2007 in Review
I did this last year too. I like these - it makes for interesting perspective.
1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?
Supported my partner fleeing the country for a year. Got mildly addicted to exercise. Figured out that exercise makes my depression lift more easily. Joined a gym. Took part in a psych study. Took a university night class. Booked my first flight out of this hemisphere. Paid off all our debts (excepting of course the mortgage, but making huge headways on that as well).2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn’t make New Year’s resolutions last year, I made a 25 in 25 list, and did very well on it. I plan to (belatedly) do a 26 in 26 list. 3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Darren’s sister did – he’s an adorable baby. The soft spot on his head freaked John out a lot.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully, no.
5. What countries did you visit?
The States (Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and Montana) and the Dominican Republic.
6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
Less grief. No stupid drama. No family vacations. *grin* No fucking mice in the house.
7. What date(s) from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
October 13th – the day John left.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Coping with the above with far more composure than anyone expected – myself included.
9. What was your biggest failure?
You know, that’s a tough one. I don’t think I really failed at anything this year. I mean, I haven’t been a total success or anything, but to me, to have failed carries a tone of not doing my best. I mean, I failed to learn to do an upside down flip called the helicopter at my pole dancing class, but I tried really hard. I bruised ribs, feet, ass, hip bone, and tail bone. Eventually I quit trying to do it, but I don’t really care. I tried my best, and it didn’t work. *shrug* I don’t feel bad about it. It just is – I can’t do that move – my weight distribution in my body is wrong for it, and I don’t care. I could do other stuff.
I failed at all sorts of things this year, like keep the house clean like a good little Martha would. But I don’t feel that I particularly failed at anything. On the whole, I gave things my best shot. And that’s good enough.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
We discovered that the constant colds and infections and feeling like crap was all based on a cat allergy gone out of control. No more visits to the in-laws, where the cat lives, no more being sick. (Okay, I’ve had a cold or two, but NOTHING like before.) I think I may have given myself another mild concussion. I have got to stop doing that.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
(I’m hoping) my flight to see John in the January. Otherwise, probably all the yoga 20 class passes.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Mine, dammit. My boyfriend of six years goes to the Middle East, and on the whole, I keep my shit together and don’t get depressed. I’m proud of myself, even if no one else is.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Okay, listen, I just got back from a seven day vacation with my parents and adult sister. That’s a hell of a loaded question.
Also, ***** for being an absolutely insane jerk about something so pathetically trivial – a reaction that will essentially taint our relationship for the rest of our lives.
14. Where did most of your money go?
The mortgage. Followed by vacations. Followed by groceries. Followed by a lovely piece of art.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
All the travel I’m getting to do.
Also, paying off all the money we owed John’s parents.
16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2007?
Jeremy Fisher – High School. Heard him at the Folk Fest this summer. I can listen to it over and over and over.
Wolf Parade – I’ll Believe Anything. Bought the album before the road trip this summer. Blasted the thing at loud volume while driving through America with a window open (because our little old car has a non functioning air conditioning system, and it was 100oF outside) and just feeling it.
Raine Maida – Yellow Brick Road. I like the version that’s on the radio, but we say him perform it in February, and it just blew both of us away.
Snow Patrol – pretty much the entire Eyes Open album. Love.
The Killers – Sam’s Town album. Awesome road trip music, blasting away, sometimes rolling up a window so that we can sing along with the lyrics.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. Happier or sadder? This time last year I was depressed. So I’m happier than that, but I’m also really lonely. It’s a draw, I think.
ii. Thinner or fatter? About the same weight – but far more ripped muscles.
iii. Richer or poorer? Richer. That is, when they actually remember to pay John.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Laugh. Go to live theatre. Stood up for myself.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Complain. Cry. Whine. Feel sad. Feel self loathing.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
In the Dominican Republic, without the love of my life, with my parents and sister. Drinking pina coladas, relaxing around the pool and getting a tan. Very relaxing.
21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
I am in love.
22. How many one-night stands?
None. But I am about to fly 11,268km for a booty call, so that’s got to earn me some trashy points.
23. What was your favorite TV program?
Heroes. Doctor Who. House. Grey’s Anatomy. Corner Gas. Little Mosque on the Prairies.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No, I try not to hate anyone. I may loathe certain people extra much though.
25. What was the best book you read?
I’ve read around 183 books this year. Many were very good.
26. What were your greatest musical discoveries?
Wolf Parade. Jeremy Fisher. Final Fantasy. Silver Sun Pickups. Feist. Plain White Ts. I bought more cds this year at full price than I have in pretty much the rest of my life put together. Yay having a job.
27. What did you want and get?
Vacations. Love. Solid friendship. The confidence to strut my overweight ass around in short shorts and hooker heels and feel sexy doing it.
28. What was your favorite film of this year?
I really enjoyed Enchanted, The Bourne Identity, My Little Sunshine, and a few others.
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 26. My parents took me out for Indian food at the Taj Mahal restaurant. A few days early I invited friends over and roasted my first turkey, and made them bring me food, potluck style.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Having John here for all of it. Also, not having the stupid drama with his father. Though if John had stayed, that never would have happened…
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Jeans are good. And I have enormous breasts that make shopping for clothes hard and really frustrating. I did start layering t-shirts…
32. What kept you sane?
John. Books. Strongbow. Gin. The promise of vacations.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Oh, let’s go with the perennial favorite Colin Firth.
34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Not much this year. Pretty quiet on the Canadian front. Our civic election didn’t result in many surprises.
35. Who did you miss?
John. God, am I repetitive enough yet?
36. Who was the best new person you met?
Trisha, though work. Look, I’m making a new friend! How unlike me.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007:
You are stronger than you think.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
If I knew now what I knew then, I’d
Back up do it all again, I’d
Take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down the yellow brick road
Raine Maida - Yellow Brick Road
Also:
Give me your eyes
I need sunshine
Give me your eyes
I need sunshine
Your blood
Your bones
Your voice
and your ghost
We've both been very brave
Walk around with both legs
Fight the scary day
We both pull the tricks out of our sleeves
Wolf Parade – I’ll Believe Anything
Labels: 25 in 25, body, boredom, family, holidailies, identity, meme, solo year, the boy, twisty, vacation, writing
26 random things
In honour of my 26
th birthday and the entry a day requirements, a list of 26 random things connected to me. Randomly, as they come in to my head.
1. I just turned 26.
2. I've been with John for 6 years this week. That's 23% of my life, or 29% of my life that I actually have memories from. That's a lot.
3. He's in Saudi Arabia. For a year.
4. He sent me flowers that are sitting on my desk right now, for our anniversary.
5. Having a work
crackberry makes me feel important.
6. I have sent exactly one text message in my life and it was an accident.
7.
Apparently my father in law is no longer speaking to me. Oops!
8. I can't even tell you how excited I am to travel to the Middle East in January. Bahrain and Qatar, here we come!
9. My mother hates Christmas, and without John around, I am also deeply disinclined to celebrate.
10. So my family is going to the
Dominican Republic for
Christmas instead.
Yay!
11. I generally read around 200 books a year.
12. I am a nerd.
13. Last summer we road tripped around Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming. The year before that, Oregon and way northern California coast. Year before that -
Puerto Vallarta with his entire family. Year before that - BC interior, coast and island. Year before that - Toronto. Year before that - a week in the
Okanogan Valley.
14. This next year: Bahrain and Qatar, then maybe Jordan for Petra, and then probably Dubai and the
Emirates. Can we saw upgrade??
15. I've read so many books set in the UK that I often forget I've never been there.
16. I've been to Costa Rice twice, Mexico 4 times (twice in the interior) and that's it for my travel. I am deeply, deeply excite by this year.
17. It still doesn't make up for John being in Saudi for a year.
18. I've become a big fan of cross
stitching.
19. My friend Erin has a program that turns pictures in to cross stitch patterns. The first one she helped me with was
Chinese characters that spell out pornography. The one I've working on now is, um, very graphic and uses a lot of flesh tone. It makes me laugh so hard.
20. I love to cook, and to bake, and to eat. A lot.
21. I've won
NaNo three times. I've been blogging since 2000. I keep a paper journal. That is, all told, a hell of a lot of words.
22. I have no boundaries and a host of problems. At least I can
acknowledge - that's a start, right?
23. I have a nice job that bears no relation to my degree.
24. My house is far nicer than I deserve. It also has 40 year old blue/green shag carpet that John loves and I do not. No one deserves 40 year old shag carpet.
25. I still feel about 15 much of the time.
26. My brain is as random as this post.
Labels: holidailies, identity, meme, writing
Eight Random Things
I got this from
Meli Melo...
1. I made had some left over
swiss chard in the fridge, so I printed off this
fabulous recipe from
Tigers and Strawberries.
Panch Phoron is made from an equal mix of "
oniony nigella (kalonji in my house), musky cumin, sweet fennel, sharp mustard, and nutty
fenugreek" and the only spice I had to worry about was the cumin - the container upstairs was almost empty and I had to go to the spice cupboard downstairs for more. That's it. The
kalonji was in the drawer with the mustard (actually two kinds, but I used yellow) seeds and the cumin, and the fennel and
fenugreek were in the cupboard above the spice drawers. Yes, I am a freak. But a very happily fed freak.
2. I am powerless in the face of the discard table at my local library. For fifty cents or a dollar, how can you resist? I can't, clearly. Which is was the jumbo bookshelf, the 3 slightly narrower bookshelf and the half height bookshelf just aren't cutting it these days. It's because of them! I'm too cheap to by very many books at full price, but for fifty cents I'll give almost anything a whirl. And no, I don't tend to give them back after - they're mine! My
preciouses...
3. At 15, I wore as much black as a non-goth could get away with. Big, baggy black things. (Hey, it was the time of
grunge...) And now? I'm still a huge fan of the black, but I have managed to
embrace the colour pink, of all things. Pink. I have THREE different pairs of pink shoes. And shirts. And skirts. (I draw the line at pink pants, though.) I look good in pink - it suits my colouring.
This makes my inner 15 year old cry.
4. I have perfectly
proportioned size 8 feet. They are the only thing in my body that nicely proportioned.
5. I have been doing yoga for just shy of 8 years. I can do an 7 minute headstand, but I can't do it away from the wall. Progress in baby steps, I guess.
6. I have a
delightfully useless degree in international relations, with
specializations in Latin America and Security & Strategy. The only real tangible application for the +30k I spent on my education is that fact that I'm pretty awesome at trivia games.
7. I have seen +250 bands perform live. Great Big Sea was one of the best. Ashley
McIasac was the most messed up.
The statement 'all music has value' is a lie, and if you argue I will bring up the 10 hour long junior and senior high school Christian punk show. A show, no less, where the only lyrics I understood the whole time were by a non-
Christan (I hope!) band, and they were, and I quote, "I'm going to fuck your mom, motherfucker." Yes, seriously.
8. I have outgrown all but one of my
childhood allergies. The only one left? Cats. Yes, I am violently allergic to my
inlaw's cat, and that's why I've been sick for the last age. Damn that cat. On the upside, I don't have to go over there any more...
Play along if you 'd like.
Labels: boredom, meme
Yes, I'm a nerd. And?
I stole this from Linda of
http://kayaksoup.blogspot.com/. I wasn't tagged, but I do love me some book memes. What can I say - I'm a nerd. Please don't judge me too harshly on some of these - I buy books at the library for 50 cents, and have collected a certain amount of crap over the years.
Look at the list of books below. Bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you want to read, cross out the ones you won’t touch with a 10 foot pole (I can't figure out how to cross out, so I used X), put a cross in front of the ones on your book shelf, and asterisk* the ones you’ve never heard of.
1. XThe Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) X
2. +
Pride and Predjudice (Jane Austen) 3.
To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)4.
Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. +
Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)9.
Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)10. *A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. +
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)12. X Angels and Demons (Dan Brown) X
13.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15.
Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)16.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. +
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)21. +The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22.
The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)23.
Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25.
Life of Pi (Yann Martel)26. +
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) and the other four volumes in the trilogy.
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. +
The lion, the witch and the Wardrobe
29.
East of Eden (John Steinbeck)30. X Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom) X
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32.
The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)33. X Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand) X
34. +
1984 (Orwell)35. +
The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. *The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. *The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True ( Wally Lamb)
39. *The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40.
The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. +
Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44.
The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angelas Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. +
The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)56.
The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)57.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. *The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. +
The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)60.
Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66.
One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67.
The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68.
Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. +The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. +
Bridget Jones Diary (Fielding)72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. *Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. +
The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. +
Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82.
Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. +
Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. +
Emma (Jane Austen)86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. +
Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. *Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel(Jeffrey Archer)
91. *In The Skin Of A Lion (Michael Ondaatje)
92. X Lord of the Flies (Golding) X
93. *The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94.
The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. X The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton) X
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. +
The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)100. +Ulysses (James Joyce)
Labels: meme
