happyish new years

Well, it's 12:05, and I'm alone in my apartment in Evanston drinking wine and writing in my blog, of all things. I'm actually kind of glad to be alone, as I've been surrounded by strangers most of the day as I travelled from Arizona to here, but I certainly wouldn't be adverse to being surrounded by drunk happy friends watching a giant pinecone drop from the sky about now. New Years has never been a great holiday for me anyway in the traditional sense; I've never been to a New Years Eve party (at least since I was 7 or so), never kissed anyone, blah blah blah. But anyway, because I feel a need to somehow commemorate this momentous occasion, I'm copying Lauren and Erica and doing a little quiz! Wheeee!


1. What did you do in 2004 that you'd never done before? had a girlfriend, put a giant rat in the snake tunnel, moved to the midwest, went to Vienna, Budapest, London, and Berlin, talked to a drag king...
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I never really remember to do those, but I would like to try and do certain things this coming year that I maybe wasn't so hot with last year
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? probably some mormon relatives, but I've honestly lost track
4. Did anyone close to you die? not in the year, I guess, but a little before
5. What countries did you visit? damn... Mexico, England, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia (but only for a quick beer), and Germany
6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004? more hip flexibility
7. What date from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Ummm, January 17th (my anniversary with Anna), Nov. 2 (the day I lost much of my already limited faith in the volting population)
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? getting into northwestern probably
9. What was your biggest failure? crying during a class I taught in Poland because my students cheated at Scrabble and the rebelled and went to the the pool
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? not really, happily
11. What was the best thing you bought? i guess my ticket to Europe, as nothing else really springs to mind except lots of books
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? my friends and family, for putting up for my spastic weirdness
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? 51% of american voters (stolen from Erica, but so true), and the people who trashed my old house and peed on the walls (so I hear)
14. Where did most of your money go? eastern europe, and school
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? drag kings!!!!!!!!!! and visits from anna, and visiting home myself
16. What song will always remind you of 2004? Le Tigre I'm So Excited, pretty much anything by Jewel or the Magnetic Fields
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: I. happier or sadder? happier! II. thinner or fatter? I dunno. Maybe thinner? But not much, at any rate, which is a little victory for me III. richer or poorer? technically I have more money in the bank, but it all came from my parents and other relatives, so I'd say poorer
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? being outside, biking, practicing my viola, reading, writing
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? maybe drinking, or possibly eating milk chocolate in Poland(bad vegan! bad!)
20. How will you be spending Christmas? stayed with my family for the actual holiday, opened presents, cooked with my mom, washed china and polished silver, watched The Life Aquatic and Secondhand Lions
21. How will you be spending New Years? I spent all day today travelling, got home at 11:30 and ate some beans (the only food readily available), and now I'm doing this. Exciting, huh?
22. Did you fall in love in 2004? yes, with people and books and music and lots of other things, but also in the way that this question is probably implying
23. How many one-night stands? none really
24. What was your favourite TV program? I've been watching ridiculous amounts of Sex and the City in Arizona, but that's probably over for me now
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? I don't think so...
26. What was the best book you read? So many! I'm going to do a book list soon, I can't pick one. Evanston has not been great for my social life, but my reading has picked right up
27. What was your greatest musical discovery? maybe Magnetic Fields. They are so weird.
28. What did you want and get? accepted to a grad school
no 29?
30. What was your favorite film of this year? I don't know. I really liked that Eternal Sunshine movie, also Dangerous Beauty... I actually quite liked Secondhand Lions. It was cute
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 23, stayed home most of the day being lazy, played a quintet concert that night and had a beer afterwards with my group. Jesse called my cell phone and left a message, and Anna sent me some beautiful roses.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? That seems like an awful lot to ask from this quiz.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004? pretty much the same as always. I recently realized that a great many of my clothes were bought when I was still in high school.
34. What kept you sane? Anna. All of my friends. My journal. The internet. Reading.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Really, fancy? I don't really get into that. I'm obsessed with drag kings, who are like mini local celebrities, and I like Miranda from Sex and the City for being sarcastic.
36. What political issue stirred you the most? Well... The election, what a jerk Alan Keyes is, gay marriage, prop 200, the california 2 strikes legislation... What do we really mean by political here? I'm totally intrigued by the intricacies and amazements of genderqueer theory and thought, does that count?
37. Who did you miss? all of my friends, and the mountains
38. Who was the best new person you met? Josh, Shawn, Miriam, Hannah and Greg from poland
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you earned in 2004: Try to relax! Everything is not life and death all the time. I don't know if I've really applied this, but I've thought about it a lot more.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: "When I look around, I think this is good enough, and I try to laugh at whatever life brings. When I look down, I just miss all the good stuff, but when I look up, I just trip over things." -Ani. Also Le Tigre "We're on the verge of all right."