has done to make life even harder for the disadvantaged. Things like cutting benefits, cutting legal aid, worsening public sector workers' pay and conditions...
37. Whom did you miss?
Unless my memory fails me, I don't think I managed to meet up with gothstew this year.
38. Who were the best new people you met?
Some of the other volunteer performance coaches, with whom I did my training, were pretty impressive people.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013:
I'm not sure I have any that quite qualify as 'life lessons', but I did learn that if you want to get near to the river to see the London fireworks on New Year's Eve, rather than getting 'trapped' in Trafalgar Square, you need to leave your chosen dinner venue a lot earlier than 11.30pm. ;)