2010 in review meme
1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before? Went to Melbourne and attended a WorldCon.
2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I think my main resolutions were to keep fit and healthy and to read more books. I maintained my fitness pretty well. I continued to read more books than I had in earlier years, but probably not as many as in 2009. For 2011, I'd like to continue both of those resolutions, get my music writing published (even if just in something like X-Press), write more interesting articles in my blog (more than just album/gig reviews and lists, although those will continue), promote my blog and get an increased audience. What else? Read more non-fiction. I feel like I don't know much about anything these days and want to change that. Also learn more German.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes! A few people :)
4. Did anyone close to you die? Yes, a member of my extended family. I don't *think* there was anyone else, thankfully.
5. What countries did you visit? None, although I went to Melbourne for the first time, which was totally awesome.
6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010? I'm not sure. There are some important people in my life who I feel I didn't get to see and connect with in 2010 as much as I'd have liked. Also some cool newer acquaintances who I'd love to get to know better.
7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory? Early Sept for the trip to Melbourne & WorldCon.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Personally, I was incredibly happy with my Top 100 Albums of the Decade list. It's kind of a silly "achievement", but it took at hell of a lot of effort and I'm really proud of it. Also, I feel like the new blog is shaping up really well.
9. What was your biggest failure? No major failures in 2010, I'm pretty sure. I was disappointed that I didn't read as much or more than in 2009 - there were times when I was going through books at a decent pace, but others where I got through 10 pages in the space of a fortnight. I also had this grand plan to revisit a lot of the maths I learned in Uni before it slipped away from my mind completely, but that plan fell by the wayside pretty quickly.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Nothing significant.
11. What was the best thing you bought? Got a brand new bike for the first time ever (I'd always had my brother's hand-me-down bikes as a child).
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration? Tina, as always. She's a wonderful person to be with and makes my life better in so many ways. In 2010 we hit the six year mark, which was really cool. Six years!
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? I don't think anyone close to me acted terribly, although I was saddened to see a couple of close friends' relationships break down during the year.
14. Where did most of your money go? Savings. The house-deposit fund is growing at a very pleasing rate.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? WorldCon & Melbourne!
16. What song/album will always remind you of 2010? Have One on Me by Joanna Newsom. As a side note, I am so incredibly excited about seeing her live this year.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder? About the same.
Thinner or fatter? Technically every-so-slightly fatter, but we're talking 2kg here so it's not a major concern at this stage.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Reading. Spending time with friends who I didn't see enough of. Oddly enough, playing video games - I have a bunch of cool games and never find time to play them.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? I don't think there was any tremendous time-wasting, but less time randomly sitting around doing nothing in particular is always a plus. It seems like there's so much stuff I want to get done, so procrastination just feels unforgivable, even in relatively small quantities.
20. How will you be spending Christmas? Spent Xmas eve with Tina, my parents and brother. Spent Xmas day having lunch at Utopia with Tina and April. Spent Xmas night with Tina's family. All three were really nice, although the evening with Tina's family was made fairly tense by concerns over the health of a family member.
21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with? Either Tina or my Mum.
22. Did you fall in love in 2010? Stayed in love.
23. How many one-night stands in this last year? 0.
24. What was your favourite TV program? I watched a few really cool shows for the first time - Deadwood, True Blood, Archer, Breaking Bad, Big Bang Theory. Although I'd have to give the #1 spot to the final season of Lost, which might well have become my favourite TV show of all time.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Nope.
26. What was the best book(s) you read? (pretty sure these are all 2010 reads) More than Human by Theodore Sturgeon, The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut, Bright Lights Big City by Jay McInerney, Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link, Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Invincible, Josephine Foster and Big Blood were probably the biggest highlights.
28. What did you want and get? A bike. A trip to Melbourne.
29. What did you want and not get? Basketball championship. We made the semis though.
30. What were your favourite films of this year? How to Train Your Dragon, Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, The Princess and the Frog. Probably some others I've forgotten.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? 29. Had a party. I think there might have been a Utopia visit in there somewhere as well. It was a good birthday. I tend to really enjoy my birthdays and 2010 was no exception.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Seeing more of and connecting with a few friends who I didn't see as much as I'd hoped. Plus superpowers.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010? During most casual outings it was usually jeans and band shirts, with occasional variations. I got to continue rebuilding my wardrobe post-weight-loss, though, and bought quite a few nice new items.
34. What kept you sane? Tina, friends, music. Although keeping sane wasn't much of a struggle, as my year was pretty comfortable.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Probably Scarlett Johansson.
36. What political issue stirred you the most? The federal election that came so very close to ending in disaster.
37. Who did you miss? I feel a bit sad that I only caught up with Tones 3 or 4 times for the entire year. There were other friends I didn't see as much as I would have liked - Matt, Susie, Cam, Sophie, Chris, Pam, Rick, Kandace, etc.
38. Who was the best new person you met? There were some cool folks at WorldCon.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010. Having a free gym at your place of work is incredibly useful.