END OF YEAR SURVEY: YEAR 2013 (FOR THE 10TH YEAR!)
It's so crazy to realize my journal is twelve years old this year (thirteen next month), and that this survey is now ringing in a full flush decade of me doing this at the end of each year. I feel kind of amazed, all over! So here we go, the end of a decade of this. (Look for the Media Consumed Master Post and Top 10's of every genre to come later tonight!)
End of Year Survey
1. What did you do this year that you'd never done before?
2004: Went to Alaska. Twice. Planned my own Christmas.
2005: Went to Canada. Started at University. Had more than five separate Christmas's.
2006: Moved into an apartment alone. Went to Big Bend.
2007: Joined Milliways. Earned Bachelors of Arts. Started Master of Arts.
2008: Earned Masters of Arts. Employed in South Korea. Was given diamond ring.
2009: On January 4th I moved to South Korea....everything after that?
2010: Came back to America. Moved in with Earl.
2011: Paid my own way to family Christmas.
2012: A New York to Kansas road trip.
2013: Millirodeo! Got a real job.
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
2004: I didn't make one last year, but yes I'm going to make one this year. One for my weight and one for my poetry.
2005: I forgot I made one, but I'm twenty-five pounds lighter. And I'm still writing poetry.
2006: I really didn't make one last year.
2007: Ditto to 2006. Thinking on the having of one this year.
2008: I think I've stopped even considering them?
2009: I did pretty well with the ones from this year.
2010: Ditto to the ones from 2009.
2011: I didn't make a resolution, but I did make an oath. And I kept it.
2012: Iffy! I did well on this one, but I'm repeating thisone for 2013.
2013: I didn't remember having one. But I did really good on comics and movies. Not so much documentaries.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
2004: James's wife gave birth to tiny adorable Andrew.
2005: No babies that I know close to me this year.
2006: I know two people who had babied but not specifically close.
2007: Kathleen, Mandi, Christine and Geoffrey all had babies.
2008: Kathleen and Wendy. (Mandi is pregnant again. Eryn might deliver this year still.)
2009: Eryn gave birth to an adorable baby girl.
2010: No new babies this year that I can think of.
2011: Jo, Rachel and one Cousin all had beautiful babies.
2012: Not that I can remember.
2013: My cousin's wife got pregnant and is the first one of the kids on this side.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
2004: No. Well, yes. But only sort of. Sylvan.
2005: Phoenix Silvan Asheral Crow Thornhill.
2006: My paternal grandmother and Billy's maternal grandfather.
2007: No. Thank the goddess for small favors.
2008: Not so much with the dying this year either.
2009: My childhood dog, Holly.
2010: Thankfully, no.
2011: Yes, the youngest friend in my college circle, Andrew.
2012: Morgana. My grandfather. Both of My Girls' bunnies cats.
2013: Thankfully, no.
5. What countries did you visit?
2004: Though many trips, but never left the country. Went places in country, maybe I should plan for out next year?
2005: Canada
2006: I saw new states, but no new countries. I think I'm aimed at either Europe or Route 20 for this summer though.
2007: I saw New Orleans for the first time; and very likely agree it is its own little world.
2008: No new countries. I did visit Atlanta, GA and Colorado for the first times.
2009: South Korea. A few feet into North Korea. Dokdo/Lincourt Islands.
2010: Lots of South Korea still. Then just states in the US.
2011: I didn't visit any new countries. I stayed in Kansas?
2012: Lots of new states, no new countries.
2013: I didn't do a lot of traveling while unemployed this year.
6. What would you like to have next year that you lacked this year?
2004: The ability to hold a job, while taking so much school. My novel finished/half-finished. Hard, but rewarding lessons in life.
2005: Hard, but rewarding lessons. To make it into the abroad programs.
2006: Faith. Grace. Romance.
2007: A Master's degree. Romance.
2008: Adventures in The Land of the Morning Calm.
2009: Community. Family. Hugs.
2010: A steady job.
2011: A steady job, and good relationship.
2012: A steady career, and good relationship.
2013: More travel, more family, and maybe a relationship.
7. What date from this year will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
2004:
May 13. Because I can't forget that Phoenix said it, even if he's amended it a million times.
May 26. Because Christine came back into my life.
December 9, 12:13 am. [censored].
2005:
July 16. I moved out of my house with Phoenix and into a place with Christine.
August 25. I became part of the St. Mary's student body.
November 28. Billy became an even more important part of my future.
December 22. Phoenix died in a drunk driving accident.
2006:
January 11: Met my brothers, for first time since being three, in California. And Dale!
April: I was painted up as an air spirit for ritual.
May: Moved my GPA above 3.0.
May 27: Winter approached me to meet and we had a bliss filled Renn day.
July 15: Moved into my own place.
December 22: Fourteen Mile Hike and South Rim of Big Bend.
2007:
Early February: Joined Milliways and FullMoonSwaps.
May 12: BA Graduation from College.
May 30: Masters classes started.
November: Joined RCG Facilitators.
December: Joined Cotes Founders group.
2008:
March 25: Met Kat in person for the first time.
August 30: Dragon Con, where I met a million awesome Milliways people.
October 15: Boulder Colorado, where I met a half dozen truly amazing pagan ljers.
October 25: Signed the contract to work and live in South Korea for fourteen months.
December 13: Master's Graduated from St. Mary's.
2009:
January 3: Moved to Korea & met Sarah.
January 5: I started teaching.
May 14: Traveled in Korea with my parents.
December 21-31: Celebrated Twelve Days of Koreamas.
2010:
January: Biggest snow storm of my life (and 103 years in Korea)
March 7: Moved in with Earl
April: Helping Gordon with his recovery.
April 22: Met Steph in person for the first time.
May 23: Dedicated to Air
June 18: Met Li in person
October 3: Hope told me she loved me.
November 18: Joined RCG Council
2011:
January 1-2: Mini-Christmas Fiasco
May 1: Dedicated to Fire
Sept 1-5: Met Gabby & Lynn in person
September: Met Debi in person
October 1: Taught my First RCG Class
October 6: Broke up with Hope
November: Shatter-Milli-Order of the Hats Thanksgiving
December 22-27: Family Christmas Up North
2012:
Jan/Feb: Milliways Mass-Exodus to Dreamwidth
Jan 22: Tour de Nerdfighting w/Kat
Jan 29: The Great Adventure was born
May 1st: Twitter Fic was Born
May 19: Ran Beltane/Aphrodite Ritual
June 14-17: Midsummer Faeriie Celebration
June 20: Boy's Started
Sept 21-Oct 7: Weavesapalooza
2013:Jan: Found my brain in an app form.
Jan: The great Meetup.Com Revolution started.
Feb 1st: I became unemployed.
Feb 20-25: The 1st Milli-Rodeo!
April-May: Michelle Borth, of H50, decided to go crazy on me.
May 3rd: I got a Vitamix, and Green Smoothies took over my world.
June 29th: I marched with "It Get's Better" in the SA Pride Parade.
Nov 11: Blue Moon Meets....that helped me in so many ways.
Dec 19: I got the promise of a real job!
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
2004: Love.
2005: St. Mary’s.
2006: Moving out alone. Making, but more importantly keeping, healthy decisions and boundaries.
2007: Bachelor of Arts Graduation and Masters enrollment.
2008: Master of Arts Graduation. Employment in South Korea as a teacher.
2009: Working, living and traveling in Korea for a whole year.
2010: Dedicating myself to RCG's Council.
2011: Walking away on my own terms.
2012: Laughing on nearly every day.
2013: Landing a real job.
9. What was your biggest failure?
2004: Loosing Sylvan.
2005: The lack of grace and sanity in leaving Phoenix.
2006: Not working on my novel.
2007: Walking away.
2008: ...I don't think I have one.
2009: I had many ups and downs, but I didn't fail.
2010: Chosing my want over my knowledge in November.
2011: Letting things get so far and so bad, before acting.
2012: I don't think I had one this year.
2013: I don't think I had one.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
2004: One horrendous car accident I didn't die in.
2005: Nope. Not unless you count the break-up with Phoenix and the month I crawled inside myself.
2006: No real horrible illness to speak of.
2007: Nope. Nothing of this sort this year.
2008: Oh, lordy, yes. For two and half weeks in December, on graduation.
2009: All of February, then miraculously nothing else.
2010: I got sick in October, and had oral surgery in December.
2011: I fell down the stairs at my apartment.
2012: No more than normal.
2013: Nope. Not really even the normal.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
2004: My education, spring and fall semesters.
2005: St. Mary’s.
2006: My apartment. My independence.
2007: My Masters.
2008: My Masters.
2009: My trust in my truest self to put myself, my sanity and my health first.
2010: My apartment with Earl.
2011: My iphone. Laptop screen. Tickets to Family Thanksgiving/Christmas.
2012: My iPad or MacBook Pro. Dragon*Con. Weavesapalooza.
2013: Cookbooks. Dragon*Con. My iPhone 5s. Plane ticket to Blue Moon Meets.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
2004: Carrie. For every hard hurdle she crossed and fear she's banished these last few months. So much pride in watching her and joy in knowing her.
2005: Tiffany. For everything from keeping me sane in August and in St. Mary's in general, to her growing pains with John and her complicated situations with boys and school.
2006: Winter. Because I was moved to near tears and fainting awe in the moment when he asked me to come meet him. Because he is the person I watch most struggle with their world and prevail in a ability to remain dignified, while overcoming personal challenges through diligence.
2007: Carrie. No matter how the world looks, she always reminds me that humanity at its worsening is still full of both beauty and hope. Always.
2008: Gordon. The month of December may not have rewritten all of the past, but it gave the future hope and proof.
2009: My parents and Stephanie, Earl and Carrie. All for mostly different, truly great reasons.
2010: Earl, Carrie, Gordon, Stephanie, Li, and, quite rightly, my own.
2011: Earl, Carrie, Li. I'm still working on acknowledging I did good.
2012: Carrie, Li, Laura, my Mother, Gordon, myself.
2013: Mine. This was a horrible year, and I managed to come through in one (heroic?) piece.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
2004: Phoenix, Kris, Me, all for very different reasons.
2005: Phoenix and me. But only for two separate months in spring and summer.
2006: Christine, for all the reasons of June & July written extensively in the Roomie Letters of the period.
2007: Kris.
2008: ...I don't think anyone fit this.
2009: Billy.
2010: Tony, and Alec.
2011: Alec.
2012: Stefani/Temp #2
2013: My own, but then being unemployed is hard.
14. Where did most of your money go?
2004: My education. My school loan. My phone. My trips out of town.
2005: School loans from hell. My cell phone. My trips.
2006: St Mary’s. Billy. My apartment. Books. Bpal.
2007: School. My apartment. Book collection.
2008: School. My apartment.
2009: Traveling. School loans.
2010: My bills. Rent and bills and loans.
2011: My bills. Rent and bills and loans. Then, travel.
2012: My bills. Rent, loans. Then, travel, books, music, tea, tech toys.
2013: My bills. Rent, loans. Then travel, books, music, tea, tech toys and food.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
2004: Alaska. Christmas at my house.
2005: St. Mary’s and all things attached. Canada. Billy.
2006: My anniversary.
2007: BA Graduation. New Orleans.
2008: MA Graduation. Dragon!Con. Witchy Birthday Bash. Ring and laptop. Moving to Korea.
2009: Everything. How could I not?
2010: Coming home to Earl. RCG. Hope.
2011: AU Hogwarts. Order of the Hats. Teaching. Family Christmas.
2012: TGA. Milliway's Once Group. Hawaii Five-0. Dragon*Con.
2013: Milli-Rodeo. Dragon*Con. My new job in early 2014.
16. What song will always remind you of this year?
2004: Don't have one that fits the whole year yet, but I have one for the end of the year and this time in my life. Vienna, by Billy Joel.
2005: Season of Love.
2006: Breathe (2 am) by Anna Nalick....and another which title is elusive and I will update here.
2007: Unwritten
2008: All Will Be Well by Meg Barnhouse
2009: Extraordinary Ways by Conjure One
2010: Little Wonders by Rob Thomas
2011: What I Did for Love from Chorus Line
2012: Somebody That I Use To Know by Gotye, and Sugar We're Going Down by Jack Johnson
2013: Sara Barellli's See You Be Brave and Lorde's Royals.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
2004...i. happier or sadder? Calmer and more at peace with who I am.
ii. thinner or fatter? I gained weight.
iii. richer or poorer? About the same and just as happy for it.
2005...
i. happier or sadder? Much, much happier, cleaner, and healthier than ever.
ii. thinner or fatter? I lost weight.
iii. richer or poorer? Richer, but with large debts to pay when college ends.
2006...
i. happier or sadder? Still happier, cleaner, and healthier than ever.
ii. thinner or fatter? I lost a lot of weight.
iii. richer or poorer? Pulling in about even now that I'm supporting myself.
2007...
i. happier or sadder? Happier. The beginnings of this year wasn't so emotionally happy.
ii. thinner or fatter? I'm pretty consistently on par with a good unchanging spot.
iii. richer or poorer? I got by well on my pretty little school allowance and museum employment.
2008
i. happier or sadder? Happier. All the big hard work is done and it's time for new challenges.
ii. thinner or fatter? I gained a very little weight back.
iii. richer or poorer? I got by very well to manage all I did on how little I actually had.
2009i. happier or sadder? Both in very large, drastic measures at different points.
ii. thinner or fatter? I gained weight in Korea.
iii. richer or poorer? Much more money, but a lot of it went to loans.
2010
i. happier or sadder? Much happier, no matter the complications.
ii. thinner or fatter? Definitely lost.
iii. richer or poorer? Much less money, and most to bills.
2011: i. happier or sadder? Far less happy, but December is turning it around.
ii. thinner or fatter? Got down to pre-Korea number.
iii. richer or poorer? Much more money, and most it still to bills.
2012: i. happier or sadder? Far happier than last year.
ii. thinner or fatter? This one didn't work out.
iii. richer or poorer? Same money, and most it still to bills.
2013: i. happier or sadder? Happier now, but the year was very sad at times.
ii. thinner or fatter? Not far from where I started sadly.
iii. richer or poorer? Fine now, but I was broke for a lot of this year.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
2004: Socializing. Writing my novel.
2005: Writing my novel.
2006: Traveling.
2007: Travel.
2008: Being social.
2009: Communal worship.
2010: Feeling economically grounded.
2011: Feeling emotionally balance and respected.
2012: Juggling everything.
2013: Having a job. Not freaking out.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
2004: Nothing, it was all valuable, even the bad parts.
2005: Being afraid.
2006: Waiting. Wanting.
2007: Nothing really.
2008: Existed in a one-person box writing my thesis.
2009: Being alone.
2010:Wanting what I couldn't have.
2011: Justifying. Not Writing, or Talking.
2012: Missing her.
2013: Not freak out. Everything else...was okay.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
2004: With a group of friends, around a tree in my house, drinking warm drinks and hopefully being really happy
2005: My post right before this covers this one a whole lot.
2006: Covered that a few posts ago, too, this year.
2007: Spent with my family, wishing I hadn't left my friends.
2008: Christmas was spent at Thanksgiving with my grandmother and cousin. Pre-Christmas was spent with Carrie's family and Billy's family. Christmas day was spent with my family, and then Gordon's family.
2009: I spent it having Koreamas from my parents, and in Daejeon with Denise.
2010: I spent Yule with RCG and Sacred Well, Mother's Night with that group, Christmas with Earl's family and mine, and the mini-Christmas with friends.
2011: I had one Yule with RCG, another with Earl, Mother Night with Oak Grove Tribe, Texas Christmas with my parents, and Up North Christmas with all my family, too.
2012:RCG's Yule. Oak Grove's Mother's Night. Earl. Earl's parent. Earl's extended family party. My parents. My extended family in Dallas (with horses and snow). Also writing Yuletide & 12 Days of Jersey.
2013: Hosting both the Scifi Group Christmas Social & White Elephant Exchange and the Cooking Groups' Cookie Exchange & White Elephant Gift. Sibling Yule. Volunteering at Haven for Hope. Earl's Family's Christmas. Earl & I's Christmas. Christmas breakfast & parade with my mother. Earl & Jason & I's Christmas. Then my parents Christmas. (And my last Christmas is in 1-2 weeks from now.)
22. Did you fall in love this year?
2004: Yes, but only with the same people I'm already in love with.
2005: Yes.
2006: Still in love with Billy.
2007: Not with anyone new.
2008: Ditto to last year.
2009: No, I didn't.
2010: Yes.
2011: With Hope, still.
2012: With a new-old friend and a brand new character, but romantic heart is still too caught up (/cut up?) for a new person.
2013: Nope, but I'm starting to look toward that world and the chances of it.
24. What was your favorite TV program?
2004: 1st, Alias and Jeremiah. 2nd, Enterprise and Gilmore Girls.
2005: Battlestar Galactica and Gilmore Girls; then Veronica Mars
2006: Battlestar Galactica and Heroes
2007: Heroes...and maybe Robin Hood, if we squint at the anachronism.
2008: Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who, Fringe, Pushing Daisies, Middleman
2009: Fringe, Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, Being Human
2010: Haven, Fringe, Warehouse 13, Caprica, Sanctuary
2011: Haven, Fringe, Once Upon a Time, Sanctuary
2012: Once Upon a Time. Hawaii Five-0. Haven. Sanctuary. Fringe. Downton Abbey.
2013: Once Upon a Time. Haven. Downton Abbey. Orphan Black. Arrow. Person of Interest.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
2004: I don't hate anyone. I don't know how to and I don't want to learn to.
2005: I don't hate anyone. I don't know how to and I don't want to learn to.
2006: I don't hate anyone. I don't know how to and I don't want to learn to.
2007: I don't hate anyone. I don't know how to and I don't want to learn to.
2008: I don't hate anyone. I don't know how to and I don't want to learn to.
2009: I don't hate anyone. I don't know how to and I don't want to learn to.
2010: I don't hate anyone. I don't know how to and I don't want to learn to.
2011: I don't hate anyone. I don't know how to and I don't want to learn to.
2012: I don't hate anyone. I don't know how to and I don't want to learn to.
2013: I don't hate anyone. I don't know how to and I don't want to learn to.
26. What was the best book you read?
2004: Only one? Omg. No way. I'll list a couple favs. Witch Queen, Jan Siegel, because it's got the most amazing ending. 1001 Ways to Be Romantic. Requiem for the Sun, Elizabeth Hayden. First Rider's Call, Kristen Britain. The Invitation, Oriah Mountain Dreamer. Kabuki, David Mack.
2005: The Troy Game series by Sara Douglass. It set my heart and soul free.
2006: Carey's "Sundering" Duology. Sexy Witch by LaSara Firefox.
2007: The Tennant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte. The Merchant of Venice. Leaves of Grass.
2008: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Griffin and Sabine by Nick Bantock. All things by Jhumpa Lahiri. Dreaming in Cuba by Christina Garcia.
2009: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making. Reading Lolita in Tehran.
2010: The Ice Puzzle by Catherynne M. Valente and The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived by Allan Lazar
2011:If I Stay by Gayle Foreman. Divergent by Veronica Roth. Deathless by Cat Valente. Geektastic edited by Holly Black. Firelight by Sophie Jordan. The Drake Chronicles by Alexandra Harvey.
2012: The Fault in Our Stars. The Diviner's. Reached. Blood and Stardust. The Drake Chronicles. The Leviathan Trilogy. Food Lovers' Guide to San Antonio.
2013: Just One Day. The Raven Boys & The Dream Thieves. Code Name Verity. Bitter Kingdom & The Mountain. Adulting.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
2004: Lacuna Coil. Kelly Clarkson.
2005: Dave Carter & Tracey Grammar
2006: Ani Difranco. Mediaeval Baebes. Stars. Xena.
2007: Abbi Spinner. Louisa John-Krol.
2008: Venna Teng. She Wants Revenge.
2009: Dar Williams. Anberlin.
2010: Florence + The Machine. Colbie Caillat. Rob Thomas. [Title of Show]. Mumford & Sons.
2011: The Script. High Kings. Christina Peri. Adele. Taylor Swift. One Republic.
2012: The Once Upon a Time Score.
2013: Lorde. Sara Barellies. Florida Georgia Line. Imagine Dragons.
28. What did you want and get?
2004: Two trips to Alaska. One summer off. Romance. Education.
2005: St. Mary's. A trip out of the country. Love.
2006: To go see my family for Thanksgiving, and for Billy to come along.
2007: My diploma. A break up. A new travel. Christmas at moms.
2008: My MA diploma. A slow, patient growing relationship. To meet Milliwaysers and FullMoonSwap people. New camera, laptop, Skype phone.
2009: Korea. A Kindle. A DS. A lot of traveling. My parents.
2010: To move in with Earl. To have my friends and religious communities.
2011: An iphone. The end of my relationship. Christmas with my Family up north.
2012: iPad. MacBook. Order of the Hats Road Trip. New writing inspiration. Back in the kitchen. Snow for Christmas. Kindle Paperwhite.
2013: Milli-Rodeo. Dragon*Con. Blue Moon Meets. A job.
29. What did you want and not get?
2004: A new computer. Blue jeans and tennis shoes. My novel at least one-third started. Sylvan to come back. A new George R.R. Martin or Carey book.
2005: Three specific books. Phoenix to be someone else. That death could be undone.
2006: Romance.
2007: Romance.
2008: Time to breathe and live during my thesis and comps.
2009: Romance. Community. Physical contact. My summer or winter trips.
2010: An easy relationship. A steady job.
2011: The same as 2011, but far more intensely on the first.
2012: To put it all behind me.
2013: A job earlier.
30. What was your favorite film of this year?
2004: No idea really. I had a few i liked, but none were favorites.
2005: Elizabethtown
2006: No real favorites this year.
2007: No main favorite. A nice serious like; Catch and Release.
2008: Where The Heart Is.
2009: Star Trek and Speak.
2010: BBC Hamlet. Harry Potter 7.1. Cirque du Soleil. Easy A.
2011: Mistress of Spices. Tangled. Imagine Me & You.
2012: Brave. The Hobbit. Upside Down.
2013: Frozen. The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. Thor I & II.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
2004: I turned 21. Day before there was a big party, in the new house, with tons of friends and a Kevin Smith movie day theme. At my birthday time Phoenix woke me up to gift me with a moonstone ring. Went out to dinner with my parents in a funny b-day hat and had my first official -and legal- drink of my life. Next day I came to school and during Speech class got cake, a present and sung Happy Birthday by Victoria.
2005: Dinner the night before with TJ. Phoenix broke another promise to me. Got great gifts from friends but couldn't take the ones from my SO. Went out to lunch with Christine, Warren and Phoenix and it was amazing. Started listening to Lolita on Cd in my car at TJ's request, which made me fall in love with words all over again. Did Government studying for finals. aisling12 made me a banner. Felt heartbroken because again my father never called, had dinner with Mom, Gordon and Phoenix.
2006: I turned twenty-three and learned that I couldn't go to London that morning. Billy made my day better though.
2007: Twenty four. I earned (and slash was given) an X-men #1 from 1963. Best paycheck/birthday gift of my life. Don't remember much else about the birthday on the whole, nor does the journal contain notes on it.
2008: Carly and Peter's Beltane party. Lunch with Gordon and Mom with a butterfly ceremony. There was a big dinner out (with My girl, Billy, Peter, Heather, Tiffany, Mike, Jo, Lilly, and Lavern) at Tong's Thai and showing of The National Acrobats of Taiwan. Followed by dessert and drinks at Landry's.
2009: Twenty six. After the internet outpouring of awe, I spent the following Saturday watching Twilight online with the Sparkle!Mafia.
2010 Twenty-seven. Opened presents, went to dinner with Earl, and had a really calm, nice day.
2011: Twenty-eight. Had a large tea party at Mad Hatters, where I gathered together many friends. I also had a Birthday Donation Station to get a harp for my birthday.
2012: Twenty-nine. Second party, late and last minute, at Mad Hatters. A very rushed, sort of sad birthday honestly.
2013: Thirty. I bought myself a chakra set of Glamourkins, and my mother & gramma bought me a Vitamix.
32.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
2004: Not losing Sylvan. (.....i think I'm seeing a pattern.)
2005: Not having to learn to accept death as unchangeable.
2006: Travel. Romance. Being debt free.
2007: Cultured romance. Being debt free.
2008: Being debt free.
2009: A teleporter.
2010: A teleporter. And a steady job.
2011: A teleporter. (...my relationship being...something it wasn't.)
2012: A full-time non-contract job/career. (And a teleporter.)
2013: A full-time non-contract job/career. And a teleporter.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004?
2004: Blue jeans, t-shirts/thank tops, sandals. Bought an amazing knee-length, black, button-up sweater which I love.
2005: Blue jeans, fitted-shirts/tank tops, sandals.
2006: Blue jeans, fitted shirts, skirts, and flip flops.
2007: Skirts, slacks, low heels...and you know, the above mentioned at least two days a week.
2008: Skirts, slacks, camisoles, three inch heels, professional jackets.
2009: Slacks, nice shirts, heels, blue jeans, flip flops.
2010: Jeans, shirts, flip-flops, low heels, skirts, button ups.
2011: Jeans, geeky girl cut shirts, low heels, high heels, buttons ups, skirts, sandals.
2012: Jeans, geeky girl cut shirts, low heels, high heels, buttons ups, skirts, sandals. Plus, cowboy boots.
2013: eans, geeky girl cut shirts, low heels, high heels, buttons ups, skirts, sandals. Plus, cowboy boots & pearls.
34. What kept you sane?
2004: Traveling. Friends and Loves. Books. Writing.
2005: Tiffany.
2006: Moving away from Christine.
2007: Breaking up. Going to school.
2008: ...I'm not sure I always was during the last five months. Barring that,
trelali.
2009: Edward, Carlisle, and
neenie. After that, a whole lot of travel and Alice.
2010: Coming home. Living with Earl. My family, my groups, my best friends.
2011: Living with Earl. The Order of the Hats.
2012: Books. 'Boys.' Cooking.
2013: Books. 'Boys.' Cooking. Tumblr. Laura.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
2004: Jennifer Garner (Alias and 13 Going on 30)
2005: Jennifer Garner, then Rachel McAdams
2006: This year it wasn't anyone.
2007: Lucy Griffiths.
2008: This year is wasn't anyone massively....minorly R Patz.
2009: This year it wasn't anyone.
2010: Uh. No one? At least no one I can remember.
2011: For person I looked at pictures of most? Alona Tal. But not in a crush way.
2012: Intellectual crush is still The Green brothers, most pictures on Tumblr: Steve & Danny. Both.
2013: No one especially largely this year. Still fangirl The Boys & The Greens.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
2004: My very first election I was allowed to vote in. The homosexual marriage issues and the presidential choosing.
2005: The ban on gay marriage in Texas.
2006: Ban on Gay Marriage. The lessoning of protection for women's abortion or sexual mature decision. Murder of Saddam.
2007: Abortion and gay marriage. The murder of Benazir Bhutto.
2008: Presidential election and Proposition 8
2009: North Korea's threats to South Korea and the world.
2010: .....none of them really?
2011: Gay marriage being passed in many places. (Making it so friends of mine could marry!)
2012: Obama's re-election and Gay Rights.
2013: Wendy Davis, Gay Rights & Women's Rights in Texas.
37. Who did you miss?
2004: Whole year: James. Kris. Half year: Jenn. David.
2005: First half of the year: Kris. Second Half: Phoenix. Whole time: Jenn. David.
2006: Kris...James...Dale...Jenn, David.
2007: Jenn, David, Billy. Phoenix.
2008: Jenn, David, Kris.
2009: Everyone.
2010: Me. My kids from Korea. Denise.
2011: Stephanie.
2012: The same.
2013: No one really this year. Myself at times, maybe.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
2004: I can be honest and say eight days ago this answer would have been different. In light of that, though? Sara.
2005: Torn between saying Billy and Mrs. Kersnowski.
2006: Crystal, Stephanie, and Victoria.
2007: Debbie.
2008: Li and Weaves.
2009: Sarah. Steph. Alice.
2010: Jennifer.
2011: Sam. Gabby. Lynn. Debi.
2012: Lori. My 'Shadow.' Hands down. (And Weaves, but only in person, as there has been knowing for years.)
2013: Everyone in my Meetup groups, especially Kollin, Robert, and Scott.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned this year:
2004: Embrace your lessons for the good and bad.
2005: Death makes life precious.
2006: Being healthy emotionally is harder than being healthy physically, but just as worthwhile.
2007: The plan isn't as important as your emotional health. Walking away won't kill you.
2008: You can stick it out even when you want to quit. The world will be there when you stop.
2009: I can do this.
2010: Home will always be here waiting for you.
2011: When you escape the castle, don't go crawling back.
2012: It is what it is. That doesn't mean you can't laugh, dream, love, cook, travel and write a lot while it figures out when its going to heal.
2013: Just keep swimming. Swimming, swimming, swimming. Even when you can't see anymore.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
2004...Slow down, you're doing fine
You can't be everything you want to be
Before your time
Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight
Tonight,...
Too bad but it's the life you lead
you're so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need
Though you can see when you're wrong, you know
You can't always see when you're right. you're right
You've got your passion, you've got your pride
but don't you know that only fools are satisfied?
Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?
Slow down, you crazy child
and take the phone off the hook and disappear for awhile
it's all right, you can afford to lose a day or two
When will you realize...Vienna waits for you?
2005....Love is a tangle wood tree in a bower of green
In a forest at dawn
Fair while the mockingbird sings, but she soon lifts her wings
And the music is gone
Young lovers in the tall grass with their hearts open wide
When the red summer poppies bloom
But love is a trackless domain and the rumor of rain
In the late afternoon
Love is an old root that creeps through the meadows of sleep
When the long shadows cast
Thin as a vagrant young vine, it encircles and twines
And it holds the heart fast
Catches dreamers in the wildwood with the stars in their eyes
And the moon in their tousled hair
But love is a light in the sky, and an unspoken lie
And a half-whispered prayer
2006....Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable,
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table.
No one can find the rewind button, boys,
So cradle your head in your hands,
And breathe... just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe
There's a light at each end of this tunnel,
You shout 'cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out
2007....Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
2008.....Fear is the brightest of signs
The shape of the boundary you leave behind
So sing all your questions to sleep
The answers are out there in the drowning deep
You've got a journey to make
There's your horizon to chase
2009.....I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.
2010..... let it go,
let it roll right off your shoulder
don't you know
the hardest part is over
let it in,
let your clarity define you
in the end
we will only just remember how it feels
our lives are made
in these small hours
these little wonders,
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away,
but these small hours,
these small hours still remain
2011.....I’m scared today, more than I told you I was yesterday
Give me a moment to catch my breath
And hold me every second left
Proud of me, that’s the only way I want you to be
Look at me and love what you see
I won’t make it alone, I need something to hold
Kiss me on my shoulder, and tell me it’s not over
I promise to always come home to you
Remind me that I’m older to be brave, smart, sweet, and bolder
And don’t give up on what we’re trying to do
Don’t count the miles, count the “I love you"s
2012.....Now and then I think of when we were together
Like when you said you felt so happy you could die
Told myself that you were right for me
But felt so lonely in your company
But that was love and it's an ache I still remember
You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness
Like resignation to the end, always the end
2013:
You can be amazing
You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug
You can be the outcast
Or be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love
Or you can start speaking up
Nothing’s gonna hurt you the way that words do
When they settle ‘neath your skin
Kept on the inside and no sunlight
Sometimes a shadow wins
But I wonder what would happen if you
Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
~*~
Fanfic Inventory of the Year
Archive of Our Own: Wanderlustlover [Main Updating Location]
New Writing Journal: UtPicturePoesis[Unused in 2013]
Fanfiction.Net: Wanderlustlover [Closed, and not updated]
2013 Word Count: ******
~*~
End of The Year Writing Round-Up
Favorite(s) of the batch:I think this is definitely going to end up being 12 Days of Jersey and 12 Days of Jersey II. I don't even know if we made it through the first one entirely before we knew we'd be doing it again. We'd even talked about doing a Christmas in July set, with Christmas's in Hawaii but we haven't quite branched out to it. But there was something magically fun about having it behind me, and in front of me to fill the Christmas spaces
Best of the batch: I'm going to have to go with a toss up between 12 Days of Jersey/12 Days of Jersey II and my Unrevealed Yuletide. I had so much fun stepping out of my shell into a brand new fandom and person for my Yuletide and it had been really awesome getting a mass wave of feedback that it was so great for the challenge laid out by my recipient.
Most under appreciated by the universe: This one is definitely she took her love, for to gaze a while, but not any specifically bad reason. Just that Star is only really recognized by people in Milliways, as with how most Tarot stuff is, so it's really left alone aside from when Milliways people find it.
Most fun to write:Oh. Jeez. See this is hard, because so many of them are so fun. 12 Days of Jersey/12 Days of Jersey II never stops being a laugh/squee/surprise riot, because my cowriter and I give each other the prompts, swap them in e-mails surprising each other and stocking up for the event, and then we get to interact with all the commenters.
i can do anything crazy, and know definitely has to be on this list. Anything that makes you giggle in waves while writing it, before you can even gift it out to the person definitely falls in the most fun.
Sexiest fic:You know I don't think I really have one of those entirely this year. In The Dark of the Night, These Dreams are Made of Things, and i can do anything crazy, and know are all about beds, bodies and people who've frequently had sex, but they aren't really in a category of sexiest in my head.
Accccck. Nevermind. I lied it's totally these places, we find ourselves. That one ranks up just a smudge above the other three in this category.
"Holy crap, that's wrong even for you" fic:There really isn't one of these this year at all. I didn't write a lot this year, but I wrote a pretty sizable amount on things that were pretty normal for me, in all manner of topics but nothing too weird or dark or out there this year.
Fic that shifted my own perceptions of the characters: Maybe they say I'll be okay, but I'm not going to ever get over you, but only because TGA fic continues to remind me that Marian is an independent, stubborn person who chooses both the wounds she keeps and what she lets heal her. That she doesn't have to let go of the past, or ever actually move on from what happened to her or the great expanse of what she's lost, even when she's move on to her present fully dedicated to it.
Because she -- and they -- surprise me, and it'll never be less than true. Their world really can handle one more paradox.
Hardest fic to write: Uh. None? Maybe my Yuletide, not because it was hard, it really wasn't, the thing glided together like the breeze and the summer dun, but because even though it pretty much wrote itself without a need for research, I spent an amazingly long time agonizing over every detail because it was my first fic in a favorite show of years, but that I'd never written in the fandom of, and it was someone's Christmas gift. So take all my normal neurosis about wanting my fic to be right and add that on it.
Biggest disappointment: Nothing, thankfully! I usually have something that falls flat and annoys me, but maybe the less writing this year means there wasn't something I tackled that I hadn't quite gotten my fingers around entirely. I'm actually really pleased with everything that ended up going out this year.
Biggest surprise: Echoing last year, this still has to be 12 Days of Jersey the first round, that ran through January 5th of the beginning of the year, because it was just an idea that hit me from left field. I never expected it to take off so fast, get so high hit wise, or have so many people commenting and loving it on A03 and Tumblr. This one this Christmas wasn't so surprising, but I never stopped being in awe of who, how many, omg squeezing adorable people last year.
Most telling fic: Definitely my Yuletide 2013. There’s so much circling the drain, dragging in and out going on in that fic, which has to do with both the past and the present, and the people enmeshed in both of those. I really can’t wait until that hits my actual works, too, as I’ve been really loving people seeing it through Yuletide itself.
What's next?Well, I have to finish out 12 Days of Jersey II which will take me, again, to January 5th finishing off the 12 Days of Christmas and then the sky is the limit, really, you know? I'm curious considering the H50 comm for writing 1 Million words for next year, because I played read-along girl for them this year and by the middle I really wished I had joined in, so I’m definitely looking to get involved with it next year.
~*~
Take the first sentence from the first entry of each month in 2013 and put it in a paragraph or two: For last year's words belong to last year's language, And next year's words await another voice. (J) The last few days weren't so much hard, as sort of hard and very strange, beautiful and, thus, heavy. (F) Today? A03 sent me a notice, I'd never seen before. (M) I want more AdagioTeas Easter Egg badges. (A) Every year I buy myself usually a nice gift at my birthday and Christmas. (M) Interestingly enough I do not think form or format will ever keep Sara and I from finding each other. (J)
Spielberg is made of trying so hard to make me cry like every other episode. (J) So I'm playing catch-up with the world this week. (A) Where and when and in what show, Lenkov, are you even talking about? (S) I can't even think straight, guys. (O) I've made it to Illinois, and I'm surrounded by tea cups, book readers and cheerful voices. (N) I keep meaning to get back and write a post and the world keeps hammering my to-do list. (D)
~*~
Visited US States & World Wide Countries
visited 32 states (64%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or Like this? try: Fridge Poetry
(Which obviously means, when I'm visiting Massachussets I should find a way to mark Deleware and Connecticut off my list while I'm up there. Plus, I totally need a second road trip to hit West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas and all of that side of it off the map.)
visited 7 states (3.11%)
Create your own visited map of The World or Free iphone travel guide
Year End's Past
2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008
2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013
[This entry was originally posted at http://wanderlustlover.dreamwidth.org/2270795.html. Comment on either at your leisure.]
End of Year Survey
1. What did you do this year that you'd never done before?
2004: Went to Alaska. Twice. Planned my own Christmas.
2005: Went to Canada. Started at University. Had more than five separate Christmas's.
2006: Moved into an apartment alone. Went to Big Bend.
2007: Joined Milliways. Earned Bachelors of Arts. Started Master of Arts.
2008: Earned Masters of Arts. Employed in South Korea. Was given diamond ring.
2009: On January 4th I moved to South Korea....everything after that?
2010: Came back to America. Moved in with Earl.
2011: Paid my own way to family Christmas.
2012: A New York to Kansas road trip.
2013: Millirodeo! Got a real job.
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
2004: I didn't make one last year, but yes I'm going to make one this year. One for my weight and one for my poetry.
2005: I forgot I made one, but I'm twenty-five pounds lighter. And I'm still writing poetry.
2006: I really didn't make one last year.
2007: Ditto to 2006. Thinking on the having of one this year.
2008: I think I've stopped even considering them?
2009: I did pretty well with the ones from this year.
2010: Ditto to the ones from 2009.
2011: I didn't make a resolution, but I did make an oath. And I kept it.
2012: Iffy! I did well on this one, but I'm repeating thisone for 2013.
2013: I didn't remember having one. But I did really good on comics and movies. Not so much documentaries.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
2004: James's wife gave birth to tiny adorable Andrew.
2005: No babies that I know close to me this year.
2006: I know two people who had babied but not specifically close.
2007: Kathleen, Mandi, Christine and Geoffrey all had babies.
2008: Kathleen and Wendy. (Mandi is pregnant again. Eryn might deliver this year still.)
2009: Eryn gave birth to an adorable baby girl.
2010: No new babies this year that I can think of.
2011: Jo, Rachel and one Cousin all had beautiful babies.
2012: Not that I can remember.
2013: My cousin's wife got pregnant and is the first one of the kids on this side.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
2004: No. Well, yes. But only sort of. Sylvan.
2005: Phoenix Silvan Asheral Crow Thornhill.
2006: My paternal grandmother and Billy's maternal grandfather.
2007: No. Thank the goddess for small favors.
2008: Not so much with the dying this year either.
2009: My childhood dog, Holly.
2010: Thankfully, no.
2011: Yes, the youngest friend in my college circle, Andrew.
2012: Morgana. My grandfather. Both of My Girls' bunnies cats.
2013: Thankfully, no.
5. What countries did you visit?
2004: Though many trips, but never left the country. Went places in country, maybe I should plan for out next year?
2005: Canada
2006: I saw new states, but no new countries. I think I'm aimed at either Europe or Route 20 for this summer though.
2007: I saw New Orleans for the first time; and very likely agree it is its own little world.
2008: No new countries. I did visit Atlanta, GA and Colorado for the first times.
2009: South Korea. A few feet into North Korea. Dokdo/Lincourt Islands.
2010: Lots of South Korea still. Then just states in the US.
2011: I didn't visit any new countries. I stayed in Kansas?
2012: Lots of new states, no new countries.
2013: I didn't do a lot of traveling while unemployed this year.
6. What would you like to have next year that you lacked this year?
2004: The ability to hold a job, while taking so much school. My novel finished/half-finished. Hard, but rewarding lessons in life.
2005: Hard, but rewarding lessons. To make it into the abroad programs.
2006: Faith. Grace. Romance.
2007: A Master's degree. Romance.
2008: Adventures in The Land of the Morning Calm.
2009: Community. Family. Hugs.
2010: A steady job.
2011: A steady job, and good relationship.
2012: A steady career, and good relationship.
2013: More travel, more family, and maybe a relationship.
7. What date from this year will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
2004:
May 13. Because I can't forget that Phoenix said it, even if he's amended it a million times.
May 26. Because Christine came back into my life.
December 9, 12:13 am. [censored].
2005:
July 16. I moved out of my house with Phoenix and into a place with Christine.
August 25. I became part of the St. Mary's student body.
November 28. Billy became an even more important part of my future.
December 22. Phoenix died in a drunk driving accident.
2006:
January 11: Met my brothers, for first time since being three, in California. And Dale!
April: I was painted up as an air spirit for ritual.
May: Moved my GPA above 3.0.
May 27: Winter approached me to meet and we had a bliss filled Renn day.
July 15: Moved into my own place.
December 22: Fourteen Mile Hike and South Rim of Big Bend.
2007:
Early February: Joined Milliways and FullMoonSwaps.
May 12: BA Graduation from College.
May 30: Masters classes started.
November: Joined RCG Facilitators.
December: Joined Cotes Founders group.
2008:
March 25: Met Kat in person for the first time.
August 30: Dragon Con, where I met a million awesome Milliways people.
October 15: Boulder Colorado, where I met a half dozen truly amazing pagan ljers.
October 25: Signed the contract to work and live in South Korea for fourteen months.
December 13: Master's Graduated from St. Mary's.
2009:
January 3: Moved to Korea & met Sarah.
January 5: I started teaching.
May 14: Traveled in Korea with my parents.
December 21-31: Celebrated Twelve Days of Koreamas.
2010:
January: Biggest snow storm of my life (and 103 years in Korea)
March 7: Moved in with Earl
April: Helping Gordon with his recovery.
April 22: Met Steph in person for the first time.
May 23: Dedicated to Air
June 18: Met Li in person
October 3: Hope told me she loved me.
November 18: Joined RCG Council
2011:
January 1-2: Mini-Christmas Fiasco
May 1: Dedicated to Fire
Sept 1-5: Met Gabby & Lynn in person
September: Met Debi in person
October 1: Taught my First RCG Class
October 6: Broke up with Hope
November: Shatter-Milli-Order of the Hats Thanksgiving
December 22-27: Family Christmas Up North
2012:
Jan/Feb: Milliways Mass-Exodus to Dreamwidth
Jan 22: Tour de Nerdfighting w/Kat
Jan 29: The Great Adventure was born
May 1st: Twitter Fic was Born
May 19: Ran Beltane/Aphrodite Ritual
June 14-17: Midsummer Faeriie Celebration
June 20: Boy's Started
Sept 21-Oct 7: Weavesapalooza
2013:Jan: Found my brain in an app form.
Jan: The great Meetup.Com Revolution started.
Feb 1st: I became unemployed.
Feb 20-25: The 1st Milli-Rodeo!
April-May: Michelle Borth, of H50, decided to go crazy on me.
May 3rd: I got a Vitamix, and Green Smoothies took over my world.
June 29th: I marched with "It Get's Better" in the SA Pride Parade.
Nov 11: Blue Moon Meets....that helped me in so many ways.
Dec 19: I got the promise of a real job!
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
2004: Love.
2005: St. Mary’s.
2006: Moving out alone. Making, but more importantly keeping, healthy decisions and boundaries.
2007: Bachelor of Arts Graduation and Masters enrollment.
2008: Master of Arts Graduation. Employment in South Korea as a teacher.
2009: Working, living and traveling in Korea for a whole year.
2010: Dedicating myself to RCG's Council.
2011: Walking away on my own terms.
2012: Laughing on nearly every day.
2013: Landing a real job.
9. What was your biggest failure?
2004: Loosing Sylvan.
2005: The lack of grace and sanity in leaving Phoenix.
2006: Not working on my novel.
2007: Walking away.
2008: ...I don't think I have one.
2009: I had many ups and downs, but I didn't fail.
2010: Chosing my want over my knowledge in November.
2011: Letting things get so far and so bad, before acting.
2012: I don't think I had one this year.
2013: I don't think I had one.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
2004: One horrendous car accident I didn't die in.
2005: Nope. Not unless you count the break-up with Phoenix and the month I crawled inside myself.
2006: No real horrible illness to speak of.
2007: Nope. Nothing of this sort this year.
2008: Oh, lordy, yes. For two and half weeks in December, on graduation.
2009: All of February, then miraculously nothing else.
2010: I got sick in October, and had oral surgery in December.
2011: I fell down the stairs at my apartment.
2012: No more than normal.
2013: Nope. Not really even the normal.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
2004: My education, spring and fall semesters.
2005: St. Mary’s.
2006: My apartment. My independence.
2007: My Masters.
2008: My Masters.
2009: My trust in my truest self to put myself, my sanity and my health first.
2010: My apartment with Earl.
2011: My iphone. Laptop screen. Tickets to Family Thanksgiving/Christmas.
2012: My iPad or MacBook Pro. Dragon*Con. Weavesapalooza.
2013: Cookbooks. Dragon*Con. My iPhone 5s. Plane ticket to Blue Moon Meets.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
2004: Carrie. For every hard hurdle she crossed and fear she's banished these last few months. So much pride in watching her and joy in knowing her.
2005: Tiffany. For everything from keeping me sane in August and in St. Mary's in general, to her growing pains with John and her complicated situations with boys and school.
2006: Winter. Because I was moved to near tears and fainting awe in the moment when he asked me to come meet him. Because he is the person I watch most struggle with their world and prevail in a ability to remain dignified, while overcoming personal challenges through diligence.
2007: Carrie. No matter how the world looks, she always reminds me that humanity at its worsening is still full of both beauty and hope. Always.
2008: Gordon. The month of December may not have rewritten all of the past, but it gave the future hope and proof.
2009: My parents and Stephanie, Earl and Carrie. All for mostly different, truly great reasons.
2010: Earl, Carrie, Gordon, Stephanie, Li, and, quite rightly, my own.
2011: Earl, Carrie, Li. I'm still working on acknowledging I did good.
2012: Carrie, Li, Laura, my Mother, Gordon, myself.
2013: Mine. This was a horrible year, and I managed to come through in one (heroic?) piece.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
2004: Phoenix, Kris, Me, all for very different reasons.
2005: Phoenix and me. But only for two separate months in spring and summer.
2006: Christine, for all the reasons of June & July written extensively in the Roomie Letters of the period.
2007: Kris.
2008: ...I don't think anyone fit this.
2009: Billy.
2010: Tony, and Alec.
2011: Alec.
2012: Stefani/Temp #2
2013: My own, but then being unemployed is hard.
14. Where did most of your money go?
2004: My education. My school loan. My phone. My trips out of town.
2005: School loans from hell. My cell phone. My trips.
2006: St Mary’s. Billy. My apartment. Books. Bpal.
2007: School. My apartment. Book collection.
2008: School. My apartment.
2009: Traveling. School loans.
2010: My bills. Rent and bills and loans.
2011: My bills. Rent and bills and loans. Then, travel.
2012: My bills. Rent, loans. Then, travel, books, music, tea, tech toys.
2013: My bills. Rent, loans. Then travel, books, music, tea, tech toys and food.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
2004: Alaska. Christmas at my house.
2005: St. Mary’s and all things attached. Canada. Billy.
2006: My anniversary.
2007: BA Graduation. New Orleans.
2008: MA Graduation. Dragon!Con. Witchy Birthday Bash. Ring and laptop. Moving to Korea.
2009: Everything. How could I not?
2010: Coming home to Earl. RCG. Hope.
2011: AU Hogwarts. Order of the Hats. Teaching. Family Christmas.
2012: TGA. Milliway's Once Group. Hawaii Five-0. Dragon*Con.
2013: Milli-Rodeo. Dragon*Con. My new job in early 2014.
16. What song will always remind you of this year?
2004: Don't have one that fits the whole year yet, but I have one for the end of the year and this time in my life. Vienna, by Billy Joel.
2005: Season of Love.
2006: Breathe (2 am) by Anna Nalick....and another which title is elusive and I will update here.
2007: Unwritten
2008: All Will Be Well by Meg Barnhouse
2009: Extraordinary Ways by Conjure One
2010: Little Wonders by Rob Thomas
2011: What I Did for Love from Chorus Line
2012: Somebody That I Use To Know by Gotye, and Sugar We're Going Down by Jack Johnson
2013: Sara Barellli's See You Be Brave and Lorde's Royals.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
2004...i. happier or sadder? Calmer and more at peace with who I am.
ii. thinner or fatter? I gained weight.
iii. richer or poorer? About the same and just as happy for it.
2005...
i. happier or sadder? Much, much happier, cleaner, and healthier than ever.
ii. thinner or fatter? I lost weight.
iii. richer or poorer? Richer, but with large debts to pay when college ends.
2006...
i. happier or sadder? Still happier, cleaner, and healthier than ever.
ii. thinner or fatter? I lost a lot of weight.
iii. richer or poorer? Pulling in about even now that I'm supporting myself.
2007...
i. happier or sadder? Happier. The beginnings of this year wasn't so emotionally happy.
ii. thinner or fatter? I'm pretty consistently on par with a good unchanging spot.
iii. richer or poorer? I got by well on my pretty little school allowance and museum employment.
2008
i. happier or sadder? Happier. All the big hard work is done and it's time for new challenges.
ii. thinner or fatter? I gained a very little weight back.
iii. richer or poorer? I got by very well to manage all I did on how little I actually had.
2009i. happier or sadder? Both in very large, drastic measures at different points.
ii. thinner or fatter? I gained weight in Korea.
iii. richer or poorer? Much more money, but a lot of it went to loans.
2010
i. happier or sadder? Much happier, no matter the complications.
ii. thinner or fatter? Definitely lost.
iii. richer or poorer? Much less money, and most to bills.
2011: i. happier or sadder? Far less happy, but December is turning it around.
ii. thinner or fatter? Got down to pre-Korea number.
iii. richer or poorer? Much more money, and most it still to bills.
2012: i. happier or sadder? Far happier than last year.
ii. thinner or fatter? This one didn't work out.
iii. richer or poorer? Same money, and most it still to bills.
2013: i. happier or sadder? Happier now, but the year was very sad at times.
ii. thinner or fatter? Not far from where I started sadly.
iii. richer or poorer? Fine now, but I was broke for a lot of this year.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
2004: Socializing. Writing my novel.
2005: Writing my novel.
2006: Traveling.
2007: Travel.
2008: Being social.
2009: Communal worship.
2010: Feeling economically grounded.
2011: Feeling emotionally balance and respected.
2012: Juggling everything.
2013: Having a job. Not freaking out.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
2004: Nothing, it was all valuable, even the bad parts.
2005: Being afraid.
2006: Waiting. Wanting.
2007: Nothing really.
2008: Existed in a one-person box writing my thesis.
2009: Being alone.
2010:Wanting what I couldn't have.
2011: Justifying. Not Writing, or Talking.
2012: Missing her.
2013: Not freak out. Everything else...was okay.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
2004: With a group of friends, around a tree in my house, drinking warm drinks and hopefully being really happy
2005: My post right before this covers this one a whole lot.
2006: Covered that a few posts ago, too, this year.
2007: Spent with my family, wishing I hadn't left my friends.
2008: Christmas was spent at Thanksgiving with my grandmother and cousin. Pre-Christmas was spent with Carrie's family and Billy's family. Christmas day was spent with my family, and then Gordon's family.
2009: I spent it having Koreamas from my parents, and in Daejeon with Denise.
2010: I spent Yule with RCG and Sacred Well, Mother's Night with that group, Christmas with Earl's family and mine, and the mini-Christmas with friends.
2011: I had one Yule with RCG, another with Earl, Mother Night with Oak Grove Tribe, Texas Christmas with my parents, and Up North Christmas with all my family, too.
2012:RCG's Yule. Oak Grove's Mother's Night. Earl. Earl's parent. Earl's extended family party. My parents. My extended family in Dallas (with horses and snow). Also writing Yuletide & 12 Days of Jersey.
2013: Hosting both the Scifi Group Christmas Social & White Elephant Exchange and the Cooking Groups' Cookie Exchange & White Elephant Gift. Sibling Yule. Volunteering at Haven for Hope. Earl's Family's Christmas. Earl & I's Christmas. Christmas breakfast & parade with my mother. Earl & Jason & I's Christmas. Then my parents Christmas. (And my last Christmas is in 1-2 weeks from now.)
22. Did you fall in love this year?
2004: Yes, but only with the same people I'm already in love with.
2005: Yes.
2006: Still in love with Billy.
2007: Not with anyone new.
2008: Ditto to last year.
2009: No, I didn't.
2010: Yes.
2011: With Hope, still.
2012: With a new-old friend and a brand new character, but romantic heart is still too caught up (/cut up?) for a new person.
2013: Nope, but I'm starting to look toward that world and the chances of it.
24. What was your favorite TV program?
2004: 1st, Alias and Jeremiah. 2nd, Enterprise and Gilmore Girls.
2005: Battlestar Galactica and Gilmore Girls; then Veronica Mars
2006: Battlestar Galactica and Heroes
2007: Heroes...and maybe Robin Hood, if we squint at the anachronism.
2008: Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who, Fringe, Pushing Daisies, Middleman
2009: Fringe, Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, Being Human
2010: Haven, Fringe, Warehouse 13, Caprica, Sanctuary
2011: Haven, Fringe, Once Upon a Time, Sanctuary
2012: Once Upon a Time. Hawaii Five-0. Haven. Sanctuary. Fringe. Downton Abbey.
2013: Once Upon a Time. Haven. Downton Abbey. Orphan Black. Arrow. Person of Interest.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
2004: I don't hate anyone. I don't know how to and I don't want to learn to.
2005: I don't hate anyone. I don't know how to and I don't want to learn to.
2006: I don't hate anyone. I don't know how to and I don't want to learn to.
2007: I don't hate anyone. I don't know how to and I don't want to learn to.
2008: I don't hate anyone. I don't know how to and I don't want to learn to.
2009: I don't hate anyone. I don't know how to and I don't want to learn to.
2010: I don't hate anyone. I don't know how to and I don't want to learn to.
2011: I don't hate anyone. I don't know how to and I don't want to learn to.
2012: I don't hate anyone. I don't know how to and I don't want to learn to.
2013: I don't hate anyone. I don't know how to and I don't want to learn to.
26. What was the best book you read?
2004: Only one? Omg. No way. I'll list a couple favs. Witch Queen, Jan Siegel, because it's got the most amazing ending. 1001 Ways to Be Romantic. Requiem for the Sun, Elizabeth Hayden. First Rider's Call, Kristen Britain. The Invitation, Oriah Mountain Dreamer. Kabuki, David Mack.
2005: The Troy Game series by Sara Douglass. It set my heart and soul free.
2006: Carey's "Sundering" Duology. Sexy Witch by LaSara Firefox.
2007: The Tennant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte. The Merchant of Venice. Leaves of Grass.
2008: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Griffin and Sabine by Nick Bantock. All things by Jhumpa Lahiri. Dreaming in Cuba by Christina Garcia.
2009: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making. Reading Lolita in Tehran.
2010: The Ice Puzzle by Catherynne M. Valente and The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived by Allan Lazar
2011:If I Stay by Gayle Foreman. Divergent by Veronica Roth. Deathless by Cat Valente. Geektastic edited by Holly Black. Firelight by Sophie Jordan. The Drake Chronicles by Alexandra Harvey.
2012: The Fault in Our Stars. The Diviner's. Reached. Blood and Stardust. The Drake Chronicles. The Leviathan Trilogy. Food Lovers' Guide to San Antonio.
2013: Just One Day. The Raven Boys & The Dream Thieves. Code Name Verity. Bitter Kingdom & The Mountain. Adulting.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
2004: Lacuna Coil. Kelly Clarkson.
2005: Dave Carter & Tracey Grammar
2006: Ani Difranco. Mediaeval Baebes. Stars. Xena.
2007: Abbi Spinner. Louisa John-Krol.
2008: Venna Teng. She Wants Revenge.
2009: Dar Williams. Anberlin.
2010: Florence + The Machine. Colbie Caillat. Rob Thomas. [Title of Show]. Mumford & Sons.
2011: The Script. High Kings. Christina Peri. Adele. Taylor Swift. One Republic.
2012: The Once Upon a Time Score.
2013: Lorde. Sara Barellies. Florida Georgia Line. Imagine Dragons.
28. What did you want and get?
2004: Two trips to Alaska. One summer off. Romance. Education.
2005: St. Mary's. A trip out of the country. Love.
2006: To go see my family for Thanksgiving, and for Billy to come along.
2007: My diploma. A break up. A new travel. Christmas at moms.
2008: My MA diploma. A slow, patient growing relationship. To meet Milliwaysers and FullMoonSwap people. New camera, laptop, Skype phone.
2009: Korea. A Kindle. A DS. A lot of traveling. My parents.
2010: To move in with Earl. To have my friends and religious communities.
2011: An iphone. The end of my relationship. Christmas with my Family up north.
2012: iPad. MacBook. Order of the Hats Road Trip. New writing inspiration. Back in the kitchen. Snow for Christmas. Kindle Paperwhite.
2013: Milli-Rodeo. Dragon*Con. Blue Moon Meets. A job.
29. What did you want and not get?
2004: A new computer. Blue jeans and tennis shoes. My novel at least one-third started. Sylvan to come back. A new George R.R. Martin or Carey book.
2005: Three specific books. Phoenix to be someone else. That death could be undone.
2006: Romance.
2007: Romance.
2008: Time to breathe and live during my thesis and comps.
2009: Romance. Community. Physical contact. My summer or winter trips.
2010: An easy relationship. A steady job.
2011: The same as 2011, but far more intensely on the first.
2012: To put it all behind me.
2013: A job earlier.
30. What was your favorite film of this year?
2004: No idea really. I had a few i liked, but none were favorites.
2005: Elizabethtown
2006: No real favorites this year.
2007: No main favorite. A nice serious like; Catch and Release.
2008: Where The Heart Is.
2009: Star Trek and Speak.
2010: BBC Hamlet. Harry Potter 7.1. Cirque du Soleil. Easy A.
2011: Mistress of Spices. Tangled. Imagine Me & You.
2012: Brave. The Hobbit. Upside Down.
2013: Frozen. The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. Thor I & II.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
2004: I turned 21. Day before there was a big party, in the new house, with tons of friends and a Kevin Smith movie day theme. At my birthday time Phoenix woke me up to gift me with a moonstone ring. Went out to dinner with my parents in a funny b-day hat and had my first official -and legal- drink of my life. Next day I came to school and during Speech class got cake, a present and sung Happy Birthday by Victoria.
2005: Dinner the night before with TJ. Phoenix broke another promise to me. Got great gifts from friends but couldn't take the ones from my SO. Went out to lunch with Christine, Warren and Phoenix and it was amazing. Started listening to Lolita on Cd in my car at TJ's request, which made me fall in love with words all over again. Did Government studying for finals. aisling12 made me a banner. Felt heartbroken because again my father never called, had dinner with Mom, Gordon and Phoenix.
2006: I turned twenty-three and learned that I couldn't go to London that morning. Billy made my day better though.
2007: Twenty four. I earned (and slash was given) an X-men #1 from 1963. Best paycheck/birthday gift of my life. Don't remember much else about the birthday on the whole, nor does the journal contain notes on it.
2008: Carly and Peter's Beltane party. Lunch with Gordon and Mom with a butterfly ceremony. There was a big dinner out (with My girl, Billy, Peter, Heather, Tiffany, Mike, Jo, Lilly, and Lavern) at Tong's Thai and showing of The National Acrobats of Taiwan. Followed by dessert and drinks at Landry's.
2009: Twenty six. After the internet outpouring of awe, I spent the following Saturday watching Twilight online with the Sparkle!Mafia.
2010 Twenty-seven. Opened presents, went to dinner with Earl, and had a really calm, nice day.
2011: Twenty-eight. Had a large tea party at Mad Hatters, where I gathered together many friends. I also had a Birthday Donation Station to get a harp for my birthday.
2012: Twenty-nine. Second party, late and last minute, at Mad Hatters. A very rushed, sort of sad birthday honestly.
2013: Thirty. I bought myself a chakra set of Glamourkins, and my mother & gramma bought me a Vitamix.
32.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
2004: Not losing Sylvan. (.....i think I'm seeing a pattern.)
2005: Not having to learn to accept death as unchangeable.
2006: Travel. Romance. Being debt free.
2007: Cultured romance. Being debt free.
2008: Being debt free.
2009: A teleporter.
2010: A teleporter. And a steady job.
2011: A teleporter. (...my relationship being...something it wasn't.)
2012: A full-time non-contract job/career. (And a teleporter.)
2013: A full-time non-contract job/career. And a teleporter.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004?
2004: Blue jeans, t-shirts/thank tops, sandals. Bought an amazing knee-length, black, button-up sweater which I love.
2005: Blue jeans, fitted-shirts/tank tops, sandals.
2006: Blue jeans, fitted shirts, skirts, and flip flops.
2007: Skirts, slacks, low heels...and you know, the above mentioned at least two days a week.
2008: Skirts, slacks, camisoles, three inch heels, professional jackets.
2009: Slacks, nice shirts, heels, blue jeans, flip flops.
2010: Jeans, shirts, flip-flops, low heels, skirts, button ups.
2011: Jeans, geeky girl cut shirts, low heels, high heels, buttons ups, skirts, sandals.
2012: Jeans, geeky girl cut shirts, low heels, high heels, buttons ups, skirts, sandals. Plus, cowboy boots.
2013: eans, geeky girl cut shirts, low heels, high heels, buttons ups, skirts, sandals. Plus, cowboy boots & pearls.
34. What kept you sane?
2004: Traveling. Friends and Loves. Books. Writing.
2005: Tiffany.
2006: Moving away from Christine.
2007: Breaking up. Going to school.
2008: ...I'm not sure I always was during the last five months. Barring that,
trelali.
2009: Edward, Carlisle, and
neenie. After that, a whole lot of travel and Alice.
2010: Coming home. Living with Earl. My family, my groups, my best friends.
2011: Living with Earl. The Order of the Hats.
2012: Books. 'Boys.' Cooking.
2013: Books. 'Boys.' Cooking. Tumblr. Laura.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
2004: Jennifer Garner (Alias and 13 Going on 30)
2005: Jennifer Garner, then Rachel McAdams
2006: This year it wasn't anyone.
2007: Lucy Griffiths.
2008: This year is wasn't anyone massively....minorly R Patz.
2009: This year it wasn't anyone.
2010: Uh. No one? At least no one I can remember.
2011: For person I looked at pictures of most? Alona Tal. But not in a crush way.
2012: Intellectual crush is still The Green brothers, most pictures on Tumblr: Steve & Danny. Both.
2013: No one especially largely this year. Still fangirl The Boys & The Greens.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
2004: My very first election I was allowed to vote in. The homosexual marriage issues and the presidential choosing.
2005: The ban on gay marriage in Texas.
2006: Ban on Gay Marriage. The lessoning of protection for women's abortion or sexual mature decision. Murder of Saddam.
2007: Abortion and gay marriage. The murder of Benazir Bhutto.
2008: Presidential election and Proposition 8
2009: North Korea's threats to South Korea and the world.
2010: .....none of them really?
2011: Gay marriage being passed in many places. (Making it so friends of mine could marry!)
2012: Obama's re-election and Gay Rights.
2013: Wendy Davis, Gay Rights & Women's Rights in Texas.
37. Who did you miss?
2004: Whole year: James. Kris. Half year: Jenn. David.
2005: First half of the year: Kris. Second Half: Phoenix. Whole time: Jenn. David.
2006: Kris...James...Dale...Jenn, David.
2007: Jenn, David, Billy. Phoenix.
2008: Jenn, David, Kris.
2009: Everyone.
2010: Me. My kids from Korea. Denise.
2011: Stephanie.
2012: The same.
2013: No one really this year. Myself at times, maybe.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
2004: I can be honest and say eight days ago this answer would have been different. In light of that, though? Sara.
2005: Torn between saying Billy and Mrs. Kersnowski.
2006: Crystal, Stephanie, and Victoria.
2007: Debbie.
2008: Li and Weaves.
2009: Sarah. Steph. Alice.
2010: Jennifer.
2011: Sam. Gabby. Lynn. Debi.
2012: Lori. My 'Shadow.' Hands down. (And Weaves, but only in person, as there has been knowing for years.)
2013: Everyone in my Meetup groups, especially Kollin, Robert, and Scott.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned this year:
2004: Embrace your lessons for the good and bad.
2005: Death makes life precious.
2006: Being healthy emotionally is harder than being healthy physically, but just as worthwhile.
2007: The plan isn't as important as your emotional health. Walking away won't kill you.
2008: You can stick it out even when you want to quit. The world will be there when you stop.
2009: I can do this.
2010: Home will always be here waiting for you.
2011: When you escape the castle, don't go crawling back.
2012: It is what it is. That doesn't mean you can't laugh, dream, love, cook, travel and write a lot while it figures out when its going to heal.
2013: Just keep swimming. Swimming, swimming, swimming. Even when you can't see anymore.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
2004...Slow down, you're doing fine
You can't be everything you want to be
Before your time
Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight
Tonight,...
Too bad but it's the life you lead
you're so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need
Though you can see when you're wrong, you know
You can't always see when you're right. you're right
You've got your passion, you've got your pride
but don't you know that only fools are satisfied?
Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?
Slow down, you crazy child
and take the phone off the hook and disappear for awhile
it's all right, you can afford to lose a day or two
When will you realize...Vienna waits for you?
2005....Love is a tangle wood tree in a bower of green
In a forest at dawn
Fair while the mockingbird sings, but she soon lifts her wings
And the music is gone
Young lovers in the tall grass with their hearts open wide
When the red summer poppies bloom
But love is a trackless domain and the rumor of rain
In the late afternoon
Love is an old root that creeps through the meadows of sleep
When the long shadows cast
Thin as a vagrant young vine, it encircles and twines
And it holds the heart fast
Catches dreamers in the wildwood with the stars in their eyes
And the moon in their tousled hair
But love is a light in the sky, and an unspoken lie
And a half-whispered prayer
2006....Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable,
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table.
No one can find the rewind button, boys,
So cradle your head in your hands,
And breathe... just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe
There's a light at each end of this tunnel,
You shout 'cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out
2007....Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
2008.....Fear is the brightest of signs
The shape of the boundary you leave behind
So sing all your questions to sleep
The answers are out there in the drowning deep
You've got a journey to make
There's your horizon to chase
2009.....I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.
2010..... let it go,
let it roll right off your shoulder
don't you know
the hardest part is over
let it in,
let your clarity define you
in the end
we will only just remember how it feels
our lives are made
in these small hours
these little wonders,
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away,
but these small hours,
these small hours still remain
2011.....I’m scared today, more than I told you I was yesterday
Give me a moment to catch my breath
And hold me every second left
Proud of me, that’s the only way I want you to be
Look at me and love what you see
I won’t make it alone, I need something to hold
Kiss me on my shoulder, and tell me it’s not over
I promise to always come home to you
Remind me that I’m older to be brave, smart, sweet, and bolder
And don’t give up on what we’re trying to do
Don’t count the miles, count the “I love you"s
2012.....Now and then I think of when we were together
Like when you said you felt so happy you could die
Told myself that you were right for me
But felt so lonely in your company
But that was love and it's an ache I still remember
You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness
Like resignation to the end, always the end
2013:
You can be amazing
You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug
You can be the outcast
Or be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love
Or you can start speaking up
Nothing’s gonna hurt you the way that words do
When they settle ‘neath your skin
Kept on the inside and no sunlight
Sometimes a shadow wins
But I wonder what would happen if you
Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
~*~
Fanfic Inventory of the Year
Archive of Our Own: Wanderlustlover [Main Updating Location]
New Writing Journal: UtPicturePoesis[Unused in 2013]
Fanfiction.Net: Wanderlustlover [Closed, and not updated]
- 01/01 - 12 Days of Jersey: let your heart be light (Hawaii Five-0) [100]
- 01/02 - 12 Days of Jersey: the sturdy kind, that doesn't mind (Hawaii Five-0) [100]
- 01/03 - 12 Days of Jersey: friends scatter, it won't matter (Hawaii Five-0) [100]
- 01/04 - 12 Days of Jersey: wild and sweet the words repeat (Hawaii Five-0) [100]
- 01/05 - 12 Days of Jersey: While I Tell of Yuletide Treasure (Hawaii Five-0) [100]
- 01/08 - Fandom Stocking: these places, we find ourselves (Once Upon a Time; Charming/Snow/Red) [100]
- 03/27 - Imagine Your OTP: you light up my life like nobody else (Hawaii Five-0) [442]
- 03/27 - Imagine Your OTP: cause that's just who I am this week (Hawaii Five-0) [510]
- 04/06 - 100 Word LJ Comm: At Least (Hawaii Five-0) [100]
- 04/12 - Milliways DE Challenge: They say I'll be okay, but I'm not going to ever get over you (Robin Hood/Milliways; Caspian/Marian) [336]
- 04/14 - Imagine Your OTP: i can do anything crazy, and know (Hawaii Five-0) [1054]
- 07/20 - Milliways DE Challenge: and this is how you remind me (SPN/Milliways, Jo) [123]
- 07/20 - Milliways DE Challenge: so she took her love, for to gaze a while (The Tarot; Star) [157]
- 07/20 - Milliways DE Challenge: this is the part of me (that you’re never gonna ever take away from me, no) (Haven; Audrey) [295]
- 07/20 - Milliways DE Challenge: grace marked your heart (With quiet words I'll lead you in and out of the dark) (Once Upon a Time; Snow/MM) [539]
- 07/20 - Ultracrepidarian: Behind The Scenes (Hawaii Five-0) [125]
- 09/03 - Instant Wish Fulfillment (Hawaii Five-0) [1183]
- 11/11 - These Dreams Are Made of Things (Hawaii Five-0) [618]
- 11/11 - In The Dark of the Night (Hawaii Five-0) [289]
- 11/11 - Resolution (Hawaii Five-0 AU; Steve & Mary) [362]
- 12/25 - Yuletide 2013: [Unrevealed] (???) [2000ish]
- 12/25 - 12 Days of Jersey II: hang a shining star on the highest bough (Hawaii Five-0) [100]
- 12/26 - 12 Days of Jersey II: up on the housetop, click click click (Hawaii Five-0) [100]
- 12/27 - 12 Days of Jersey II: I know what I want and nothing else will do (Hawaii Five-0) [100]
- 12/28 - 12 Days of Jersey II: there's a picture on the mantle of boy who looks like me (Hawaii Five-0) [100]
- 12/29 - 12 Days of Jersey II: fall on your knees (Hawaii Five-0) [100]
- 12/29 - it's again my turn (to win some or learn some) (Hawaii Five-0) [338]
- 12/29 - We're Marching On (Hawaii Five-0) [146]
- 12/29 - Ahuiho (Hawaii Five-0; Steve & Malia) [267]
- 12/29 - Walking in a Winter Wonderland (Hawaii Five-0; Jersey Christmas) [332]
- 12/29 - the wise men followed the star (The way I followed my heart) (Hawaii Five-0; Jersey Christmas) [387]
- 12/29 - Christmas trees, bells and stars (Hawaii Five-0; Steve & Grace) [270]
- 12/30 - 12 Days of Jersey II: heaven knows, there's a new kid in town (Hawaii Five-0) [100]
- 12/31 - 12 Days of Jersey II: [Unrevealed] (Hawaii Five-0) [100]
- 03/23 - Meta: No holds barred on Mama McGarrett (Hawaii Five-0) [1721]
- 03/24 - Meta: In which Wanderlustlover takes her Meta to McRollins, and hits up Steve with a battering ram (not Catherine, this time) (Hawaii Five-0) [1750]
- 04/04 - Meta: On Ben's Commentary About Places Steve Takes People (Hawaii Five-0) [2469]
- 04/18 - Meta: Other baffling quandaries of 3.20 -- Steve's Miitary Career (Hawaii Five-0) [578]
- 05/21 - Meta: What did that Cath and her ex [Billy Harrington] scene mean? (Hawaii Five-0) [1651]
- 05/28 - Meta: Catherine's Interview on Savannah (Hawaii Five-0) [1362]
- 10/04 - Meta: Season Four Meta Collection (Hawaii Five-0) [449]
2013 Word Count: ******
~*~
End of The Year Writing Round-Up
Favorite(s) of the batch:I think this is definitely going to end up being 12 Days of Jersey and 12 Days of Jersey II. I don't even know if we made it through the first one entirely before we knew we'd be doing it again. We'd even talked about doing a Christmas in July set, with Christmas's in Hawaii but we haven't quite branched out to it. But there was something magically fun about having it behind me, and in front of me to fill the Christmas spaces
Best of the batch: I'm going to have to go with a toss up between 12 Days of Jersey/12 Days of Jersey II and my Unrevealed Yuletide. I had so much fun stepping out of my shell into a brand new fandom and person for my Yuletide and it had been really awesome getting a mass wave of feedback that it was so great for the challenge laid out by my recipient.
Most under appreciated by the universe: This one is definitely she took her love, for to gaze a while, but not any specifically bad reason. Just that Star is only really recognized by people in Milliways, as with how most Tarot stuff is, so it's really left alone aside from when Milliways people find it.
Most fun to write:Oh. Jeez. See this is hard, because so many of them are so fun. 12 Days of Jersey/12 Days of Jersey II never stops being a laugh/squee/surprise riot, because my cowriter and I give each other the prompts, swap them in e-mails surprising each other and stocking up for the event, and then we get to interact with all the commenters.
i can do anything crazy, and know definitely has to be on this list. Anything that makes you giggle in waves while writing it, before you can even gift it out to the person definitely falls in the most fun.
Sexiest fic:You know I don't think I really have one of those entirely this year. In The Dark of the Night, These Dreams are Made of Things, and i can do anything crazy, and know are all about beds, bodies and people who've frequently had sex, but they aren't really in a category of sexiest in my head.
Accccck. Nevermind. I lied it's totally these places, we find ourselves. That one ranks up just a smudge above the other three in this category.
"Holy crap, that's wrong even for you" fic:There really isn't one of these this year at all. I didn't write a lot this year, but I wrote a pretty sizable amount on things that were pretty normal for me, in all manner of topics but nothing too weird or dark or out there this year.
Fic that shifted my own perceptions of the characters: Maybe they say I'll be okay, but I'm not going to ever get over you, but only because TGA fic continues to remind me that Marian is an independent, stubborn person who chooses both the wounds she keeps and what she lets heal her. That she doesn't have to let go of the past, or ever actually move on from what happened to her or the great expanse of what she's lost, even when she's move on to her present fully dedicated to it.
Because she -- and they -- surprise me, and it'll never be less than true. Their world really can handle one more paradox.
Hardest fic to write: Uh. None? Maybe my Yuletide, not because it was hard, it really wasn't, the thing glided together like the breeze and the summer dun, but because even though it pretty much wrote itself without a need for research, I spent an amazingly long time agonizing over every detail because it was my first fic in a favorite show of years, but that I'd never written in the fandom of, and it was someone's Christmas gift. So take all my normal neurosis about wanting my fic to be right and add that on it.
Biggest disappointment: Nothing, thankfully! I usually have something that falls flat and annoys me, but maybe the less writing this year means there wasn't something I tackled that I hadn't quite gotten my fingers around entirely. I'm actually really pleased with everything that ended up going out this year.
Biggest surprise: Echoing last year, this still has to be 12 Days of Jersey the first round, that ran through January 5th of the beginning of the year, because it was just an idea that hit me from left field. I never expected it to take off so fast, get so high hit wise, or have so many people commenting and loving it on A03 and Tumblr. This one this Christmas wasn't so surprising, but I never stopped being in awe of who, how many, omg squeezing adorable people last year.
Most telling fic: Definitely my Yuletide 2013. There’s so much circling the drain, dragging in and out going on in that fic, which has to do with both the past and the present, and the people enmeshed in both of those. I really can’t wait until that hits my actual works, too, as I’ve been really loving people seeing it through Yuletide itself.
What's next?Well, I have to finish out 12 Days of Jersey II which will take me, again, to January 5th finishing off the 12 Days of Christmas and then the sky is the limit, really, you know? I'm curious considering the H50 comm for writing 1 Million words for next year, because I played read-along girl for them this year and by the middle I really wished I had joined in, so I’m definitely looking to get involved with it next year.
~*~
Take the first sentence from the first entry of each month in 2013 and put it in a paragraph or two: For last year's words belong to last year's language, And next year's words await another voice. (J) The last few days weren't so much hard, as sort of hard and very strange, beautiful and, thus, heavy. (F) Today? A03 sent me a notice, I'd never seen before. (M) I want more AdagioTeas Easter Egg badges. (A) Every year I buy myself usually a nice gift at my birthday and Christmas. (M) Interestingly enough I do not think form or format will ever keep Sara and I from finding each other. (J)
Spielberg is made of trying so hard to make me cry like every other episode. (J) So I'm playing catch-up with the world this week. (A) Where and when and in what show, Lenkov, are you even talking about? (S) I can't even think straight, guys. (O) I've made it to Illinois, and I'm surrounded by tea cups, book readers and cheerful voices. (N) I keep meaning to get back and write a post and the world keeps hammering my to-do list. (D)
~*~
Visited US States & World Wide Countries
visited 32 states (64%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or Like this? try: Fridge Poetry
(Which obviously means, when I'm visiting Massachussets I should find a way to mark Deleware and Connecticut off my list while I'm up there. Plus, I totally need a second road trip to hit West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas and all of that side of it off the map.)
visited 7 states (3.11%)
Create your own visited map of The World or Free iphone travel guide
Year End's Past
2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008
2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013
[This entry was originally posted at http://wanderlustlover.dreamwidth.org/2270795.html. Comment on either at your leisure.]