2008 in review!
Okay, first is that 2008 meme that everyone has done, and then there's a writing specific meme for 2008:
1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Completed NaNoWriMo and wrote over 200,000 words of fiction! Um, I probably did other things for the first time, but I can't think of any. Oh, here's one! Voted for a winning Presidential candidate!
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't think I made one?
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not that I can think of.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Well, not close close, but anjenue and my Great Uncle Paul (who I only met once)
5. What countries did you visit?
None. I am lame. Not even Canada, this year!
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
More money, the title bump that's been promised to me, and a ladyfriend.
7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
I am so bad with dates. Can I do events? Shore Leave, mostly for the lovely times with krabapple and inocciduous. My clearest memories from that trip? Reading cutter!John fic out loud in the hotel room, our last dinner, and hanging out in the art room with Kate RIGHT NEXT TO ME and having a heart attack because krabapple and inocciduous did not even see her yet.
The election, obviously, and spending it with saidlian_nataly and Joe. Caitlin was my Obama buddy from the start, so it felt good to end the election with her as well.
Finishing NaNo! The little grin and dance I did in that Panera when I hit 50k! The write-in with ruecian and quatredeathlady which was seriously one of the best weekends of my year!
Also, meeting Brad Whitford and Mary McCormack after Boeing-Boeing!
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting health insurance? Um, also, finishing NaNo and writing 200k, obviously.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not actually finishing a full draft of my NaNo novel. Also, spending the first FOUR MONTHS OF THE YEAR (that's six months in total) depressed over my former ladyfriend.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
The usual round of sinus infections and colds, made worse by my lack of insurance. Also, I had some bad earaches at the beginning of the summer and my AIDSstroke/leprosy acted up.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Shore Leave ticket? Or, um. Crap, did I buy anything else? My phone was pretty cool. And I bought a lot of books.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
The American people's
[/cheesy answer]
Also, my brother's. Oh, and quatredeathlady and ruecian's, for finishing NaNo with me.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
The Republican Party, people who shop at The Bookstore, no one else who sticks out.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Gas and books, probably. I spend a lot of money on books. I would buy a lot fewer books if I didn't work in the goddamn Bookstore, guys.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Shore Leave and the election and NaNo. (I got incrementally more excited about NaNo as the three of us got closer to finishing XD)
16. What songs will always remind you of 2008?
Hm. Let's see what my top played songs are, according to last.fm:
Oh, this is a good list:
Kate Hewlett - The Way I Am
Ingrid Michaelson - The Chain
The Weepies - Antarctica
Dar Williams - Iowa
The Magnetic Fields - The Book of Love
Newton Faulkner - Uncomfortably Slow
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
I. happier or sadder? Happier!
II. thinner or fatter? Thinner, I think.
III. richer or poorer? Richer, but not by much.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Is it nerdy to say "written?" Even though I did a lot of that? Um, also I wish I spent more time with my friends. Not that I have many. Also, sleeping!
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Being depressed.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
It already happened. I spent it at home with my parents and grandmother.
21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Nope.
22. How many one-night stands?
Zero.
23. Best thing you ate?
Everything. I love food.
24. What was your favourite TV program(s)?
Stargate Atlantis and Pushing Daisies. Oh, and The Daily Show and the Colbert Report. But I didn't watch much else first run. The Office? Oh, and Doctor Who!
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Does Sarah Palin count?
26. What was the best book you read?
UGH HOW CAN I CHOOSE? Was Smitten this year? Oh, or Skulduggery Pleasant or What I Saw and How I Lied or Pretty Monsters... I read constantly, okay?
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I don't know, did I discover anyone this year? Oh! Newton Faulkner!
28. What did you want and get?
Lots of stuff. Health insurance and Presidential Scrabble, just to name a few.
29. What did you want but didn't get?
My promotion/title bump :\
30. What was your favourite film of this year?
I never go to the movies. Iron Man or Quarantine, maybe, but I only saw like, three movies, so.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was twenty-three. I went shopping with quatredeathlady and moonsheen and had dinner at my aunt's house on the day of and went to Dorney Park with them in August to celebrate as well.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
More money and more sleep.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Sweaters and skirts. And jeans. And. Um. I don't know. Clothes?
34. What kept you sane?
Writing, friends, eating food. I like food.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Kate Hewlett, obvs.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
The election in general and gay rights in particular.
37. Who did you miss?
My friends who are far away. krabapple and inocciduous after seeing them in July.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
Emily from work and Jenna ♥
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:
Health insurance is really, really, really good.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
It's a sad and a strange thing,
but it's time and I am changing
Into something good or bad, well that's your guess.
I'm my own sovereign nation,
dedicated to a transformation,
marching on with this target on my chest, oh yes,
and it's alright, it's alright, it's alright.
And the survey about writing in 2008:
I'm not going to link to everything I wrote, at least not tonight. Maybe tomorrow. Anyway, I'll link to particular stories if I mention them by name(ish).
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Way more. It's weird, but it doesn't feel like it! I kept feeling like I was slacking off and not writing enough (which is why I started writingchatthingy in the first place) but at the end... yeah, I wrote a lot.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2008?
I'm pretty predictable. I didn't even bother to do a "GUESS WHAT YULETIDE STORIES ARE MINE!" thing because if you know what fandoms I write in/like, it's glaringly obvious what I wrote. Sam/Radek, maybe. I didn't write much of it, but I totally fell for them during the first preview for "Quarantine."
Oh! I went through that weird bit of writing Danny/Martin Without a Trace fic! That was fun! OH! And the Sam (Seaborn)/Rodney (McKay)! That was... completely unpredictable.
Did you take any writing risks this year? (See above for unexpected pairings, etc.) What did you learn from them?
Not in unexpected pairings or whatever, but I did 14valentines and NaNo and completed both of them. The Sam/Rodney was weird.
I think I learned that I can, you know, write a whole lot under pressure.
Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?
250k by the end of the year! I'd like some of that to be my kids' novel.
My Best Story: The World of Safe People. I think it's one of the best stories I've ever written, period. I feel like I've reached a fic-writing high point with it. I love it so much, I can't even deal with it.
Story Most Underappreciated by the Universe: Nothing is Different (But Everything's Changed), my (pre-S5) Teyla fic. I love that story. No one else did XD
Most fun: Does the John on Tim Gunn's Guide to Style crack count? No? Okay, how about That Time Martin Went Missing? No crack at all?
Okay, I'm going to go with the right of the people to keep and bear arms because it came out super fast and was fun.
Most disappointing: A couple of the 14valentines fics, I won't link to them specifically, but I struggled with them and posted them before I was happy with them and it shows.
Most sexy: I actually wrote like, six pornlets this year. Normally I don't write any at all. I'll go with Morning Briefing which is a CJ/Kate porn battle ficlet.
Story With a Single Sexy Moment: I really like Sam and Will stumbling in the driveway, Sam finally trying to talk, in The World of Safe People. From the ferris wheel until the aftermath of the sex is very sexy to me.
Hardest to Write: The Substance of Things Hoped For was the hardest to actually get on paper. I love that story, flawed as it is, but it was a bitch. The World of Safe People flowed very easily, but I had trouble patching together the things that I had written once they were complete. I had to really sit down and move stuff around on paper for a little while.
Total word count for the year: 202,724 words of original and fan fiction.
Cool :D
1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Completed NaNoWriMo and wrote over 200,000 words of fiction! Um, I probably did other things for the first time, but I can't think of any. Oh, here's one! Voted for a winning Presidential candidate!
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't think I made one?
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not that I can think of.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Well, not close close, but anjenue and my Great Uncle Paul (who I only met once)
5. What countries did you visit?
None. I am lame. Not even Canada, this year!
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
More money, the title bump that's been promised to me, and a ladyfriend.
7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
I am so bad with dates. Can I do events? Shore Leave, mostly for the lovely times with krabapple and inocciduous. My clearest memories from that trip? Reading cutter!John fic out loud in the hotel room, our last dinner, and hanging out in the art room with Kate RIGHT NEXT TO ME and having a heart attack because krabapple and inocciduous did not even see her yet.
The election, obviously, and spending it with saidlian_nataly and Joe. Caitlin was my Obama buddy from the start, so it felt good to end the election with her as well.
Finishing NaNo! The little grin and dance I did in that Panera when I hit 50k! The write-in with ruecian and quatredeathlady which was seriously one of the best weekends of my year!
Also, meeting Brad Whitford and Mary McCormack after Boeing-Boeing!
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting health insurance? Um, also, finishing NaNo and writing 200k, obviously.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not actually finishing a full draft of my NaNo novel. Also, spending the first FOUR MONTHS OF THE YEAR (that's six months in total) depressed over my former ladyfriend.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
The usual round of sinus infections and colds, made worse by my lack of insurance. Also, I had some bad earaches at the beginning of the summer and my AIDSstroke/leprosy acted up.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Shore Leave ticket? Or, um. Crap, did I buy anything else? My phone was pretty cool. And I bought a lot of books.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
The American people's
[/cheesy answer]
Also, my brother's. Oh, and quatredeathlady and ruecian's, for finishing NaNo with me.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
The Republican Party, people who shop at The Bookstore, no one else who sticks out.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Gas and books, probably. I spend a lot of money on books. I would buy a lot fewer books if I didn't work in the goddamn Bookstore, guys.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Shore Leave and the election and NaNo. (I got incrementally more excited about NaNo as the three of us got closer to finishing XD)
16. What songs will always remind you of 2008?
Hm. Let's see what my top played songs are, according to last.fm:
Oh, this is a good list:
Kate Hewlett - The Way I Am
Ingrid Michaelson - The Chain
The Weepies - Antarctica
Dar Williams - Iowa
The Magnetic Fields - The Book of Love
Newton Faulkner - Uncomfortably Slow
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
I. happier or sadder? Happier!
II. thinner or fatter? Thinner, I think.
III. richer or poorer? Richer, but not by much.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Is it nerdy to say "written?" Even though I did a lot of that? Um, also I wish I spent more time with my friends. Not that I have many. Also, sleeping!
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Being depressed.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
It already happened. I spent it at home with my parents and grandmother.
21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Nope.
22. How many one-night stands?
Zero.
23. Best thing you ate?
Everything. I love food.
24. What was your favourite TV program(s)?
Stargate Atlantis and Pushing Daisies. Oh, and The Daily Show and the Colbert Report. But I didn't watch much else first run. The Office? Oh, and Doctor Who!
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Does Sarah Palin count?
26. What was the best book you read?
UGH HOW CAN I CHOOSE? Was Smitten this year? Oh, or Skulduggery Pleasant or What I Saw and How I Lied or Pretty Monsters... I read constantly, okay?
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I don't know, did I discover anyone this year? Oh! Newton Faulkner!
28. What did you want and get?
Lots of stuff. Health insurance and Presidential Scrabble, just to name a few.
29. What did you want but didn't get?
My promotion/title bump :\
30. What was your favourite film of this year?
I never go to the movies. Iron Man or Quarantine, maybe, but I only saw like, three movies, so.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was twenty-three. I went shopping with quatredeathlady and moonsheen and had dinner at my aunt's house on the day of and went to Dorney Park with them in August to celebrate as well.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
More money and more sleep.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Sweaters and skirts. And jeans. And. Um. I don't know. Clothes?
34. What kept you sane?
Writing, friends, eating food. I like food.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Kate Hewlett, obvs.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
The election in general and gay rights in particular.
37. Who did you miss?
My friends who are far away. krabapple and inocciduous after seeing them in July.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
Emily from work and Jenna ♥
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:
Health insurance is really, really, really good.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
It's a sad and a strange thing,
but it's time and I am changing
Into something good or bad, well that's your guess.
I'm my own sovereign nation,
dedicated to a transformation,
marching on with this target on my chest, oh yes,
and it's alright, it's alright, it's alright.
And the survey about writing in 2008:
I'm not going to link to everything I wrote, at least not tonight. Maybe tomorrow. Anyway, I'll link to particular stories if I mention them by name(ish).
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Way more. It's weird, but it doesn't feel like it! I kept feeling like I was slacking off and not writing enough (which is why I started writingchatthingy in the first place) but at the end... yeah, I wrote a lot.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2008?
I'm pretty predictable. I didn't even bother to do a "GUESS WHAT YULETIDE STORIES ARE MINE!" thing because if you know what fandoms I write in/like, it's glaringly obvious what I wrote. Sam/Radek, maybe. I didn't write much of it, but I totally fell for them during the first preview for "Quarantine."
Oh! I went through that weird bit of writing Danny/Martin Without a Trace fic! That was fun! OH! And the Sam (Seaborn)/Rodney (McKay)! That was... completely unpredictable.
Did you take any writing risks this year? (See above for unexpected pairings, etc.) What did you learn from them?
Not in unexpected pairings or whatever, but I did 14valentines and NaNo and completed both of them. The Sam/Rodney was weird.
I think I learned that I can, you know, write a whole lot under pressure.
Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?
250k by the end of the year! I'd like some of that to be my kids' novel.
My Best Story: The World of Safe People. I think it's one of the best stories I've ever written, period. I feel like I've reached a fic-writing high point with it. I love it so much, I can't even deal with it.
Story Most Underappreciated by the Universe: Nothing is Different (But Everything's Changed), my (pre-S5) Teyla fic. I love that story. No one else did XD
Most fun: Does the John on Tim Gunn's Guide to Style crack count? No? Okay, how about That Time Martin Went Missing? No crack at all?
Okay, I'm going to go with the right of the people to keep and bear arms because it came out super fast and was fun.
Most disappointing: A couple of the 14valentines fics, I won't link to them specifically, but I struggled with them and posted them before I was happy with them and it shows.
Most sexy: I actually wrote like, six pornlets this year. Normally I don't write any at all. I'll go with Morning Briefing which is a CJ/Kate porn battle ficlet.
Story With a Single Sexy Moment: I really like Sam and Will stumbling in the driveway, Sam finally trying to talk, in The World of Safe People. From the ferris wheel until the aftermath of the sex is very sexy to me.
Hardest to Write: The Substance of Things Hoped For was the hardest to actually get on paper. I love that story, flawed as it is, but it was a bitch. The World of Safe People flowed very easily, but I had trouble patching together the things that I had written once they were complete. I had to really sit down and move stuff around on paper for a little while.
Total word count for the year: 202,724 words of original and fan fiction.
Cool :D