End of Year Meme
Dec. 30th, 2018 07:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
highlyeccentricI'm desperately trying to finish 'The Night Tiger' by tomorrow evening, but I've run out of focus, so, let's start on the non-book meme.
1. What did you do in 2018 that you'd never done before?
Er, well, I finished and defended a PhD, never done that, hope to never do it again.
2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Last year I said:
The closest thing I had to a resolution was 'I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me', and I did, it didn't kill me, and I think I renew that resolution!
I do seem to have made it through this year, and it hasn't killed me, although it has bruised me in some ways.
Much more concrete goals for 2019:
- acquire some Japanese
- acquire semi-functional German
- improve Latin
- make progress on Book of PhD
- do not entirely abandon creative writing
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope!
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, although someone you might normally assume I would be close to did die. I did not fly home for my paternal grandmother's funeral, in accordance with my pronouncement after Nanna T's death that 'anyone else who dies can die without me'. I did skype in to the funeral.
5. What countries did you visit?
UK (England and Scotland), France, more bits of Switzerland, Australia, the US, and Italy. Italy was new!
6. What would you like to have in 2019 that you lacked in 2018?
I guess I already *have* what I lacked for most of 2018: a sense of what I'm doing after my PhD, which has finally come together in the past few weeks. There are plans for this year, plans for 2020, and fuzzier sense of the future for a few years beyond that.
7. What date from 2018 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Pretty sure I will remember the date of my defence, 31 August, and probably also the 14th of September, the date I officially moved to the UK, if only because I put the latter on so many forms.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Lol this one is going around twitter and I'm like 'look I didn't irreparably sabotage any close relationships'. Which is... more of an achievement than it sounds, if you take into account 'finished a PhD'. Those are not typically good for human relationships.
Ed: oh, and I had a short story published in a pretty good anthology, and got paid! I should be more proud of that.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Look, the problem here is what *feels* like a failure should in fact be my answer to question 8. I feel like my PhD defence was a failure. I am reliably informed it was really good. I am therefore banned from judging any other failures.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
The weird travel sickness that got me in late 2017 continued, I decided with some grounds I'm gluten-intolerant, but that hasn't completely accounted for all of the Weird Guts symptoms I've had all year. Oh, and my wisdom teeth are getting worse.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
My answer for 2017 (really cool shirts) was wrong, btw. The best thing I bought in 2017 was a Very Loud Suit. The best thing I bought in 2018... i don't know. A laptop riser, so I am no longer at such predictable risk of spilling things on my laptop? Some second-hand Docs with Hogarth's The Rake's Progress on them.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Fantastic friend who's offered me a place to stay in the second half of this year!
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
*gestures bleakly at global politics*
14. Where did most of your money go?
Air travel, leaving Geneva, impulse spending
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
I did not get really excited about anything this year. Oh, I got *normal amounts* of excited about things at appropriate times, but I did not develop any new and thrilling obsessions. Even the new things I enjoyed I enjoyed relatively sedately.
16. What song will always remind you of 2018?
Maybe Christine and the Queens' 'Girlfriend'? Or Lindsay Stirling's Brave Enough.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Sadder, but less anxious
ii. thinner or fatter? maybe a bit thinner but not significantly
iii. richer or poorer? definitely poorer
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Copy-editing my damn thesis properly.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Reading the books I keep buying, rather than just... hoarding them.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
Surprisingly busy (a bit Too Much, perhaps: I was wiped on Boxing Day). Opened presents with housemate, called my family; taught for three hours; went with housemate to her family's place for christmas lunch-dinner-thing. Xmas Eve I did some screen-share movie watching with the gf.
21. How will you be spending/ did you spend New Year's?
I'll be at home, trying to finish reading The Night Tiger. I might watch more LOTR with the gf, either NYE or NYD.
22. Did you fall in love in 2018?
I didn't fall OUT, that's enough.
23. How many one-night stands?
Does it count if it was with the same person as 2017? And there's a non-zero chance of one (1) encounter in 2019? Maybe that's just a very slow affair.
24. What was your favorite TV program(s)?
As usual, I suck at TV, but I enjoyed the second half of Bake Off and the first half of Walking Britain's Railways.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Nope but i have accumulated a bunch of low-level negative feelings.
26. What was the best book you read?
I cannot answer this question, refer to forthcoming book meme.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I think Christine and the Queens, although Gary Moore comes close.
28. What did you want and get?
UK visa? Oh! Oh! My mum hunted down a good-condition movie-tie-in LOTR Trivial Pursuit set for me, so that's something I wanted *in my teens* that I have finally got. Will I play it? Probably not, unless I ship it back to Aus. Am I glad to have it? YOU BET.
29. What did you want and not get?
Decent work in the UK
30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Did I... see... any films??? I think Infinity Was was the *only* movie I saw, but I don't want to grace it with the honour of being my favourite.
31. What did you do on your birthday?
Took myself out to dinner and a theatrical production ('Beautiful Thing', by the Factory Theatre Co - absolutely gut-wrenchingly good).
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I feel like EITHER employment stability OR a better sense of career/ambition, but lrb, both is good.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2017?
Put clothes on human.
34. What kept you sane?
Incredibly rigid scheduling. Having *three* different light therapy lamps. A ticky chart for basic habits. A girlfriend who is not in my field but does grok the weird academic shit.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I failed to ogle anyone or anything this year.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
At this point, a better question is: is there any political issue that does not fill you with utter dread and despair?
37. Who did you miss?
As usual, mostly people whose names begin with K. This year, also my family, more than usual.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
Not sure when I met fandom buddy K (*another* K), maybe her? Otherwise not really anyone. I'm in consolidation mode.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2018:
If you think you've thoroughly typo-checked, you haven't.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
I am drawing a complete blank - none of the music I listened to this year was really *expressive of my soul*, but poking at itunes just threw up 'I want sex and candy', and, yeah, that's about it. How ELSE does one sum up an incredibly stressful year?
1. What did you do in 2018 that you'd never done before?
Er, well, I finished and defended a PhD, never done that, hope to never do it again.
2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Last year I said:
The closest thing I had to a resolution was 'I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me', and I did, it didn't kill me, and I think I renew that resolution!
I do seem to have made it through this year, and it hasn't killed me, although it has bruised me in some ways.
Much more concrete goals for 2019:
- acquire some Japanese
- acquire semi-functional German
- improve Latin
- make progress on Book of PhD
- do not entirely abandon creative writing
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope!
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, although someone you might normally assume I would be close to did die. I did not fly home for my paternal grandmother's funeral, in accordance with my pronouncement after Nanna T's death that 'anyone else who dies can die without me'. I did skype in to the funeral.
5. What countries did you visit?
UK (England and Scotland), France, more bits of Switzerland, Australia, the US, and Italy. Italy was new!
6. What would you like to have in 2019 that you lacked in 2018?
I guess I already *have* what I lacked for most of 2018: a sense of what I'm doing after my PhD, which has finally come together in the past few weeks. There are plans for this year, plans for 2020, and fuzzier sense of the future for a few years beyond that.
7. What date from 2018 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Pretty sure I will remember the date of my defence, 31 August, and probably also the 14th of September, the date I officially moved to the UK, if only because I put the latter on so many forms.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Lol this one is going around twitter and I'm like 'look I didn't irreparably sabotage any close relationships'. Which is... more of an achievement than it sounds, if you take into account 'finished a PhD'. Those are not typically good for human relationships.
Ed: oh, and I had a short story published in a pretty good anthology, and got paid! I should be more proud of that.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Look, the problem here is what *feels* like a failure should in fact be my answer to question 8. I feel like my PhD defence was a failure. I am reliably informed it was really good. I am therefore banned from judging any other failures.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
The weird travel sickness that got me in late 2017 continued, I decided with some grounds I'm gluten-intolerant, but that hasn't completely accounted for all of the Weird Guts symptoms I've had all year. Oh, and my wisdom teeth are getting worse.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
My answer for 2017 (really cool shirts) was wrong, btw. The best thing I bought in 2017 was a Very Loud Suit. The best thing I bought in 2018... i don't know. A laptop riser, so I am no longer at such predictable risk of spilling things on my laptop? Some second-hand Docs with Hogarth's The Rake's Progress on them.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Fantastic friend who's offered me a place to stay in the second half of this year!
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
*gestures bleakly at global politics*
14. Where did most of your money go?
Air travel, leaving Geneva, impulse spending
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
I did not get really excited about anything this year. Oh, I got *normal amounts* of excited about things at appropriate times, but I did not develop any new and thrilling obsessions. Even the new things I enjoyed I enjoyed relatively sedately.
16. What song will always remind you of 2018?
Maybe Christine and the Queens' 'Girlfriend'? Or Lindsay Stirling's Brave Enough.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Sadder, but less anxious
ii. thinner or fatter? maybe a bit thinner but not significantly
iii. richer or poorer? definitely poorer
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Copy-editing my damn thesis properly.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Reading the books I keep buying, rather than just... hoarding them.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
Surprisingly busy (a bit Too Much, perhaps: I was wiped on Boxing Day). Opened presents with housemate, called my family; taught for three hours; went with housemate to her family's place for christmas lunch-dinner-thing. Xmas Eve I did some screen-share movie watching with the gf.
21. How will you be spending/ did you spend New Year's?
I'll be at home, trying to finish reading The Night Tiger. I might watch more LOTR with the gf, either NYE or NYD.
22. Did you fall in love in 2018?
I didn't fall OUT, that's enough.
23. How many one-night stands?
Does it count if it was with the same person as 2017? And there's a non-zero chance of one (1) encounter in 2019? Maybe that's just a very slow affair.
24. What was your favorite TV program(s)?
As usual, I suck at TV, but I enjoyed the second half of Bake Off and the first half of Walking Britain's Railways.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Nope but i have accumulated a bunch of low-level negative feelings.
26. What was the best book you read?
I cannot answer this question, refer to forthcoming book meme.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I think Christine and the Queens, although Gary Moore comes close.
28. What did you want and get?
UK visa? Oh! Oh! My mum hunted down a good-condition movie-tie-in LOTR Trivial Pursuit set for me, so that's something I wanted *in my teens* that I have finally got. Will I play it? Probably not, unless I ship it back to Aus. Am I glad to have it? YOU BET.
29. What did you want and not get?
Decent work in the UK
30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Did I... see... any films??? I think Infinity Was was the *only* movie I saw, but I don't want to grace it with the honour of being my favourite.
31. What did you do on your birthday?
Took myself out to dinner and a theatrical production ('Beautiful Thing', by the Factory Theatre Co - absolutely gut-wrenchingly good).
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I feel like EITHER employment stability OR a better sense of career/ambition, but lrb, both is good.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2017?
Put clothes on human.
34. What kept you sane?
Incredibly rigid scheduling. Having *three* different light therapy lamps. A ticky chart for basic habits. A girlfriend who is not in my field but does grok the weird academic shit.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I failed to ogle anyone or anything this year.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
At this point, a better question is: is there any political issue that does not fill you with utter dread and despair?
37. Who did you miss?
As usual, mostly people whose names begin with K. This year, also my family, more than usual.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
Not sure when I met fandom buddy K (*another* K), maybe her? Otherwise not really anyone. I'm in consolidation mode.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2018:
If you think you've thoroughly typo-checked, you haven't.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
I am drawing a complete blank - none of the music I listened to this year was really *expressive of my soul*, but poking at itunes just threw up 'I want sex and candy', and, yeah, that's about it. How ELSE does one sum up an incredibly stressful year?