BOQ!
Eh, why not, let's end the year on a meme...
What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before?
Quite a few things - I sort of half taught myself CSS, jumped into performance poetry, signed up for AmDram, found myself slashing half BBC2's factual output and had fun doing it all, which although is something I've done before, the fun-having, feels like a new thing!
Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I'm not a big fan of the whole arbritary reboot thing. If I've something that needs to change, I figure it out at the time and try to change it. I don't do New Year's resolutions. No-one keeps them anyway!
Did anyone close to you give birth?
No.
Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully, no.
What countries did you visit?
That travel thing? Still an issue. Stay tuned for 2007 :D
What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
A harem of motoring journalists and geordies? No? Ah well! A bit more confidence, a passport with a stamp or two on it, and the makings of a good plot.
What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Sad as it is to admit, the 20th of September's pretty burned in. Also the 14th of May, the day I braved a stadium full of eleven thousand people and finally - FINALLY! - got to see Take That live. And then nearly ended up splatted on a roundabout on the way home, but we don't really talk about that bit, we talk about Mark and Gary coming over and grabbing my hands :D
What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Eleven Thousand People. Also performing slightly edgy material in one of the most conservative towns in Northern Ireland and not getting booed off. Performing at all in fact. So the audience was only about 100 people... that's huge for a recovering agoraphobic!
What was your biggest failure?
We were supposed to go on holiday to Cornwall (yes, I know) for a week in the summer - go to the Eden Project (which I still really want to do), all that stuff. But I bottled it at the last minute. I don't really feel ready for that kind of time away from home yet. Kinda put me really low for a bit.
Did you suffer illness or injury?
How long have you got? Head problems got better, hands began to really fuck up and my genetic code is plotting against me. Next!
What was the best thing you bought?
I chipped in half with dad to buy mum four prints from a really posh gallery. They're landscape photographs by a photographer she really admires, of places she loves. It was totally worth it to see her face when she unwrapped them.
Whose behavior merited celebration?
My friends, who for whatever odd reason have not yet ganged up to have me bumped off.
Whose behavior made you appalled?
No-one has really pissed me off this year. Well done world! ;)
Where did most of your money go?
Let's just say that Waterstones must really love me...
What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Seeing Take That and the Book Launch (seeing your own name in print never gets old!)
What song will always remind you of 2006?
Take That- Patience. Sad but true!
Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) Happier or sadder? Happier, I think, a little.
b) Thinner or fatter? A little more padded around the edges... dammit.
c) Richer or poorer? Richer, a bit. Been saving :D
What do you wish you'd done more of?
More reading, more eating - not been looking after myself too well.
What do you wish you'd done less of?
Less worrying would be good.
How will you be spending Christmas?
Christmas was normal - at home with parents feeling pretty content, and for once, not warding off a huge panic attack.
Did you fall in love in 2006?
Nope.
How many one-night stands?
None.
What was your favourite TV program?
Ah, the usual, anything with Ant and Dec in, TG, the Big Gay Wine Thong Thing, Mock the Week, QI, HIGNFY, Doctor Who... in fact, that's ALL the TV I watch!
Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Negative vibes, man! *g* I don't hate people. And no-one pissed me off this year. I hope I didn't piss anyone else off either.
What was the best book you read?
I didn't read as much as I usually do this year, sadly. I fell in love with a book about music called I Hate Myself and Want to Die by Tom Reynolds (yes, really, it's about big, overblown, depressing songs - Westlife get a mention.) May on Motors, of course, which I made the mistake of first reading on a bus full of people, and got some very odd looks when I began laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. I read Stardust by Neil Gaiman for the first time this year as well, after ages of trying to track it down, and fell totally in love with it too.
What was your greatest musical discovery?
Laura Kenny. I fell in love with her and her music at Gig N' the Bann. I've been giving her album such a hammering! I've also been playing Rachael Yamagata's album Happenstance to death. I love I Want You and Letter Read from it. I rediscovered my love of Tom Lehrer, as well.
What did you want and get?
Ah the usual; books, music, a nice pair of DMs.
What did you want and not get?
More travel, less angst. Wrong on both counts.
What was your favourite film of this year?
Didn't see all that many films this year. I will risk the tomatoes being thrown at my head and say Alien Autopsy, for various reasons, but mostly for seeing Ant and Dec on the big screen for what will probably be the last time, sadly.
What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I had a quiet dinner with my mum and dad. I was 26.
How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
Does blue Jeans and a variety of increasingly odd t-shirts, and the occasional fleecy jumper really count as a 'personal fashion concept'?
What kept you sane?
You're presupposing I was sane to begin with, and that's a dangerous assumption ;)
Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Kylie, Ant, James May. I also, like most radio 4 listeners, have a real thing for Charlotte Green's voice...
What political issue stirred you the most?
This is NI. Those fuckers up at the assembly stir no one.
Who did you miss?
Gran. Still and always. And Kate from writer's group; we kinda lost touch, which makes me feel such a git.
Who was the best new person you met?
rionaleonhart who is utterly insane in the good way; all the folks at That Community - best bunch of crazed motoring journalist slashers in the world.
Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006:
If shit doesn't happen, you're dead. And that's not good.
Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
I can't think of one single reason why I'd ever settle down
Standing in the one place getting dizzy as the world goes spinning round
Maybe it's my lack of all affection for someone I've never met
Maybe it's my lack of all direction makes it easy to forget...
Don't have to tell me now
It's all right being on my own
Nothing to hold me down
Who knows where I'm gonna go?
There's only one way to decide
I'll just go on and drive.
I'll just keep on going until I find that certain something that is right for me
Taking it all in and learning how to get along in my own company
Spend time away from home and maybe think of all the things I'd like to say
The voice in my own head, it talks a lot of sense anyway.
And if I end up lost and lonely,
I'll remember what they told me;
"Stand up tall and look the whole world in the eye"
At least I had the will to try
And I'm the one who will decide
To head for home or drive.
Laura Kenny - Drive (Yeah, not a bad year!)
What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before?
Quite a few things - I sort of half taught myself CSS, jumped into performance poetry, signed up for AmDram, found myself slashing half BBC2's factual output and had fun doing it all, which although is something I've done before, the fun-having, feels like a new thing!
Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I'm not a big fan of the whole arbritary reboot thing. If I've something that needs to change, I figure it out at the time and try to change it. I don't do New Year's resolutions. No-one keeps them anyway!
Did anyone close to you give birth?
No.
Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully, no.
What countries did you visit?
That travel thing? Still an issue. Stay tuned for 2007 :D
What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
A harem of motoring journalists and geordies? No? Ah well! A bit more confidence, a passport with a stamp or two on it, and the makings of a good plot.
What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Sad as it is to admit, the 20th of September's pretty burned in. Also the 14th of May, the day I braved a stadium full of eleven thousand people and finally - FINALLY! - got to see Take That live. And then nearly ended up splatted on a roundabout on the way home, but we don't really talk about that bit, we talk about Mark and Gary coming over and grabbing my hands :D
What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Eleven Thousand People. Also performing slightly edgy material in one of the most conservative towns in Northern Ireland and not getting booed off. Performing at all in fact. So the audience was only about 100 people... that's huge for a recovering agoraphobic!
What was your biggest failure?
We were supposed to go on holiday to Cornwall (yes, I know) for a week in the summer - go to the Eden Project (which I still really want to do), all that stuff. But I bottled it at the last minute. I don't really feel ready for that kind of time away from home yet. Kinda put me really low for a bit.
Did you suffer illness or injury?
How long have you got? Head problems got better, hands began to really fuck up and my genetic code is plotting against me. Next!
What was the best thing you bought?
I chipped in half with dad to buy mum four prints from a really posh gallery. They're landscape photographs by a photographer she really admires, of places she loves. It was totally worth it to see her face when she unwrapped them.
Whose behavior merited celebration?
My friends, who for whatever odd reason have not yet ganged up to have me bumped off.
Whose behavior made you appalled?
No-one has really pissed me off this year. Well done world! ;)
Where did most of your money go?
Let's just say that Waterstones must really love me...
What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Seeing Take That and the Book Launch (seeing your own name in print never gets old!)
What song will always remind you of 2006?
Take That- Patience. Sad but true!
Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) Happier or sadder? Happier, I think, a little.
b) Thinner or fatter? A little more padded around the edges... dammit.
c) Richer or poorer? Richer, a bit. Been saving :D
What do you wish you'd done more of?
More reading, more eating - not been looking after myself too well.
What do you wish you'd done less of?
Less worrying would be good.
How will you be spending Christmas?
Christmas was normal - at home with parents feeling pretty content, and for once, not warding off a huge panic attack.
Did you fall in love in 2006?
Nope.
How many one-night stands?
None.
What was your favourite TV program?
Ah, the usual, anything with Ant and Dec in, TG, the Big Gay Wine Thong Thing, Mock the Week, QI, HIGNFY, Doctor Who... in fact, that's ALL the TV I watch!
Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Negative vibes, man! *g* I don't hate people. And no-one pissed me off this year. I hope I didn't piss anyone else off either.
What was the best book you read?
I didn't read as much as I usually do this year, sadly. I fell in love with a book about music called I Hate Myself and Want to Die by Tom Reynolds (yes, really, it's about big, overblown, depressing songs - Westlife get a mention.) May on Motors, of course, which I made the mistake of first reading on a bus full of people, and got some very odd looks when I began laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. I read Stardust by Neil Gaiman for the first time this year as well, after ages of trying to track it down, and fell totally in love with it too.
What was your greatest musical discovery?
Laura Kenny. I fell in love with her and her music at Gig N' the Bann. I've been giving her album such a hammering! I've also been playing Rachael Yamagata's album Happenstance to death. I love I Want You and Letter Read from it. I rediscovered my love of Tom Lehrer, as well.
What did you want and get?
Ah the usual; books, music, a nice pair of DMs.
What did you want and not get?
More travel, less angst. Wrong on both counts.
What was your favourite film of this year?
Didn't see all that many films this year. I will risk the tomatoes being thrown at my head and say Alien Autopsy, for various reasons, but mostly for seeing Ant and Dec on the big screen for what will probably be the last time, sadly.
What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I had a quiet dinner with my mum and dad. I was 26.
How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
Does blue Jeans and a variety of increasingly odd t-shirts, and the occasional fleecy jumper really count as a 'personal fashion concept'?
What kept you sane?
You're presupposing I was sane to begin with, and that's a dangerous assumption ;)
Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Kylie, Ant, James May. I also, like most radio 4 listeners, have a real thing for Charlotte Green's voice...
What political issue stirred you the most?
This is NI. Those fuckers up at the assembly stir no one.
Who did you miss?
Gran. Still and always. And Kate from writer's group; we kinda lost touch, which makes me feel such a git.
Who was the best new person you met?
rionaleonhart who is utterly insane in the good way; all the folks at That Community - best bunch of crazed motoring journalist slashers in the world.
Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006:
If shit doesn't happen, you're dead. And that's not good.
Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
I can't think of one single reason why I'd ever settle down
Standing in the one place getting dizzy as the world goes spinning round
Maybe it's my lack of all affection for someone I've never met
Maybe it's my lack of all direction makes it easy to forget...
Don't have to tell me now
It's all right being on my own
Nothing to hold me down
Who knows where I'm gonna go?
There's only one way to decide
I'll just go on and drive.
I'll just keep on going until I find that certain something that is right for me
Taking it all in and learning how to get along in my own company
Spend time away from home and maybe think of all the things I'd like to say
The voice in my own head, it talks a lot of sense anyway.
And if I end up lost and lonely,
I'll remember what they told me;
"Stand up tall and look the whole world in the eye"
At least I had the will to try
And I'm the one who will decide
To head for home or drive.
Laura Kenny - Drive (Yeah, not a bad year!)