My 8th Annual End of Year Meme
Dec. 13th, 2012 04:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
askygoneonfire1. What did you do in 2012 that you'd never done before? Drove to Brighton? Believed in myself a bit - I had a feeling things would work out with the PhD and I'd get here, somehow.
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
My resolutions for 2012 were:
> Apply for a PhD and funding at two universities (at least) and, if I fail, make a two year plan regarding where I want to live and how (rental or mortgage). Stick to it.Done and done! Well done me.
> Fund-raise £2000 so I can go with the Guides to Uganda in 2013. After consideration, and some fundraising, I had to abandon this plan as PhD got in the way. I am a little sad I won't be going but it doesn't feel like the wrong decision.> Complete my School Business Management qualification by July and complete my Leadership qualification with Guides by the end of the year. Done. Completed with a good-excellent pass in all modules and although not by July, I did do it by the deadline in August, which is all that really matters.> Paint at least one painting. Can't believe I didn't manage this. It means it is now over two years since I did that.
For 2013 I resolve to;
> Get a part time job - this isn't so much something I can force to happen, but I can make continued and concerted efforts to that end. It will give me a great deal of financial security and I hope very much I manage it.
> Complete research paper.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Internet friend of 10+ years, JadedLibertine, had a lovely little girl this year.
4. Did anyone close to you die? I feel the mortality rate of my peers in the last 12 months has approached farcical. Sadly in 2012 we lost Orwellian_Trash who was a bloody clever, bloody funny guy and whose last tweet was typically witty, simple and deeply sad to witness.
2012 was also the year that the news of a good friend's death reached me; I still can't really reconcile my memories of her with the information she's not out there in the world any more, doing, and saying, and being. I find a chasm appears whenever I try to put my feelings about her, and the loss, into words.
5. What countries did you visit? None, sadly
6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012? A haven - I want and hope the place I am moving to will provide me with all the homeliness I have lacked since moving in August.
7. What date from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? One a wish had never happened.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? That has surely got to be securing funding for the PhD. My greatest achievement to date, perhaps.
9. What was your biggest failure? I can't think of anything which I failed to do or achieve which I can't in some way rationalise or explain and in doing that, it ceases to be a failure. So nothing.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Oh lordy...well stomach of Doom persists. Migraines also persisted. Also aggravated an old shoulder injury by trying to get fit (!) and I had a couple of soaring mood swings from the cyclothymia which were peculiarly acute this year. I am now playing NHS Waiting List Bingo for cures/therapy for those things.
11. What was the best thing you bought? I really can't recall any major purchases this year. As of today, my greatest purchase has been my train tickets home. I can't wait to go.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?forthwritten has been exceptionally patient, understanding and supportive this year. I am so grateful.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? Politicians. Par for the course
14. Where did most of your money go? Moving to Brghton in August cost a huge chunk of money and moving again will cost a considerable chunk again - and I have to pay it over the next week before the Letting Agents shut for Christmas so it will be an expensive year altogether.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? The PhD! Followed by getting extremely scared by the PhD, followed by tentative excitement again...It's been strange.
16. What song will always remind you of 2012? Us - Regina Spektor. For reasons I don't care to elaborate on; they are private and in being private they make me smile.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. Happier or sadder? Happier, I think
ii. Thinner or fatter? Thinner overall, hugely fatter around my stomach due to Stomach of Doom
iii. richer or poorer? Hard to say - I have more in savings than I did this time last year but I receive less money per month now and have higher outgoings so...poorer?
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Working. I wish I had aimed to get a part time job when I got to Brighton instead of registering with an agency and I wish I had worked a little longer in my old job and not moved to Brighton until September.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Worrying. I focus time and energy on fears, speculation and wild supposition. I think things would run smoother if I picked myself up and charged on regardless. Worrying eats me up and does nothing to further my aims or achieve what needs to be done.
20. How will you be spending Christmas? With my family at home in Nottinghamshire. I'm very excited about it and on a daily countdown to my train on Thursday.
21. Did you fall in love in 2012? Good grief no.
22. How many one-night stands? One. And it was of the farcical epic disaster variety.
23. What was your favourite TV program? Certainly not Doctor Who which was disappointing. Things I watched consistently were Law and Order: SVU, How I Met Your Mother, Doctor Who, and Peep Show but if any of them dropped off the schedules I wouldn't be disappointed - nothing has really grabbed me.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? I certainly hope not. I can't think of anyone. Hate is a terrible emotion to harbour.
25. What was the best book you read? I am going to cheat a little and name a trilogy; The Hunger Games. I haven't read so intensively since Potter I think, an amazing series. Here's the full list of what I read this year.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery? It may sound a little silly, but I think David Bowie may be the greatest discovery I've made this year - I've been listening to him for years but a combination of factors prompted me to plunge much deeper into his back catalogue and I came up for air clutching any number of gems which give me a greater appreciation of him as an artist and fill out the spread of my music collection much more satisfactorily.
27. What did you want and get? A PhD place and funding. More recently - I got the flat I wanted and will be moving there in the coming weeks.
28. What did you want and not get? Romance! Perhaps a little shallow, but there we are. I also didn't get a place I could bring Vincent to live with me and that is a much more concrete disappointment.
29. What was your favourite film of this year? I went to see both Brave, and the Dark Knight Rises twice this year. They were both real cinematic delights but not 'favourites' as such, just wonderfully immersive experiences.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was 28. I spent it at University doing various things including talking to someone important in the University about my research, talking about research with fellow students and then, most pleasantly, drinking wine and eating pizza in one of my favourite pubs in Brighton with a small group of friends.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012? Still trying to look like a grown up in jeans and hoodies.
34. What kept you sane? Solitude. Alcohol. Vincent. Family.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? David Bowie. Easy.
36. What political issue stirred you the most? Hard to say; it was certainly a bad year for women. There was the death of Savita Halappanavar in Ireland and the failure of the Irish Government to pass legislation to ensure no such death ever happens again. And there was the suicide of the nurse who worked at the hospital at the centre of that bloody stupid (in intention and press response) hoax call, Jacintha Saldanha; what a miserable situation to arise so close to the frustrated (by flip-flopping politicians) recommendations of the Leveson Inquiry.
37. Who did you miss? Lu
38. Who was the best new person you met? I've met a number of charming people since I've moved back to Brighton, I hope every one of them becomes more central in my life in the coming months and years
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012: Tell people now. Trust your gut.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: She's leaving home, bye bye.
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
My resolutions for 2012 were:
> Apply for a PhD and funding at two universities (at least) and, if I fail, make a two year plan regarding where I want to live and how (rental or mortgage). Stick to it.Done and done! Well done me.
> Fund-raise £2000 so I can go with the Guides to Uganda in 2013. After consideration, and some fundraising, I had to abandon this plan as PhD got in the way. I am a little sad I won't be going but it doesn't feel like the wrong decision.> Complete my School Business Management qualification by July and complete my Leadership qualification with Guides by the end of the year. Done. Completed with a good-excellent pass in all modules and although not by July, I did do it by the deadline in August, which is all that really matters.> Paint at least one painting. Can't believe I didn't manage this. It means it is now over two years since I did that.
For 2013 I resolve to;
> Get a part time job - this isn't so much something I can force to happen, but I can make continued and concerted efforts to that end. It will give me a great deal of financial security and I hope very much I manage it.
> Complete research paper.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Internet friend of 10+ years, JadedLibertine, had a lovely little girl this year.
4. Did anyone close to you die? I feel the mortality rate of my peers in the last 12 months has approached farcical. Sadly in 2012 we lost Orwellian_Trash who was a bloody clever, bloody funny guy and whose last tweet was typically witty, simple and deeply sad to witness.
2012 was also the year that the news of a good friend's death reached me; I still can't really reconcile my memories of her with the information she's not out there in the world any more, doing, and saying, and being. I find a chasm appears whenever I try to put my feelings about her, and the loss, into words.
5. What countries did you visit? None, sadly
6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012? A haven - I want and hope the place I am moving to will provide me with all the homeliness I have lacked since moving in August.
7. What date from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? One a wish had never happened.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? That has surely got to be securing funding for the PhD. My greatest achievement to date, perhaps.
9. What was your biggest failure? I can't think of anything which I failed to do or achieve which I can't in some way rationalise or explain and in doing that, it ceases to be a failure. So nothing.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Oh lordy...well stomach of Doom persists. Migraines also persisted. Also aggravated an old shoulder injury by trying to get fit (!) and I had a couple of soaring mood swings from the cyclothymia which were peculiarly acute this year. I am now playing NHS Waiting List Bingo for cures/therapy for those things.
11. What was the best thing you bought? I really can't recall any major purchases this year. As of today, my greatest purchase has been my train tickets home. I can't wait to go.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
forthwritten has been exceptionally patient, understanding and supportive this year. I am so grateful.13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? Politicians. Par for the course
14. Where did most of your money go? Moving to Brghton in August cost a huge chunk of money and moving again will cost a considerable chunk again - and I have to pay it over the next week before the Letting Agents shut for Christmas so it will be an expensive year altogether.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? The PhD! Followed by getting extremely scared by the PhD, followed by tentative excitement again...It's been strange.
16. What song will always remind you of 2012? Us - Regina Spektor. For reasons I don't care to elaborate on; they are private and in being private they make me smile.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. Happier or sadder? Happier, I think
ii. Thinner or fatter? Thinner overall, hugely fatter around my stomach due to Stomach of Doom
iii. richer or poorer? Hard to say - I have more in savings than I did this time last year but I receive less money per month now and have higher outgoings so...poorer?
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Working. I wish I had aimed to get a part time job when I got to Brighton instead of registering with an agency and I wish I had worked a little longer in my old job and not moved to Brighton until September.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Worrying. I focus time and energy on fears, speculation and wild supposition. I think things would run smoother if I picked myself up and charged on regardless. Worrying eats me up and does nothing to further my aims or achieve what needs to be done.
20. How will you be spending Christmas? With my family at home in Nottinghamshire. I'm very excited about it and on a daily countdown to my train on Thursday.
21. Did you fall in love in 2012? Good grief no.
22. How many one-night stands? One. And it was of the farcical epic disaster variety.
23. What was your favourite TV program? Certainly not Doctor Who which was disappointing. Things I watched consistently were Law and Order: SVU, How I Met Your Mother, Doctor Who, and Peep Show but if any of them dropped off the schedules I wouldn't be disappointed - nothing has really grabbed me.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? I certainly hope not. I can't think of anyone. Hate is a terrible emotion to harbour.
25. What was the best book you read? I am going to cheat a little and name a trilogy; The Hunger Games. I haven't read so intensively since Potter I think, an amazing series. Here's the full list of what I read this year.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery? It may sound a little silly, but I think David Bowie may be the greatest discovery I've made this year - I've been listening to him for years but a combination of factors prompted me to plunge much deeper into his back catalogue and I came up for air clutching any number of gems which give me a greater appreciation of him as an artist and fill out the spread of my music collection much more satisfactorily.
27. What did you want and get? A PhD place and funding. More recently - I got the flat I wanted and will be moving there in the coming weeks.
28. What did you want and not get? Romance! Perhaps a little shallow, but there we are. I also didn't get a place I could bring Vincent to live with me and that is a much more concrete disappointment.
29. What was your favourite film of this year? I went to see both Brave, and the Dark Knight Rises twice this year. They were both real cinematic delights but not 'favourites' as such, just wonderfully immersive experiences.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was 28. I spent it at University doing various things including talking to someone important in the University about my research, talking about research with fellow students and then, most pleasantly, drinking wine and eating pizza in one of my favourite pubs in Brighton with a small group of friends.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012? Still trying to look like a grown up in jeans and hoodies.
34. What kept you sane? Solitude. Alcohol. Vincent. Family.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? David Bowie. Easy.
36. What political issue stirred you the most? Hard to say; it was certainly a bad year for women. There was the death of Savita Halappanavar in Ireland and the failure of the Irish Government to pass legislation to ensure no such death ever happens again. And there was the suicide of the nurse who worked at the hospital at the centre of that bloody stupid (in intention and press response) hoax call, Jacintha Saldanha; what a miserable situation to arise so close to the frustrated (by flip-flopping politicians) recommendations of the Leveson Inquiry.
37. Who did you miss? Lu
38. Who was the best new person you met? I've met a number of charming people since I've moved back to Brighton, I hope every one of them becomes more central in my life in the coming months and years
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012: Tell people now. Trust your gut.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: She's leaving home, bye bye.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-02-03 03:36 pm (UTC)