C'est Pas Tous Les Jours...
1. What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before?
This'll be a doozie.
-lived for free for roughly a month in Athens, between the houses of 2 dear friends (B & D)
-switched teams and became a full-fledged Mac user and supporter
-ended a relationship in order to start a new one (with Paris)
-had classes in which i was one of the only Americans
-mastered the art of Parisian Metro
-studied an entire semester abroad
-tutored a french girl in english
-danced in a club until sunrise
-had many a drink/meal/promenade/dance with people I had only met the day of
-obtained my own credit card (yeah, won't do that again)
-paid full fare for a flight (granted, it was a $120 flight from Paris to Madrid on Podunk Air)
-went to Strasbourg, Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, and Morocco (and thus Africa!)
-had a 7-month relationship in which the common language was not english
-slept (illegally!) in a "twin and a half" hotel bed with 3 scantily clad girls (relax, they were just m'girls, and it was stuffy in there)
-learned how to prepare a hookah (and eventually forgot...)
-had my wallet stolen
-went to the top of the Eiffel Tower (enfin!)
-learned the rules of and played soccer, watched (and actually got really into) the World Cup (soccer, american fools)
-shared a hotel with a boy
-Saw the following bands/musicians (several of which I'd wanted to see for years now): The Earlies, Yoko Ono/Sean Lennon, Broken Social Scene, Tahiti 80, Belle and Sebastian, Deerhoof, Snowden, Russian Spy Camera
-hiked a mountain with friends
-obtained a fully-functioning car (knock on wood, kel)
-had to pay rent, cable, etc
-went as far north in the United States as i've ever been (Providence, Rhode Island)
-saw an opera at the Metropolitan Opera in NY-C
-wrote for a (small)magazine
-began writing a play
-was confronted with, and dealt with, the news of my mother's breast cancer (and got through it with her)
-i'll be singing at a wedding in a few days
2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
- I probably just resolved to like, be awesome in Paris, so yes, i did keep my resolution. This year, I'd like to resolve to be more conservative with time and money, and to make more of an effort to help the planet (i.e. keeping the electric and water usage to a minimum, recycling everything recyclable - being a real recycleman, basically). I'd like to try to be more patient with my family, more giving. More giving to the community, too. I want to eat more healthily and exercise more frequently not just to get in shape this year, but to prevent cancer and other shit. On a more selfish plane, I'd also like to read more, write more, paint more, sing more, act more, all while making the 4.0 semester mark. Wish me luck.
3. Where will you be to ring in New Year's 2006?
- Nashville TOPS. I'll be there with 193409987 of my best friends.
4. Did anyone close to you give birth? - my cousin Katy, although we're not THAT close
- Get married? - my Aunt Martha, who happens to be on my top 10 favorite people list
- Die? - No
5. What places did you visit?
- Let me count the ways...all over France; all over Spain; the towns of Tangier and Marrakech, Morocco; Sanremo, Italy; Nashville, TN (it'll be 3 times by the end of the year); West Palm Beach, FL; Orlando, FL; Ellijay, GA; Social Circle, GA; Providence, RI; New York, NY; Jasper, GA
6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
- ABSOLUTE will power. I mean absolute. I'm gettin' there. At least I had more of it this year than in 2005.
7. What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
- Happy: Almost all of my most 'important' happy memorable moments were in Paris, and it's unfair to pick only one, but I have to admit the one that immediately comes to mind is the evening of May 13, in which some of my best friends and I drank wine from the bottle and ate cheese on the steps of the Sacré Coeur, listening to the music and the cheerful gallic banter of tons of other young folks just like us, watching the sun set over Paris and having not a trouble in the world, because we were basically on top of it.
- Not so happy: My parents showing up out of the blue at my house in Athens that Wednesday afternoon in November to tell me that Mom had cancer. I had a really bad feeling as soon as I saw them.
*Dancing on a giant fan, then being removed from said fan by security guards, at a club in New York City with Kendra and Katie G was pretty unforgettable, too.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
- taking a french woman by surprise upon informing her that i was not french myself
9. What was your biggest failure?
- prolonging a long-distance relationship that i knew i didn't really want to prolong
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
- NO, at least nothing i can remember, and any of you who know me well know that this is a HUGE DEAL for me.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
- Probably the white white white leather MJ-esque Mary Janes I bought myself as a souvenir my last day in Paris. My Moroccan mirror and table are very near and dear, too.
12. Best thing you made?
- I just made my mom a découpage/paint creation for Christmas. It's pretty rad I guess. Now I just want to make more, more, more.
13. Whose behavior merited celebration?
- My Mom's. This is a weird question. Weird but legit.
14. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
- There couldn't be two better adjectives to describe it, actually: my boyfriend's behavior made me appalled and depressed. Needless to say, he is no longer my boyfriend.
15. Where did most of your money go?
- French food, French wine, travel, magazines, credit card payments, rent.
16. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
- I mean, Paris in general. Visits from good friends while in Paris. Broken Social Scene. Fall Break in Providence and New York. I'm pretty excited about New Year's right now.
17. What songs will always remind you of 2006?
- Oh God, here goes...I'll try to cut it off at 20...
- Jacno - Rectangle
- Anouar Brahem - Le Pas du Chat Noir
- The Soft Boys - Kingdom of Love
- Justin Timberlake - My Love
- Ludacris ft. Pharrell - Money Maker
- Sean Paul (I know) - Temperature
- New Order - Age of Consent
- John Lennon - Isolation
- Peter, Bjorn and John - Young Folks
- Gotan Project - Celos
- Phoenix - Rally
- Françoise Hardy - Meme Sous la Pluie
- Tim Buckley - Once I Was
- Sparks - Beat the Clock
- Ruth - Roman Photo
- Jacques Dutronc - Les Cactus
- Serge Gainsbourg - La Chanson de Prévert
- Broken Social Scene - Superconnected
- Fela Kuti - Alu Jon Jonki Jon
- Califone - Sunday Noises
18. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? - I guess sadder, but only because I'm not going to Paris in a month like I would be this time last year. I'm happy for reasons other than Paris, of course. If that is at all fathomable.
ii. thinner or fatter? - Un peu plus mince
19. What do you wish you'd done more of?
- Anything there is to do in Paris that I didn't do (or just didn't do enough of), I wish I'd done, instead of spending any time in my dorm room looking up things to do in Paris on the internet. Also, keeping up with my funds. This was my worst year ever, financially. I didn't necessarily buy more frivolities than usual, in fact I think I bought less, certainly less records and certainly less clothing; I just didn't pay attention to anything I was buying at all - food, outings, here-and-theres. Plus, funds were lower as it is. Try explaining that to my mother to justify my 5th overdraw of the year, though.
20. What do you wish you'd done less of?
- Sleeping late and missing half the day.
21. How did you celebrate Christmas?
-Same as it ever was, with the family, although my dad was unfortunately workin' hard for the money:( Here is what my family does on Christmas every single year:
Christmas Eve we all go to either a 5 or the 6 o'clock Church service (we didn't this year), then to an annual Christmas Eve party in Marietta, with the Paris family and their closest friends (of which we are some). This year was the NINETEENTH year my mom, grandma and I have attended, the 16th for my dad, and the 15th for my sister. It was a delight as usual, especially considering that since we don't live in Marietta anymore, we only see most of these people once per year, at the Christmas Eve party. However, the presence of one drunken "Unkle Wonderful" put me and my sister ill-at-ease, as well as the addition of new party guests - there were a lot of differences this year. But change is good, I think. After the party we always drive home through downtown Roswell and cruise up Church street to listen to the 11 or 12 o'clock Church bells. ONE year it was flurrying when we did this. This year it was drizzling and warm. Oh well. Anyway, once we get home, we all go about our business preparing for the next morning, but we ALWAYS turn on NBC for its annual broadcast of Christmas Mass in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. I've always loved it particularly because there are readings in various languages interspersed throughout the service, and listening to the Pope read the Italian scripture is a real treat. The boys' choir is beautiful. The children from around the world that get to deliver gifts to the Pope (and then receive his blessing) are so adorable and lucky and they don't even know it and that is so great. Anyway. After or during that I usually do a bit of last-minute wrapping, which is therapeutic in a way, even though I am officially the worst wrapper of all time. But the best RAPPER of all time, yo.
X-mas morning we get up earlyish - in the past this meant 6 AM thanks to my sister and I's dreams of sugarplums pumping us up to the point of waking up around 4:30 or 5 AM - nowadays it means more like 8-9 AM thanks to my sister and I's staying up too late doing last-minute wrapping. Again, this year was different, as it was the first year in which Santa didn't leave his "big presents" unwrapped for us next to the tree for us to look upon as we come down the stairs, and it was also the first year we did presents in the basement. While we're doing presents my sister always tears through them like a bull in a china shop and I pick at mine with the speed of a sloth. I like to savor. My mom periodically leaves and goes into the kitchen to make us Cinnamon Buns, bacon, orange slices and orange juice (oranges are DELICIOUS this time of year), and some Christmases we have chocolate covered pecans and coffee cake or strudel. We play Christmas music, of course, throughout the presents. The stockings are always last (though I seem to recall that for a period of my life early on, stockings were first), and mom ALWAYS puts some sort of plastic toy, a troll or a gumby doll (I got both this year!) or silly putty or a slinky or jacks, even now that Cailin and I are too old for such things, in the stocking, as well as a lot of candy, always something marshmallow, without fail; usually some form of mints, Altoids or Mentos or those specialty kinds of mints that they sell at Target for like 5 damn dollars a tin; several perfume samples that she scams out of the ladies at the makeup counters she visits throughout the year; usually some sample makeup items from bonuses she's gotten from said makeup ladies; usually a gift card of $20 to a random store (usually TJ Maxx for me); and if there is any room left in the stocking after all that she throws in other knick knacks that we don't need but are always tickled to receive every year in our stockings.
Once everything's unwrapped, my grandmother usually insists on cleaning up all the wrapping paper, while the rest of us usually insist on leaving it out to clean up later so we can just take naps. I usually just sleep on the couch and it is the most wonderful repose of the year. Seriously. It's the one day of the year where I don't feel as though taking a nap, or any activity/inactivity, is lazy or indulgent or kind of a waste of time. It's beautiful and the tree is lit and the Christmas music is still playing or Christmas Story is on and people are coming over or calling to say Merry Christmas but I just sleep through it and yet somehow notice their presence. Once I wake up from my nap the wrapping paper is usually gone. And usually by that time it's time for lunch, which is a lovely well-rounded meal of roast beef and horseradish sauce, mashed potatoes with a brothy delicious gravy, usually a squash casserole, a green vegetable of some sort, and rolls. And the rest of the day is spent doing nothing in particular except maybe separating presents (things to keep and things to take the hell back - the older I get, the bigger the latter pile is), watching movies, playing video games, and calling friends and family. I don't "think" - in the KDM way - on Christmas. I don't really reminisce or reflect either. Which means I don't worry about anything. I just enjoy. It's the best day of the year. Continues to be. But it happens more and more quickly every year, too. I don't feel it coming like I used to. But like I said, change is good, I think.
Oh, and this year Dammy and Mom and Cailin and I watched an unreasonably high amount of movies - 48208.5 - including High School Musical, Talladega Nights, Home Alone 2, and of course A Christmas Story, like 67 times. All of these movies were of 5 star quality.
22. Did you fall in love in 2006?
- Being the hippie-romantic-starry-eyed-europhile I am, I want to just borrow a title from Wilco: "I'm Always in Love." But that's a bit of a copout. Perhaps a good song to juxtapose with IAIL would be that unforgettable head-bopper song from A Night at the Roxbury: "What is Love? Baby Don't Hurt Me/Don't Hurt Me/No More." Iownknowww, bitch! I certainly fell deeper in love with Paris, France, that's for damn sure.
23. How many one-night stands?
- literally 2342908. j/k. ya'll know me.
24. What were your favorite TV programs?
- Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Jamie Oliver's Great Italian Escape, Best Week Ever, Arrested Development, Télématin
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
- Nicole Kidman?
26. What was the best book you read?
- Djinn by Alain Robbe-Grillet
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
- Oh, it wouldn't make sense to say anything but French music. Tigersushi Records. Other mentionables: Phoenix, Françoise Hardy, Françoiz Breut, Jacques Dutronc, Charles Aznavour, Alain Bashung, Téléphone. Serge Gainsbourg was not a discovery for me this year, but I learned more about him than I ever would have had I not been in France at the anniversary of his death, amidst countless box sets, remasterings, cover albums, essay collections, DVDs, special edition mags, newspaper and articles, all dedicated to the ultra-interesting "Gainsbarre" and his brilliant oeuvre. To that I give a hearty "vive la France."
28. What did you want and get?
- A new car. Thank you yet again, ebay.
29. What did you want and not get?
- Sighhhhhhhhhhhh....These RIDICULOUS AWESOME purple boots on display at the hair cuttery/clothing boutique on Rue de Lappe!!!!! When I could finally afford them they no longer had my size. Same story with the RIDICULOUS AWESOME green fisherman sandal jellies on Keller. Same story there. Life isn't easy when something as good as Parisian shoes is in sight but out of reach. Am I right?
30. What was your favorite film of this year?
- Borat, dude. Oh...and Volver. Penélope kills me...Jesus. And even though it came out last year, Junebug was possibly my saving grace upon returning home from Paris. Daniel Craig and Eva Green assured themselves comfortable new seats in my top 10 lists with the yikes-good Casino Royale.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
- The day of, I took a final and immediately went home to go to bed early with nausea and exhaustion. But a few days before I'd had a lovely party, Bond-themed, and a lot of people who mattered came and stayed for several hours, in spite of the finals that had us all buggin'. It was a very memorable party for a very uninteresting and kind of unfortunate birthday (22).
32. What would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
- Either an extended stay in Paris to cover me for the summer, or a job in Athens over the summer
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
- Fashion EQUALS function! scarves, scarves, scarves. less makeup, better quality. locket necklaces and the like-- jewelry that you can interact with. save the special heels for special occasions. walk softly and carry a big bag. i may have picked up a few tricks in a little town you might have heard of...but I only just now realized this.
34. What kept you sane?
- The YMCA. And my mom, and my friends of course. Music always.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
-I started off the year with an unimaginable lust for Cillian Murphy. Over time he began to disappoint me more and more, and now he's much lower on the list. Gael Garcia Bernal is in the number one spot now. Oh god, and Romain Duris...fuck me. And I was obsessed with Gainsbourg while I was in France. Still am.
36. Any memorable quotations you'd like to share?
- "This is New-York-Fucking-City. They don't call it that because people DON'T have threesomes." - DRB
- "It's not big, but it's not small. I mean, it's nothing to write home about." - KTT
- "There's about a 90% chance I'm gonna get laid tonight, so I'm gonna stay." - HRD
- "No no it's cool, it's just covered in dirt!" - KYC
...and like dooay trillion more that I may never be able to revoke again. I NEED a quotes notebook.
37. Who did you miss?
- Any of my good friends that I didn't talk to often while I was in France: Kendra, Brooke, Yael, Jeff, Seth, Haas, Eli, Reid. My fellow copy servers especially Benji. I missed Bronwyn a lot seeing as I got pretty hooked on her when I lived with her in January before going to Paris. I still miss John Fuller and Patrick Henry, and I swear, for whatever reason I always miss David Sams. I miss Donovan but mostly I don't worry about him because he's doing juuuuust fine in New York now.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
-Sans aucun doute, miss Candy J, my partner in globe-trotting and in Pop-In swingin'.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006.
-Expect nothing but the unexpected. Change happens; go with it. Sleep outside if you have to.
2006 was an incredible year.
*NOTE: Further content and formatting will be added and applied as soon as I have my wits about me. It has been over a year since I've used livejournal and I've forgotten everything. I'm practically reborn.
**ANOTHER NOTE: Originally, that last paragraph said "a year since I've used FACEBOOK," but that is absolute nonsense. I wanted to clear up any confusion. This slip-up only bolsters the correct statement about how long it's been since I've used LIVEJOURNAL and how I am therefore bad at it.