2008 Meme
1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
A one-woman show, and I went to Africa.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I kept them well enough. I'm not making any specific ones this year. I'm going to keep working on the same stuff related to exercise, sugar intake, work/career discipline, etc, but there's not anything that's going to change just because Jan 1 rolls around.
3. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?
I have been invited to a ridiculous amount of New Year's parties. I'm going to write down directions for all of them and then play it by ear. Once I start drinking, of course, I'll be stuck, so I probably won't make it to more than two or three of the parties.
3b. Hey, I just realized the "Did anyone close to you give birth" is missing from the version I stole from gunn so I'm adding it back in. Amelia was born! I love Amelia!
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.
5. What countries did you visit?
England, Kenya, Ethiopia. Plus I went to San Francisco about a billion times. And NYC, DC, Philly and Chicago.
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Hmm... how about a relationship that isn't long distance and doesn't inspire the phrase, "You sure know how to pick 'em, Katherine." Oh, and lots of grant money.
7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Nothing comes to mind.
8. What was your biggest achievement(s) of the year?
As awesome of an achievement as my one-woman show was, I'd say the even bigger thing was that I started to make enough money at freelancing to actually, you know, make a living, without having to moonlight. And I set up regular gigs. And got a column with a drawing of me on it. That was cool.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Hmm... I'd say I wasn't aggressive enough at pitching stories or working on my own creative projects... my procrastination has become a much bigger problem than it ever was in the past...
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing serious... unless depression counts. That's always fun.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Plane tickets. And my MAC!!!! Once you go Mac, you never go back...
12. Where did most of your money go?
Food and travel. (With coffee shop drinks being a significant contributor to the "food" category.)
13. What song will always remind you of 2008?
Probably anything by Michael Franti. My Kenya friends turned me onto his stuff, so he makes me think of Kenya.
14. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Creative writing, pitching stories. Fantastic sex.
15. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Moping.
16. What was your favorite TV program?
Does Dr. Horrible count as a TV program? I also got into Buffy. I'd never seen a single episode until this year. But I finally started borrowing the DVDs from BWJ, and now I'm through Season 5.
17. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Maybe. I'm not good at hating people. But I became close to someone who turned out to be manipulative and cruel, and while I don't want to carry the poison of active hatred for this person, I try to stay at least angry enough to remember to keep him out of my life.
18. What was the best book you read?
The Wisdom of Whores. Or the newest Harry Potter.
19. What was your greatest musical discovery?
KT Tunstall
20. What was your favorite film of this year?
Best one I saw was probably "It Happened One Night." 1934. See it. Seriously.
Best new movie, if it counts as a movie -- Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog.
21. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I seriously don't remember what I did on my birthday last year... did I have a party? Does anyone else remember? I turned 29. Yeah, that's right, I'll be thirty in less than a month. I'm not scared. Bring it.
22. What kept you sane?
Friends. Music. Deadlines.
23. Who did you miss?
I always miss everyone. That's the problem with never standing still...
24. Who was the best new person you met?
That's not a fair question! I met a lot of really awesome people, and some of them read this, and I'm not going to pick one over the others. Not even secretly in my own head. But the ones who have most impacted my life and who seem likely to most impact my life in the future... I'd say Kennedy, Erin and Jesse. None of whom read this. Ha!
Actually, Paul had the biggest impact on my life -- I met Erin and Jesse because of him, and the Minnesota Fringe slot I got was thanks to him dropping out. But I'm not quite sure I'd describe him as a "best" anything...
25. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
God... I've got nothing. But I will say that I'm finishing off the year thinking a lot about the fact that really good and positive results often come unexpectedly out of the most hellishly difficult and painful things.
Wait, I know. It's not really a lesson, but it has applied to pretty much everything I haven't liked about my life this year: "There are worse problems to have."
A one-woman show, and I went to Africa.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I kept them well enough. I'm not making any specific ones this year. I'm going to keep working on the same stuff related to exercise, sugar intake, work/career discipline, etc, but there's not anything that's going to change just because Jan 1 rolls around.
3. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?
I have been invited to a ridiculous amount of New Year's parties. I'm going to write down directions for all of them and then play it by ear. Once I start drinking, of course, I'll be stuck, so I probably won't make it to more than two or three of the parties.
3b. Hey, I just realized the "Did anyone close to you give birth" is missing from the version I stole from gunn so I'm adding it back in. Amelia was born! I love Amelia!
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.
5. What countries did you visit?
England, Kenya, Ethiopia. Plus I went to San Francisco about a billion times. And NYC, DC, Philly and Chicago.
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Hmm... how about a relationship that isn't long distance and doesn't inspire the phrase, "You sure know how to pick 'em, Katherine." Oh, and lots of grant money.
7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Nothing comes to mind.
8. What was your biggest achievement(s) of the year?
As awesome of an achievement as my one-woman show was, I'd say the even bigger thing was that I started to make enough money at freelancing to actually, you know, make a living, without having to moonlight. And I set up regular gigs. And got a column with a drawing of me on it. That was cool.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Hmm... I'd say I wasn't aggressive enough at pitching stories or working on my own creative projects... my procrastination has become a much bigger problem than it ever was in the past...
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing serious... unless depression counts. That's always fun.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Plane tickets. And my MAC!!!! Once you go Mac, you never go back...
12. Where did most of your money go?
Food and travel. (With coffee shop drinks being a significant contributor to the "food" category.)
13. What song will always remind you of 2008?
Probably anything by Michael Franti. My Kenya friends turned me onto his stuff, so he makes me think of Kenya.
14. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Creative writing, pitching stories. Fantastic sex.
15. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Moping.
16. What was your favorite TV program?
Does Dr. Horrible count as a TV program? I also got into Buffy. I'd never seen a single episode until this year. But I finally started borrowing the DVDs from BWJ, and now I'm through Season 5.
17. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Maybe. I'm not good at hating people. But I became close to someone who turned out to be manipulative and cruel, and while I don't want to carry the poison of active hatred for this person, I try to stay at least angry enough to remember to keep him out of my life.
18. What was the best book you read?
The Wisdom of Whores. Or the newest Harry Potter.
19. What was your greatest musical discovery?
KT Tunstall
20. What was your favorite film of this year?
Best one I saw was probably "It Happened One Night." 1934. See it. Seriously.
Best new movie, if it counts as a movie -- Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog.
21. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I seriously don't remember what I did on my birthday last year... did I have a party? Does anyone else remember? I turned 29. Yeah, that's right, I'll be thirty in less than a month. I'm not scared. Bring it.
22. What kept you sane?
Friends. Music. Deadlines.
23. Who did you miss?
I always miss everyone. That's the problem with never standing still...
24. Who was the best new person you met?
That's not a fair question! I met a lot of really awesome people, and some of them read this, and I'm not going to pick one over the others. Not even secretly in my own head. But the ones who have most impacted my life and who seem likely to most impact my life in the future... I'd say Kennedy, Erin and Jesse. None of whom read this. Ha!
Actually, Paul had the biggest impact on my life -- I met Erin and Jesse because of him, and the Minnesota Fringe slot I got was thanks to him dropping out. But I'm not quite sure I'd describe him as a "best" anything...
25. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
God... I've got nothing. But I will say that I'm finishing off the year thinking a lot about the fact that really good and positive results often come unexpectedly out of the most hellishly difficult and painful things.
Wait, I know. It's not really a lesson, but it has applied to pretty much everything I haven't liked about my life this year: "There are worse problems to have."