[ the start of something really, really beautiful ]
SURVEY I
Last year's answers.
1) Was 2006 a good year for you?
One of the best years of my life.
2) What was your favorite moment of the year? (in no particular order)
Moving to Santa Cruz, graduation, my birthday, New Year's at Mina's, Halloween in downtown SC, running naked for First Rain, my first kiss and all the rest of the firsts, We Carry Thy Banner at the pass with Liza in a freezy foggy morning - magical, finals week when I would just go to Gordon's and fall asleep with him instead of studying or saying goodbye to people, getting into colleges, watching the following local bands: Family Tree, The Team Hate, We Carry Thy Banner, Field Guide to Fooleries, whatever the Roads family did, 7981236482 jam sessions; stoners and toast as if anyone remembers that but me, cooking dinner for Keola and Liza, quitting diving, meeting up before diving practice to meet Christina every single day, Two Day Town, the beautiful rush when I found my new favorite poem, defining love in ten words or less, hotel parties all over the Tri-Valley, writing a short story for the first time in almost a year, getting through AP English with the Gilmores, the day of the photo shoots with Liza, me and Jesse bringing a sick Liza soup from Safeway over our lunch break, Battle of the Bands, having fun at La Casa Dulce, being bored at La Casa Dulce (still usually better than anything else in Livermore), girls nights at Christina's and walking down to Panama early in the morning looking ridiculous, PIZZA FRIDAY, having self-confidence in my body again, this feeling, bitching with Grace and Kelsey all the time, Lunch Crew, Grace's birthday picnic, Fourth of July on Hope and Nick's roof and showing up with Liza looking like a damn flag, baby ChumChum, Grad Night, the second semester of my senior year when I walked to the thrift store every day and then to Panama Bay every day and saw the people I loved every day and everything was a beautiful routine, wandering downtown at 2 in the morning with Liza and Christina, getting free New York Pizza, dollar scoop Tuesdays, Spare the Air trips to San Francisco, wandering Chinatown with Lunch, going to school with Shelley again, birthday drunk with Joe in the golf course, the long string of graduation parties, when Garrett lent me a book when I was feeling sad and I never returned it even though I'm happy, vacuum fights and stealing plants from Wal-Mart, "Girls'" Night - with Jesse, when Liza and I would call one another at 3 in the morning on a school night when the boys we liked signed on and then we walked into AP English the next morning looking like death with so much gossip, the day in Burlingame with Gordon, nights with the Tracy Kids, insomnia at the end of school when I was sad but full of insight, hiking around the Greek Theater with Christina and Logan and Andrew, Garrett's and Jesse's kittens, 5s on all my AP exams ever, "the title of this song is Diana's LiveJournal" - Chris Hopkins, the melancholy County Fair, all-night conversations with Andrew while I was stuck in the armpit of South Carolina, showing up to a hardcore show in the Mission District with Gordon and Travis holding a bag of fluffy pink pillows, July 29th 2006, late night Denny's with Jesse and Liza, writing the world's longest letter to Liza while she was at camp, measuring by Bohemian Rhapsodies, watching Caitlin watch Star Wars, photo shoots of Christina once I didn't have to go to AP English anymore, skipping AP Biology, when Liza brought her TI-83 to prom, Coleen's last party, Christina's last night in town, buying food for the stoners with Christina on her birthday, drinking hot chocolate with Christina in her car at 3 in the morning because there was nothing to do and secretly there wasn't anything better than that anyway, polaroids with Liza, my last night in town when I drove to Top of the World with Liza and played our favorite songs and cried and nothing had to be said, reuniting with Liza and Christina at the Owen concert, nights at the Mission Street house, seeing the Decemberists with my mother, Midnight Movies at the Del Mar, transfixed with beauty on the bridges watching the deer in the dawn, the power outage, realizing everything comes full circle, IHOP with Scott every time I come home, "yeah I'm crushin' on you pretty bad", visiting all my best friends at college, December 4th, 2006, the season of the Farmer's Markets, calling Christina and Liza crying at 3 AM with the knowledge they will pick up, having two homes in this world: one with the most beautiful places and one with the most beautiful people.
3) What was your least favorite moment of the year?
Saying goodbye. Getting dumped. September 15th. June 17th. December 4th. October 9th.
4) Where were you when 2006 began?
Mina's house
5) Who were you with?
Caitlin, Liza, Mina, Coleen, firedancers, Mexican food
6) Where will you be when 2006 ends?
I don't know. Maybe San Francisco with Liza.
7) Who will you be with when 2006 ends?
People who love me.
8) Did you keep your new years resolution of 2006?
Resolutions of 2006:
1. Get in shape - No, but I'm happy with myself which is even better.
2. Choose the right college for the right reasons - Absolute success.
3. Enjoy the last of high school - Yes.
4. Settle down - I spent half this year nearly asleep with contentment.
5. Be happy. - Yes.
9) Do you have a new years resolution for 2007?
Get a driver's license. Pass my classes. Treat people with greater kindness. Appreciate the beauty around me. Get to know Santa Cruz. Be happy.
10) Did you fall in love in 2006?
No overwhelming lifelong passions, but there are some I cared for deeply.
11) If yes, with who?
Some.
12) If yes, do they know?
Probably.
14) Did you have fun in 2006?
Immeasurably so.
15) Did you breakup with anyone in 2006?
Yes.
16) Did you make any new friends in 2006?
Oh yes, so many.
17) Who are your favorite new friends?
Christina in BFF status, Gordon, Chris Hopkins, my hallmates.
18) What was your favorite month of 2006?
I don't think I could actually choose. Everything was wonderful.
19) Did you travel outside of the US in 2006?
No.
20) How many different states did you travel to in 2006?
South Carolina.
21) Did you lose anyone close to you in 2006?
Nobody died, but I lost them all the same.
22) Did you miss anybody in the past year?
Absences defined the year.
23) What was your favorite movie that you saw in 2006?
That's impossible. I loved watching Persuasion with my mother, The Science of Sleep by myself, movie after movie with my hallmates, Love Actually with my friends, Me You And Everyone We Know.
24) What was your favorite song from 2006?
Everything my friends ever created. CN motherfucking Tower. "Georgia on My Mind" (Ray Charles), "Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, Wives" (Voxtrot), "Staralfur" (Sigur Ros), "California" (Joni Mitchell), "Dear Prudence" (The Beatles), hearing "Grapes" played for me by Ben Barnett standing 4 feet away, "Question" (Old 97's),"Inmates" (The Good Life ft. Jenny Lewis), "The Trapeze Swinger" (Iron and Wine), the usual: "Passing Afternoon" (Iron and Wine), "Le Disko" (Shiny Toy Guns), "A Loverless Bed" (Sufjan Stevens), "Peng!" (Iron and Wine), "I Lost All My Money at the Cockfights" (Minus the Bear), "My Father's House" (Bruce Springsteen), "Omaha" (Tapes 'N Tapes), "Modern Girl" (Sleater-Kinney), "You Can Have It All" (Yo La Tengo), "Young Alumni" (Maritime), "God Bless America" (Joan of Arc), and above all "Good Woman" (Cat Power), "The Weight" (The Band), "The Crane Wife 1 And 2" (The Decemberists)
25) What was your favorite record from 2006?
Albums actually released in 2006:
We Carry Thy Banner - We Carry Thy Banner
Owen - At Home With Owen
The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope
Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
Cat Power - The Greatest
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
Explosions in the Sky - The Rescue EP
The Format - Dog Problems
Girl Talk - Night Ripper
Joanna Newsom - Ys
Maritime - We, The Vehicles
Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche
Tapes N Tapes - The Loon
Always important:
Nada Surf - The Weight Is A Gift
Neutral Milk Hotel - In An Aeroplane Over The Sea
Q And Not U - Power
Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News
El Ten Eleven - El Ten Eleven
Electric President - Electric President
Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Mender
Regina Spektor - Soviet Kitsch
The Album Leaf - In A Safe Place
Rogue Wave - Descended Like Vultures
Stars - Heart
Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
The Books - The Lemon of Pink
Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska
Yann Tiersen - OST Good Bye Lenin!
American Football - American Football
Zombies - Odessey and Oracle
Cat Power - You Are Free
26) How many concerts did you see in 2006?:
Local shows beyond count. The Decemberists, Owen/Copeland/Appleseed Cast, Be The RIOTTT Festival, motherfucking Kind of Like Spitting twice.
27) Did you have a favorite concert in 2006?
WCTB - January, Altamont Pass; Kind of Like Spitting - August, Oakland; Owen - November, San Francisco.
28) Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2006?
Uh.
29) Did you do a lot of drugs in 2006?
I did a lot of Claritin.
30) How many people did you sleep with in 2006?
How about instead I say the number of boys I literally fell asleep with: four
31) Did you lose anything important this year?
My sense of security, my iPod, my bedroom.
33) What was the worst lie someone told you in 2006?
I'd rather not.
34) Did you treat somebody badly in 2006?
Yes
35) Did somebody treat you badly in 2006?
Too many.
36) How much money did you spend in 2006?
Too much.
37) What was your proudest moment of 2006?
Moving into college, reclaiming two lost loves.
38) What was your most embarrassing moment of 2006?
Oh my god for the first time in my life one in particular stands out but that does not need to be said.
39) If you could go back in time to any moment of 2006 and change something, what would it be?
I wish I had not been so shy when I moved in to college.
40) What are your plans for 2007?
Be happy, be useful, be kind, be loved.
There will be another survey later on.
Last year's answers.
1) Was 2006 a good year for you?
One of the best years of my life.
2) What was your favorite moment of the year? (in no particular order)
Moving to Santa Cruz, graduation, my birthday, New Year's at Mina's, Halloween in downtown SC, running naked for First Rain, my first kiss and all the rest of the firsts, We Carry Thy Banner at the pass with Liza in a freezy foggy morning - magical, finals week when I would just go to Gordon's and fall asleep with him instead of studying or saying goodbye to people, getting into colleges, watching the following local bands: Family Tree, The Team Hate, We Carry Thy Banner, Field Guide to Fooleries, whatever the Roads family did, 7981236482 jam sessions; stoners and toast as if anyone remembers that but me, cooking dinner for Keola and Liza, quitting diving, meeting up before diving practice to meet Christina every single day, Two Day Town, the beautiful rush when I found my new favorite poem, defining love in ten words or less, hotel parties all over the Tri-Valley, writing a short story for the first time in almost a year, getting through AP English with the Gilmores, the day of the photo shoots with Liza, me and Jesse bringing a sick Liza soup from Safeway over our lunch break, Battle of the Bands, having fun at La Casa Dulce, being bored at La Casa Dulce (still usually better than anything else in Livermore), girls nights at Christina's and walking down to Panama early in the morning looking ridiculous, PIZZA FRIDAY, having self-confidence in my body again, this feeling, bitching with Grace and Kelsey all the time, Lunch Crew, Grace's birthday picnic, Fourth of July on Hope and Nick's roof and showing up with Liza looking like a damn flag, baby ChumChum, Grad Night, the second semester of my senior year when I walked to the thrift store every day and then to Panama Bay every day and saw the people I loved every day and everything was a beautiful routine, wandering downtown at 2 in the morning with Liza and Christina, getting free New York Pizza, dollar scoop Tuesdays, Spare the Air trips to San Francisco, wandering Chinatown with Lunch, going to school with Shelley again, birthday drunk with Joe in the golf course, the long string of graduation parties, when Garrett lent me a book when I was feeling sad and I never returned it even though I'm happy, vacuum fights and stealing plants from Wal-Mart, "Girls'" Night - with Jesse, when Liza and I would call one another at 3 in the morning on a school night when the boys we liked signed on and then we walked into AP English the next morning looking like death with so much gossip, the day in Burlingame with Gordon, nights with the Tracy Kids, insomnia at the end of school when I was sad but full of insight, hiking around the Greek Theater with Christina and Logan and Andrew, Garrett's and Jesse's kittens, 5s on all my AP exams ever, "the title of this song is Diana's LiveJournal" - Chris Hopkins, the melancholy County Fair, all-night conversations with Andrew while I was stuck in the armpit of South Carolina, showing up to a hardcore show in the Mission District with Gordon and Travis holding a bag of fluffy pink pillows, July 29th 2006, late night Denny's with Jesse and Liza, writing the world's longest letter to Liza while she was at camp, measuring by Bohemian Rhapsodies, watching Caitlin watch Star Wars, photo shoots of Christina once I didn't have to go to AP English anymore, skipping AP Biology, when Liza brought her TI-83 to prom, Coleen's last party, Christina's last night in town, buying food for the stoners with Christina on her birthday, drinking hot chocolate with Christina in her car at 3 in the morning because there was nothing to do and secretly there wasn't anything better than that anyway, polaroids with Liza, my last night in town when I drove to Top of the World with Liza and played our favorite songs and cried and nothing had to be said, reuniting with Liza and Christina at the Owen concert, nights at the Mission Street house, seeing the Decemberists with my mother, Midnight Movies at the Del Mar, transfixed with beauty on the bridges watching the deer in the dawn, the power outage, realizing everything comes full circle, IHOP with Scott every time I come home, "yeah I'm crushin' on you pretty bad", visiting all my best friends at college, December 4th, 2006, the season of the Farmer's Markets, calling Christina and Liza crying at 3 AM with the knowledge they will pick up, having two homes in this world: one with the most beautiful places and one with the most beautiful people.
3) What was your least favorite moment of the year?
Saying goodbye. Getting dumped. September 15th. June 17th. December 4th. October 9th.
4) Where were you when 2006 began?
Mina's house
5) Who were you with?
Caitlin, Liza, Mina, Coleen, firedancers, Mexican food
6) Where will you be when 2006 ends?
I don't know. Maybe San Francisco with Liza.
7) Who will you be with when 2006 ends?
People who love me.
8) Did you keep your new years resolution of 2006?
Resolutions of 2006:
1. Get in shape - No, but I'm happy with myself which is even better.
2. Choose the right college for the right reasons - Absolute success.
3. Enjoy the last of high school - Yes.
4. Settle down - I spent half this year nearly asleep with contentment.
5. Be happy. - Yes.
9) Do you have a new years resolution for 2007?
Get a driver's license. Pass my classes. Treat people with greater kindness. Appreciate the beauty around me. Get to know Santa Cruz. Be happy.
10) Did you fall in love in 2006?
No overwhelming lifelong passions, but there are some I cared for deeply.
11) If yes, with who?
Some.
12) If yes, do they know?
Probably.
14) Did you have fun in 2006?
Immeasurably so.
15) Did you breakup with anyone in 2006?
Yes.
16) Did you make any new friends in 2006?
Oh yes, so many.
17) Who are your favorite new friends?
Christina in BFF status, Gordon, Chris Hopkins, my hallmates.
18) What was your favorite month of 2006?
I don't think I could actually choose. Everything was wonderful.
19) Did you travel outside of the US in 2006?
No.
20) How many different states did you travel to in 2006?
South Carolina.
21) Did you lose anyone close to you in 2006?
Nobody died, but I lost them all the same.
22) Did you miss anybody in the past year?
Absences defined the year.
23) What was your favorite movie that you saw in 2006?
That's impossible. I loved watching Persuasion with my mother, The Science of Sleep by myself, movie after movie with my hallmates, Love Actually with my friends, Me You And Everyone We Know.
24) What was your favorite song from 2006?
Everything my friends ever created. CN motherfucking Tower. "Georgia on My Mind" (Ray Charles), "Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, Wives" (Voxtrot), "Staralfur" (Sigur Ros), "California" (Joni Mitchell), "Dear Prudence" (The Beatles), hearing "Grapes" played for me by Ben Barnett standing 4 feet away, "Question" (Old 97's),"Inmates" (The Good Life ft. Jenny Lewis), "The Trapeze Swinger" (Iron and Wine), the usual: "Passing Afternoon" (Iron and Wine), "Le Disko" (Shiny Toy Guns), "A Loverless Bed" (Sufjan Stevens), "Peng!" (Iron and Wine), "I Lost All My Money at the Cockfights" (Minus the Bear), "My Father's House" (Bruce Springsteen), "Omaha" (Tapes 'N Tapes), "Modern Girl" (Sleater-Kinney), "You Can Have It All" (Yo La Tengo), "Young Alumni" (Maritime), "God Bless America" (Joan of Arc), and above all "Good Woman" (Cat Power), "The Weight" (The Band), "The Crane Wife 1 And 2" (The Decemberists)
25) What was your favorite record from 2006?
Albums actually released in 2006:
We Carry Thy Banner - We Carry Thy Banner
Owen - At Home With Owen
The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope
Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
Cat Power - The Greatest
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
Explosions in the Sky - The Rescue EP
The Format - Dog Problems
Girl Talk - Night Ripper
Joanna Newsom - Ys
Maritime - We, The Vehicles
Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche
Tapes N Tapes - The Loon
Always important:
Nada Surf - The Weight Is A Gift
Neutral Milk Hotel - In An Aeroplane Over The Sea
Q And Not U - Power
Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News
El Ten Eleven - El Ten Eleven
Electric President - Electric President
Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Mender
Regina Spektor - Soviet Kitsch
The Album Leaf - In A Safe Place
Rogue Wave - Descended Like Vultures
Stars - Heart
Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
The Books - The Lemon of Pink
Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska
Yann Tiersen - OST Good Bye Lenin!
American Football - American Football
Zombies - Odessey and Oracle
Cat Power - You Are Free
26) How many concerts did you see in 2006?:
Local shows beyond count. The Decemberists, Owen/Copeland/Appleseed Cast, Be The RIOTTT Festival, motherfucking Kind of Like Spitting twice.
27) Did you have a favorite concert in 2006?
WCTB - January, Altamont Pass; Kind of Like Spitting - August, Oakland; Owen - November, San Francisco.
28) Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2006?
Uh.
29) Did you do a lot of drugs in 2006?
I did a lot of Claritin.
30) How many people did you sleep with in 2006?
How about instead I say the number of boys I literally fell asleep with: four
31) Did you lose anything important this year?
My sense of security, my iPod, my bedroom.
33) What was the worst lie someone told you in 2006?
I'd rather not.
34) Did you treat somebody badly in 2006?
Yes
35) Did somebody treat you badly in 2006?
Too many.
36) How much money did you spend in 2006?
Too much.
37) What was your proudest moment of 2006?
Moving into college, reclaiming two lost loves.
38) What was your most embarrassing moment of 2006?
Oh my god for the first time in my life one in particular stands out but that does not need to be said.
39) If you could go back in time to any moment of 2006 and change something, what would it be?
I wish I had not been so shy when I moved in to college.
40) What are your plans for 2007?
Be happy, be useful, be kind, be loved.
There will be another survey later on.