auld lang syne

it's that time of year! sundry's new year meme:

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
attended a presidential inauguration. took up pole dancing.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
i'm not actually big on resolutions. i make (and fail to follow through on) various resolutions throughout the year (see: failed pushup challenge; taking up running; etc.) so pooling them all in january just seems depressing.

while not a resolution for the entire year, i am giving up alcohol after tonight... until my pole graduation at the end of january.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
yes! my friend and former roommate, olivia.

4. Did anyone close to you die?


no. thankfully.

5. What countries did you visit?


London , the Dominican Republic, and the Czech Republic, Hungary and Croatia in October.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
hmm. i feel pretty content right now, actually. i did meet a nice boy, though, and i'd like to keep him for 2010 please.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
the inauguration was probably the most momentous/exciting. spending my birthday in prague was pretty neat, too.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?


it sounds kind of silly, but pole dancing. it's not something i would have thought i'd ever do, and it's HARD, YO. i'm stronger and more confident and more comfortable with myself, and i'm proud of it.

9. What was your biggest failure?
i let my credit card grow a balance again, after being SO PROUD about paying it off. that will be my resolution, actually - grow a pair and just pay that effer off.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
well, there was the time i fell playing frisbee and gave myself what is evidently a huge permanent scar on my shoulder (it's still there!) AND patellar tendonitis from bruising the bone on my right knee so severely... or the time i passed out while driving... but, uh, other than that? no!

11. What was the best thing you bought?
ooh. hmm. i recently finally bought a nice huge 5 qt pan for cooking, which i can't believe took me so long and has literally changed my (cooking) life. or, well, any of my trips / any of my big expensive meals.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
no on really comes to mind. i haven't had any coffee today.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?


tiger woods. i know i should have expected it / shouldn't care / whatever, but i really was disappointed. CAN NO MAN NOT CHEAT? REALLY?

14. Where did most of your money go?
given where i live, most of my money has to go to rent. HOWEVER, after that, it's definitly food and travel. i ate at komi, restaurant eve, and nobu this year; aside from my out-of-the-country trips i also flew to atlanta, chicago, and cali (though that was for work), and drove to new york, dewey beach, the outer banks, and new york again.

15. What did you get really excited about?
um, probably getting to see the giants play. twice. AND WIN BOTH TIMES. :-)

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
anything by lady gaga, holy crap. i first dismissed her, then listened to her songs "ironically," then gave up the pretense and just admitted that i pretty much love everything she writes, which coincidentally is on every radio station ever at all times of every day.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

(a) happier or sadder?
(b) thinner or fatter?
(c) richer or poorer?

(a) i think probably happier. i didn't do this meme last year because i'd done it for 2007, and that was the year i'd met karl and subsequently thought i'd met the man i was going to marry blah blah blah, so i knew my 2008 answers were going to sound pretty depressing after the "I'M THE HAPPIEST I'VE EVER BEEN! SQUUUEEEE!!" of the year before. so! we'll go with happier :-)

(b) almost exactly the same. to the pound.

(c) probably richer, but oh-so-barely.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?


hmm... my favorite thing to do is travel, and i definitely did a lot of that this year. i also put myself out there, dating-wise, despite some angsty floundering about it a few times, and i think i would have wished i'd put myself out there if i hadn't. so.. um.. save money? i guess?

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?


stressing about my job situation, especially given that nothing actually EVER HAPPENED with it.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
with just my mom, dad, and sister, just like we always do. i love it that way.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?


HA. trick question. i'm not answering this one any more, i learned my lesson.

22. What was your favorite TV program?
so you think you can dance? bones? criminal minds? meh.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

no, although i will say that i hate karl LESS than i did at this time last year, which is kind of nice.

24. What was the best book you read?


the girl with the dragon tattoo. which reminds me, i need to go get the second book...

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

i don't really "discover" music. i mean, i "discover" music when they start playing it on the radio all the time. ooh, i did see Blind Pilot in concert earlier this year and thought they were pretty awesome, though.

26. What did you want and get?


cheesy, but: a sense of peace about my life, and where i am in it. i was a little discombobulated for longer than i wanted to admit to myself after the trials and tribulations of 2008, so it's nice to feel sort of.. settled back down, now.

27. What did you want and not get?

heaps of money..?

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
i'm sort of blanking on what i saw this year. avatar was the most recent, and DAMN was it awesome, so we'll go with that.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
i landed in prague! however, my friends also gave me a small surprise party a few days beforehand, because they're awesome. i turned 29.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?


immeasurably?? i... don't really know. i feel like i had a pretty decent year.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?


hmm. "attempting to look put together," i suppose.

32. What kept you sane?


my girls. ALL of them, whether in person on weekly girls' nights or online listening to me whine / stress / schmoop.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
meh. boring, i know, but i'm not a big celebrity-fancier. and taylor lautner doesn't do it for me, I'M SORRY YOU GUYS.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

boy, kind of a lot of them this year. it seems to be the one everyone says, but still: healthcare.

35. Who did you miss?


my sister. i wish she lived closer.

36. Who was the best new person you met?


marie and makarlin :-)

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.


this is getting hard and tiring. this thing is long. pass.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
i hate this one. sorry guys.

hey look, all done! THANK GOODNESS.
have a very happy new year's, all!