(no subject)
1. Where did you begin 2008? At Kristen and Noah's, partying it up good, and then watching Law & Order reruns as we nursed our hangovers on New Year's Day.
2. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before? Closed a hotel.
3. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I've never really made those, so, no ;p ;)
4. Did anyone close to you give birth? No one particularly close, no.
5. Did anyone close to you die? Poor old Billy the cat.
6. Did you know anybody who got married? Matt and Amy will be in June :)
7. Did you move anywhere? No, but my parents did.
8. Where did you go on holiday? I went to Minnesota this past summer with Mom and Robin to visit the Wachtler clan.
9. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? An actual summer! This past one is just a blur of work, work, and more work.
10. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Saturday, Sept. 6th, when Sean and I went to see Ben Folds perform with the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra. It was amazing - he even played our song as the final encore, and it was so beautiful.
11. What was your biggest achievement of the year? I finally got back in school, and aced all my classes (even my very demanding Cultural Geography course). I also managed to surprise Sean for his birthday, and he is not an easy man to surprise!
12. What was your biggest failure? I totally bombed on doing my sketches for NaNoWriMo - only 19 out of 50!
13. Did you suffer illness or injury? Thankfully not myself, but Grandmom had her hip replaced.
14. What was the best thing you bought? Our new kitty, Samus :)
15. Whose behavior merited celebration? The American people, for electing Barack Obama! Plus Lauren for throwing together the awesome No-Mo-Cancer party, and Amy, for finally settling on bridesmaid dresses ;)
16. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? All the top executives who've been rewarding themselves with huge bonuses while their companies go bankrupt and our economy collapses.
17. Where did most of your money go? Into the car, the house, and helping Grandmom and Grandpop. Not to mention all the savings the stock market ate.
18. What concerts/shows did you go to? The aforementioned amazing Ben Folds concert in September. Also, we went to a very cool performance of Jekyll & Hyde that Lauren J. was working on.
19. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Sean and Matt's surprise birthday dinner, the hotel closing so I could finally do something besides work crazy long shifts by myself, taking Maria to just about anywhere (because she would get so excited), the No-Mo-Cancer party for Maurene, the Ben Folds concert, and getting a new kitty!
20. What song will always remind you of 2008? Pretty much anything from Ben Fold's SuperSunnySpeedGraphic LP.
21. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? About the same
ii. thinner or fatter? About the same
iii. richer or poorer? Poorer! thank you recession!
22. What do you wish you'd done more? I wish I'd taken Maria more places before she had to go back to Russia, especially toward the beginning of summer before things got so crazy at work. Also just spending more time with friends in general.
23. What do you wish you'd done less of? WORK!
24. How did you spend Christmas? I worked on Christmas Eve, then hung out with Mo as is our tradition, and then with Diana, too, until we all went over to the Briliant's for their annual party and Yankee Swap. On Christmas Day, we got up with the grandfolks and opened presents over breakfast and mimosas, which was laid back and wonderful. Then relatives from both sides descended and the oven caught on fire (twice!) and Grandmom got very upset, which was not so wonderful. Then we ate a lot of food. People came and went and gifts were exchanged, and things gradually settled down, and we all zonked pretty early.
25. Did you fall in love in 2008? I've been there for a while now :)
26. How many one-night stands? None!
27. What was your favorite TV program? The Office, 30 Rock, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and Law & Order reruns on TNT.
28. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Nah, waste of energy.
29. What was the best book you read? Water for Elephants, hands down. Wonderful, wonderful book.
30. Did you have any encounters with the police? I got pulled over for making a right on red at an intersection where you used to be able to do that (oops). And of course, I've always got the officers who stop in and visit at the hotel.
31. What was your greatest musical discovery? I really got into Imogen Heap earlier in the year, and now Robin just gave us some Sufjan Stevens which Sean and I are both enjoying a lot.
32. What did you want and get? A promotion with a raise, college credits, and an adorable orange kitten who now gets along very will with the mini-panther :)
33. What was your favorite film of this year? Dark Knight was, of course, fantastic, despite the chaos of the midnight showing we went to. Rachel Getting Married was really unique and wonderful. Also, I just saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button last night, which was excellent.
34. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 25, and the whole gang and I went up to Red Bank to hang out and browse through cool shops and eat excellent food (and cupcakes!) and then even listen to a bit of the jazz festival before it started raining. It was a great birthday :)
35. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Not losing half our savings in the stock market would have been nice. Also, I really wish Level Up had done better.
36. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007? Professional at work, as I'm now allowed to wear my own suits and such, and casual outside of it.
37. What kept you sane? Sean, friends, kitties, music, and a healthy sense of humor.
38. Which public figure did you admire the most? Our new president-elect.
39. Favorite night out? Sean and Matt's joint surprise birthday party, my birthday, the No-Mo-Cancer after party at Boogie Nights, and the Friday before last at Trinity.
40. What political issue stirred you the most? The election.
41. Were you in school (anytime this year)? Yes! Yay!
42. Who did you miss? Maria, especially since I have no idea if or when I'll get to see her again, and of course all my friends I don't get to see often enough.
43. Who was the best new person you met? It's always hard to pick one, but I think I'm going to go with Professor Zanni, who made me work my ass off in his Cultural Geography class, but still made it really interesting.
44. What's something you learned about yourself? Even though I had a lot of stress this year, I'm still pretty lucky overall.
45. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008: Keep some perspective ;)
46. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
Sometimes everything you've ever wanted floats above
It's stickin' out its tongue and laughing while
Everything that anyone could ever need is down below
Waiting for you.