2010: the year in review
Reading over this version and last year's* both, it appears I'm holding steady in some regards. We'll see what 2011 brings, especially as a psychic** recently told me to prepare for a Year of Major Changes in all aspects of my life. I'm kind of curious to find out if she was right.
In the meantime...
2010: the year in review
1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?
Looking back at my resolutions for 2010, it turns out that I definitely kept number three. I think I also kept the first two, at least for the most part.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Two co-workers, two friends (together), and two cousins did, for a total of five new children in the world.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Same as last year -- not close to me personally, but at one remove.
5. What countries did you visit?
Again, same as last year -- I didn't travel abroad in 2010.
6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
Third in the "holding steady" theme: a PhD. And a new addition for this year: a romantic partner to share my life with.
7. What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
October 26, 2010. One year and one day after my father was admitted to ICU with heart failure, my grandmother fell and broke her hip. Once again, everyone's okay, but it was once again far too close. I'm half-seriously considering spending that week in 2011 in hiding, just in case.
8. What was your biggest achievement of this year?
Okay. This one is work-related, and I can (finally) admit that I'm really proud of it. (The downside is that it's also the reason I don't have real progress to report on the PhD yet. Oh well - one of my 2011 resolutions is that I'm going to improve my time management skills, for exactly this reason.)
Anyway, the big achievement here is that work I did in 2010 directly and significantly contributed to securing over five million in project funding, for projects that I believe happen to be really worthwhile, and also helped open the door to opportunity over the next few years for literally tens of millions more.
So. Yeah. There's that.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not making significant progress toward completing the PhD. I did finalize the study design and methods, got them approved by my committee chair, and have started now developing the approach-in-practice and working with the underlying theory, but it's not enough; not anywhere near enough, and I am very aware of that.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Yes. The first quarter of 2010 saw a continued increase in migraine severity and frequency, to the point where I frightened not only myself but also other people, including friends, colleagues, and my primary care provider. As a result, in March 2010, based on options I identified from a seriously-focused literature review and in discussion with my doctor, I went on a (different) preventive med and combined that with regular doses of magnesium supplements.
To date, I have not had a severe migraine since. May this trend continue to last.
2010 was also the year of the cancer scare -- also in March, which is how it happened in the first place. A CT scan that I went through for migraine-related diagnostics picked up what was reported to me as "a shadow" in my bone tissue, which could have been a sign of very bad and potentially very deadly things. Fortunately, it was just a scare and nothing more; the shadow turned out to be a benign "hypodense lesion," and a follow-up study six months later revealed that it's now vanished as mysteriously as it came.
I don't know where it went, and I find that I don't really care. Let it stay gone. (But yes, I'm keeping a watch out, just in case.)
11. What was the best thing you bought?
I believe that I'm going to define this one as my new iPad. :) Purchased December 21st, 2010. I'm naming it the Logos, after Niobe's ship, because I like to name portable devices after ships, because the name is fitting, and because Niobe is just that awesome.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
That of various friends, for a variety of reasons.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
2010 was an election year. Need I say more?
14. Where did most of your money go?
Same as last year - house payments and maintenance.
15. What did you get really, really excited about?
A number of the things described above, along with my sister and brother-in-law's first independent film production.
16. What songs will always remind you of 2010?
As I've said before, I am not good at associating songs-by-name with a particular year. So I don't know, actually, but if I had to pick one above all others, I'd say either "Queen Jane Approximately" (version as performed by Dave Rawlings Machine), or "Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace," by The Mountain Goats.
Other songs that were significant to me in 2010 for one reason or another:
i. happier or sadder? Happier. I think.
ii. thinner or fatter? Once again, I weigh (a little) more and less healthily so than I did last year. This has got to change.
iii. richer or poorer? Poorer, financially speaking.
iv. older or wiser? Both. I think. (I hope.)
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Same as last year: finishing what I'd started.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Same as last year: procrastination.
20. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?
Quietly at home.
21. Did you fall in love in 2010?
No.
22. How many one-night stands? What was the best concert you attended?
I like this version, as modified by
agonistes, much better than the original. And I'm going to have to agree with her on the best concert of the year, too: Dave Rawlings Machine at the Boulder Chautauqua.
23. What was your favorite TV program?
Um. What the heck did I watch this year, anyway? I'll go with Supernatural up until and NOT including Season 6, White Collar for a second year, Doctor Who (with the Eleventh Doctor, Amy, and Rory), and newly-discovered program Community.
But if I had to pick just one, it'd be Doctor Who.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No. I still try not to hate people. It's a tenet of my personal belief system.
25. What was the best book you read?
I still dislike this question, because I can never pick just one book. However, that said, I'll give this year's accolade to two series and a new book in a different series, as follows:
The Mountain Goats. Second place: Gillian Welch (both separate from and as part of Dave Rawlings Machine).
27. What did you want and get?
Logos the iPad. A variety of little things.
28. What did you want and not get?
Significant progress toward the PhD.
29. What was your favorite film of this year?
Either Inception or The Karate Kid remake.
I also liked When in Rome, Iron Man 2, Salt, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, and TRON: Legacy.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was one year older than last year. I don't actually remember what I did.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Same as last year: specific significant progress toward the PhD.
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
Business casual / casual elegant. I'll have better terminology for this soon.
33. What kept you sane?
Focusing on one thing at a time when everything together threatened to overwhelm and drown me.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Didn't fancy any of them in particular.
35. What political issue stirred you the most?
Same as last year: health reform.
36. Who did you miss?
Same as last year: distant friends. And new in 2010: distant family.
37. Who was the best new person you met?
Depends on your definition of new, but it was really nice to meet
moofoot in person!
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
The trick really is to keep breathing.
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I'll give you two.
There were a lot of really amazing ones, actually, but I think I'll settle on the feeling of overwhelming relief that swept through me at finding out that no, it wasn't cancer after all.
* For historical comparison:
** Yes, a psychic. No, I didn't intentionally go looking for predictions about my future. Long story short, she happened to be doing readings in a small local shop that I wandered into on a late-night visit for something completely unrelated and one thing led to another. Random chance or something more? Who knows? You be the judge!
This entry was originally posted at http://silveraspen.dreamwidth.org/249869.html and mirrored to LJ. Please comment where you wish! (There are
comments currently posted at Dreamwidth.)
In the meantime...
2010: the year in review
1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?
- Visited San Antonio and explored the Alamo.
- Watched a six-story fireball explode upward into the sky.
- Went camping by myself.
- Played host to swarms of trick-or-treaters knocking at the door of my very own home.
- Gave a presentation at a professional conference.
Looking back at my resolutions for 2010, it turns out that I definitely kept number three. I think I also kept the first two, at least for the most part.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Two co-workers, two friends (together), and two cousins did, for a total of five new children in the world.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Same as last year -- not close to me personally, but at one remove.
5. What countries did you visit?
Again, same as last year -- I didn't travel abroad in 2010.
6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
Third in the "holding steady" theme: a PhD. And a new addition for this year: a romantic partner to share my life with.
7. What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
October 26, 2010. One year and one day after my father was admitted to ICU with heart failure, my grandmother fell and broke her hip. Once again, everyone's okay, but it was once again far too close. I'm half-seriously considering spending that week in 2011 in hiding, just in case.
8. What was your biggest achievement of this year?
Okay. This one is work-related, and I can (finally) admit that I'm really proud of it. (The downside is that it's also the reason I don't have real progress to report on the PhD yet. Oh well - one of my 2011 resolutions is that I'm going to improve my time management skills, for exactly this reason.)
Anyway, the big achievement here is that work I did in 2010 directly and significantly contributed to securing over five million in project funding, for projects that I believe happen to be really worthwhile, and also helped open the door to opportunity over the next few years for literally tens of millions more.
So. Yeah. There's that.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not making significant progress toward completing the PhD. I did finalize the study design and methods, got them approved by my committee chair, and have started now developing the approach-in-practice and working with the underlying theory, but it's not enough; not anywhere near enough, and I am very aware of that.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Yes. The first quarter of 2010 saw a continued increase in migraine severity and frequency, to the point where I frightened not only myself but also other people, including friends, colleagues, and my primary care provider. As a result, in March 2010, based on options I identified from a seriously-focused literature review and in discussion with my doctor, I went on a (different) preventive med and combined that with regular doses of magnesium supplements.
To date, I have not had a severe migraine since. May this trend continue to last.
2010 was also the year of the cancer scare -- also in March, which is how it happened in the first place. A CT scan that I went through for migraine-related diagnostics picked up what was reported to me as "a shadow" in my bone tissue, which could have been a sign of very bad and potentially very deadly things. Fortunately, it was just a scare and nothing more; the shadow turned out to be a benign "hypodense lesion," and a follow-up study six months later revealed that it's now vanished as mysteriously as it came.
I don't know where it went, and I find that I don't really care. Let it stay gone. (But yes, I'm keeping a watch out, just in case.)
11. What was the best thing you bought?
I believe that I'm going to define this one as my new iPad. :) Purchased December 21st, 2010. I'm naming it the Logos, after Niobe's ship, because I like to name portable devices after ships, because the name is fitting, and because Niobe is just that awesome.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
That of various friends, for a variety of reasons.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
2010 was an election year. Need I say more?
14. Where did most of your money go?
Same as last year - house payments and maintenance.
15. What did you get really, really excited about?
A number of the things described above, along with my sister and brother-in-law's first independent film production.
16. What songs will always remind you of 2010?
As I've said before, I am not good at associating songs-by-name with a particular year. So I don't know, actually, but if I had to pick one above all others, I'd say either "Queen Jane Approximately" (version as performed by Dave Rawlings Machine), or "Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace," by The Mountain Goats.
Other songs that were significant to me in 2010 for one reason or another:
- "Woman King," by Iron & Wine
- "The Trapeze Swinger," by Iron & Wine
- "If I Am," by Nine Days
- "The Wondersmith and his Sons," by Astronautalis
- "Little Lion Man," by Mumford & Sons
- "Love the Way you Lie," by Eminem and Rihanna
- "The Trick is to Keep Breathing," by Garbage
- Almost everything from King of Cards, by Tom McRae
- The House Rules, by Christian Kane.
i. happier or sadder? Happier. I think.
ii. thinner or fatter? Once again, I weigh (a little) more and less healthily so than I did last year. This has got to change.
iii. richer or poorer? Poorer, financially speaking.
iv. older or wiser? Both. I think. (I hope.)
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Same as last year: finishing what I'd started.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Same as last year: procrastination.
20. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?
Quietly at home.
21. Did you fall in love in 2010?
No.
22. How many one-night stands? What was the best concert you attended?
I like this version, as modified by
agonistes, much better than the original. And I'm going to have to agree with her on the best concert of the year, too: Dave Rawlings Machine at the Boulder Chautauqua.
23. What was your favorite TV program?
Um. What the heck did I watch this year, anyway? I'll go with Supernatural up until and NOT including Season 6, White Collar for a second year, Doctor Who (with the Eleventh Doctor, Amy, and Rory), and newly-discovered program Community.
But if I had to pick just one, it'd be Doctor Who.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No. I still try not to hate people. It's a tenet of my personal belief system.
25. What was the best book you read?
I still dislike this question, because I can never pick just one book. However, that said, I'll give this year's accolade to two series and a new book in a different series, as follows:
- The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, by Stieg Larsson
- Towers of Midnight, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
The Mountain Goats. Second place: Gillian Welch (both separate from and as part of Dave Rawlings Machine).
27. What did you want and get?
Logos the iPad. A variety of little things.
28. What did you want and not get?
Significant progress toward the PhD.
29. What was your favorite film of this year?
Either Inception or The Karate Kid remake.
I also liked When in Rome, Iron Man 2, Salt, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, and TRON: Legacy.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was one year older than last year. I don't actually remember what I did.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Same as last year: specific significant progress toward the PhD.
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
Business casual / casual elegant. I'll have better terminology for this soon.
33. What kept you sane?
Focusing on one thing at a time when everything together threatened to overwhelm and drown me.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Didn't fancy any of them in particular.
35. What political issue stirred you the most?
Same as last year: health reform.
36. Who did you miss?
Same as last year: distant friends. And new in 2010: distant family.
37. Who was the best new person you met?
Depends on your definition of new, but it was really nice to meet
moofoot in person!
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
The trick really is to keep breathing.
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I'll give you two.
- "The trick is to keep breathing," from the song of the same title (Garbage)
- "Drive 'til the rain stops - keep driving," from Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace (The Mountain Goats)
There were a lot of really amazing ones, actually, but I think I'll settle on the feeling of overwhelming relief that swept through me at finding out that no, it wasn't cancer after all.
* For historical comparison:
** Yes, a psychic. No, I didn't intentionally go looking for predictions about my future. Long story short, she happened to be doing readings in a small local shop that I wandered into on a late-night visit for something completely unrelated and one thing led to another. Random chance or something more? Who knows? You be the judge!
This entry was originally posted at http://silveraspen.dreamwidth.org/249869.html and mirrored to LJ. Please comment where you wish! (There are
comments currently posted at Dreamwidth.)