(no subject)
I can't believe how long it's been since I posted (this is the first time I have ever gone a month, it is kind of depressing me), but there was the end of the semester, and Christmas, and limited internet, and skiing, and meeting my cousin's new baby, and -- anyway, things are fantastic. Mostly I am reading all of Yuletide. I swear to God this is the year I get through my tabs before reveals, but it's already stupidly late and reveals are tomorrow so. We'll see.
For now, I just wanted to pound out the traditional year in review meme and to say HELLO BLOG I HAVE NOT ABANDONED YOU.
1. What did you do in 2013 that you’d never done before?
Um...utterly and completely failed at something massive? Almost bought a new car but then was too busy so actually that will be a new thing in 2014? LOOK I DID LOTS OF GOOD THINGS. Just not NEW good things.
2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Probably I have a Google Doc about them, but honestly I don't know that I even want to check.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
YES. For the first time EVER I can say YES to this question. There is a BABY in my family. BABIES. I got to hold a teeny tiny newborn for the first time in eighteen years and he has silly floppy hair and is so squirmy and perfect and he was so very nearly born on my birthday. (It was my birthday in Boston...but not yet in Colorado, where my cousin lives.)
4. Did anyone close to you die?
My grandfather died in April, about a year after my dad's mother died. His wife and my other grandmother's fiance both had incredibly, incredibly close calls, but miraculously pulled through, and I am incredibly grateful.
5. What countries did you visit?
I went back to England to finish up work on my Master's over the summer, but I'm kind of drawing a veil over the whole affair.
6. What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?
Even the tiniest bit of an exercise regime. The new car I keep not having time to acquire (I have a name picked out and everything).
7. What date from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
September 7th was kind of a low point, but the entire week+ of October 22 through 31 was perfect in every possible way.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Even if I screwed up a lot along the way, and even if I'm not proud of how things ended, I did earn a Postgraduate Degree with Distinction and I worked my ass off doing so. I also started a second Master's program (the day I moved back from England) and did very well in my first semester.
9. What was your biggest failure?
See: biggest achievement #1.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Like, two colds. Healthiest year ever, yay.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
I bought some really cool Fluevog shoes that haven't gotten much use yet -- I can't wait for sprrrrring.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
"I'm so, so proud of my sister for all of the work she has done this year in confronting her mental health problems. I'm proud of my aunt and uncle for taking my cousin in when her father died and her step-mother and sisters couldn't provide the care she needed. I'm proud of my cousin April for how strong she has been since Stephen died. I'm proud of my parents for the work they've done on their marriage and themselves." <- I wrote all of that and it is all still true. I am also proud of my brother for being an incredible father to his girlfriend's son.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Once in awhile, like, everyone I am related to, especially my brother, but not in a serious way. In, like, a rueful way. (Mostly my brother because he is impossible to be mad at to his face so the frustration comes out later when you realize you've just been Jedi mind tricked again into thinking his life choices are 100% understandable. Oh, little brothers.)
14. Where did most of your money go?
August in England. Also, as always, Christmas presents.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
I got into grad school! I got to go to KisCon which was FANTASTIC. I got to see Mark Rylance and Stephen Fry in Twelfth Night and then MEET THEM. I got an iPad which frankly I am kind of medium excited about (it was mostly a "I really need this for work and school thing") but am becoming more and more excited about.
16. What song will always remind you of 2013?
I listened to "Recovery" by Frank Turner and "Lucy at the Gym" by Jill Sobule a ton, but I wouldn't say they were, like, theme songs. "Stay Useless" and "When I Write My Master's Thesis" remind me of part of the year.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder?
Much happier. So much happier.
ii. thinner or fatter?
Possibly a little thinner, but much fatter than I've been in the past still so. Eh.
iii. richer or poorer?
Richer.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Biking. Telephoning long distance friends and family members. Pub quizzes.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Watching endless hours of Criminal Minds to avoid my utter terror surrounding my dissertation.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Spent it with the family, as per uzh.
21. How will you be spending New Year’s Eve?
I'm back in Wyoming! I will probably have dinner with a bunch of family friends and then be basically the only person to make it to midnight.
22. Did you fall in love in 2013?
I think I have, like... a quarter of a crush on someone? Which is a lot more than I've had in long time, so that's kind of nice. But, hahahahaha, no, I did not fall in love.
23. How many one-night stands?
Zippo.
24. What was your favourite TV program?
It was Person of Interest, but I'm still mad at it, so Elementary. Also, for one brief shining moment, I obsessively watched Criminal Minds>
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No.
26. What was the best book you read?
I finished up the Vorkosigan Saga and loved all of those, especially Komarr. For YA and children's, the Montmaray diaries by Michelle Cooper, Seraphina by Rachel Hartman (the Morris medalist this year), Drama by Raina Telgemeier (an adorable graphic novel), Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan (second in the Lynburn Legacy series), and Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine. And I haven't been able to shut up about How Children Succeed since last January, so I guess it was a pretty big hit too.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Hmm...I got more into Fiona Apple, thanks to The Hairpin's Lilith Fair series. And I really like the Avett Brothers. My real greatest musical discovery was getting into WUMB and WERS for my morning commute.
28. What did you want and get?
Into grad school! And that iPad. Ooooooh and a bunch of really nice Folio Society stuff which I am so thrilled about. ...my brain is still very on Christmas.
29.What did you want and not get?
A Master's. I came pretty close.
30. What was your favourite film that you saw for the first time this year?
I thought every major franchise movie I saw -- Iron Man 3, Thor 2, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and Catching Fire -- was much better than its predecessor, and Iron Man 3 was a particular favorite. 12 Years a Slave was gorgeous and painful. I may have enjoyed American Hustle most, though.
My favorite new-to-me older film was hands down Say Anything....
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 25, and I had work and class until 9 PM, but I did get to go see Point Break at the Brattle with my family and a few friends after and I had ice cream and beer and all in all it was pretty great.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I don't even know, man.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?
Lazy grad student, part 2.
34. What kept you sane?
Being home.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Hm. Lucy Liu, maybe? Probably someone I am tragically forgetting.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
It is 1:30 in the morning; I just can't.
37. Who did you miss?
My far-away friends. My extended family, since I did not get to see them over the summer. All the people I lost last year and this.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
I made a cool grad school friend! Yay!
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013.
I learned some important things about guilt and disappointment and kind of just moving on.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Off the top of my head, something from "Almost There" from The Princess and the Frog.
For now, I just wanted to pound out the traditional year in review meme and to say HELLO BLOG I HAVE NOT ABANDONED YOU.
1. What did you do in 2013 that you’d never done before?
Um...utterly and completely failed at something massive? Almost bought a new car but then was too busy so actually that will be a new thing in 2014? LOOK I DID LOTS OF GOOD THINGS. Just not NEW good things.
2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Probably I have a Google Doc about them, but honestly I don't know that I even want to check.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
YES. For the first time EVER I can say YES to this question. There is a BABY in my family. BABIES. I got to hold a teeny tiny newborn for the first time in eighteen years and he has silly floppy hair and is so squirmy and perfect and he was so very nearly born on my birthday. (It was my birthday in Boston...but not yet in Colorado, where my cousin lives.)
4. Did anyone close to you die?
My grandfather died in April, about a year after my dad's mother died. His wife and my other grandmother's fiance both had incredibly, incredibly close calls, but miraculously pulled through, and I am incredibly grateful.
5. What countries did you visit?
I went back to England to finish up work on my Master's over the summer, but I'm kind of drawing a veil over the whole affair.
6. What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?
Even the tiniest bit of an exercise regime. The new car I keep not having time to acquire (I have a name picked out and everything).
7. What date from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
September 7th was kind of a low point, but the entire week+ of October 22 through 31 was perfect in every possible way.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Even if I screwed up a lot along the way, and even if I'm not proud of how things ended, I did earn a Postgraduate Degree with Distinction and I worked my ass off doing so. I also started a second Master's program (the day I moved back from England) and did very well in my first semester.
9. What was your biggest failure?
See: biggest achievement #1.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Like, two colds. Healthiest year ever, yay.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
I bought some really cool Fluevog shoes that haven't gotten much use yet -- I can't wait for sprrrrring.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
"I'm so, so proud of my sister for all of the work she has done this year in confronting her mental health problems. I'm proud of my aunt and uncle for taking my cousin in when her father died and her step-mother and sisters couldn't provide the care she needed. I'm proud of my cousin April for how strong she has been since Stephen died. I'm proud of my parents for the work they've done on their marriage and themselves." <- I wrote all of that and it is all still true. I am also proud of my brother for being an incredible father to his girlfriend's son.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Once in awhile, like, everyone I am related to, especially my brother, but not in a serious way. In, like, a rueful way. (Mostly my brother because he is impossible to be mad at to his face so the frustration comes out later when you realize you've just been Jedi mind tricked again into thinking his life choices are 100% understandable. Oh, little brothers.)
14. Where did most of your money go?
August in England. Also, as always, Christmas presents.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
I got into grad school! I got to go to KisCon which was FANTASTIC. I got to see Mark Rylance and Stephen Fry in Twelfth Night and then MEET THEM. I got an iPad which frankly I am kind of medium excited about (it was mostly a "I really need this for work and school thing") but am becoming more and more excited about.
16. What song will always remind you of 2013?
I listened to "Recovery" by Frank Turner and "Lucy at the Gym" by Jill Sobule a ton, but I wouldn't say they were, like, theme songs. "Stay Useless" and "When I Write My Master's Thesis" remind me of part of the year.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder?
Much happier. So much happier.
ii. thinner or fatter?
Possibly a little thinner, but much fatter than I've been in the past still so. Eh.
iii. richer or poorer?
Richer.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Biking. Telephoning long distance friends and family members. Pub quizzes.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Watching endless hours of Criminal Minds to avoid my utter terror surrounding my dissertation.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Spent it with the family, as per uzh.
21. How will you be spending New Year’s Eve?
I'm back in Wyoming! I will probably have dinner with a bunch of family friends and then be basically the only person to make it to midnight.
22. Did you fall in love in 2013?
I think I have, like... a quarter of a crush on someone? Which is a lot more than I've had in long time, so that's kind of nice. But, hahahahaha, no, I did not fall in love.
23. How many one-night stands?
Zippo.
24. What was your favourite TV program?
It was Person of Interest, but I'm still mad at it, so Elementary. Also, for one brief shining moment, I obsessively watched Criminal Minds>
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No.
26. What was the best book you read?
I finished up the Vorkosigan Saga and loved all of those, especially Komarr. For YA and children's, the Montmaray diaries by Michelle Cooper, Seraphina by Rachel Hartman (the Morris medalist this year), Drama by Raina Telgemeier (an adorable graphic novel), Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan (second in the Lynburn Legacy series), and Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine. And I haven't been able to shut up about How Children Succeed since last January, so I guess it was a pretty big hit too.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Hmm...I got more into Fiona Apple, thanks to The Hairpin's Lilith Fair series. And I really like the Avett Brothers. My real greatest musical discovery was getting into WUMB and WERS for my morning commute.
28. What did you want and get?
Into grad school! And that iPad. Ooooooh and a bunch of really nice Folio Society stuff which I am so thrilled about. ...my brain is still very on Christmas.
29.What did you want and not get?
A Master's. I came pretty close.
30. What was your favourite film that you saw for the first time this year?
I thought every major franchise movie I saw -- Iron Man 3, Thor 2, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and Catching Fire -- was much better than its predecessor, and Iron Man 3 was a particular favorite. 12 Years a Slave was gorgeous and painful. I may have enjoyed American Hustle most, though.
My favorite new-to-me older film was hands down Say Anything....
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 25, and I had work and class until 9 PM, but I did get to go see Point Break at the Brattle with my family and a few friends after and I had ice cream and beer and all in all it was pretty great.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I don't even know, man.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?
Lazy grad student, part 2.
34. What kept you sane?
Being home.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Hm. Lucy Liu, maybe? Probably someone I am tragically forgetting.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
It is 1:30 in the morning; I just can't.
37. Who did you miss?
My far-away friends. My extended family, since I did not get to see them over the summer. All the people I lost last year and this.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
I made a cool grad school friend! Yay!
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013.
I learned some important things about guilt and disappointment and kind of just moving on.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Off the top of my head, something from "Almost There" from The Princess and the Frog.