Obligatory Year-End Survey
1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before? I have no idea. I guess I left someone, which is a switch. Usually I'm the one to be abandoned. Also I presented a paper at a conference. That was pretty exciting. Also I got braces, which only kinda sucked.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Last year, my goals were to finish one of the bunch of novels I've started, to successfully lead the Anime Club to a convention, to not be stupid when it comes to romantic/sexual relationships, and to devote myself more passionately to my studies. I was a bit more hardcore about my studies - or was more successful in spite of my slacking off, at any rate. I failed at all the other stuff, though. This year I resolve to be true to myself, to be more intelligent about my relationships, and to leave the Anime Club better off than it was when I found it. Also, I resolve to stop overthinking everything and enjoy thinking of this insignificant existance as the game it actually is.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? no
4. Did anyone close to you die? no
5. What countries did you visit? None. I stayed pretty much put, but I did make plans to get the hell out of here (and to Madrid) next year.
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? A plan or the guts to live life without one.
7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Finally getting stuff together with Frozac (Nov. 16-23), seeing The Dark Knight many times, various moments in Westfall's classes, amazing stuff in Anime Club (the end of Gurren Lagann, etc.), Haven amazingness (seeing Burn After Reading, playing Say Anything, rib night, the laundry room & lounge sleepover), my 21st birthday, gummy bears
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Having such an amazing time in spite of myself
9. What was your biggest failure? Not putting an end to things with XP when I should have
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Well, the depression is far from completely gone, but I was otherwise fairly healthy except for that week I spent in bed unable to eat
11. What was the best thing you bought? I have no idea. My PS2 maybe? Or my green converse. They're pretty cool.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? All of my friends, especially Zip and Hayley, who deal with most of my drama. Most of all Zack, whose selflessness is incredible.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? My own, my parents', my grandfather's, XP's, and the government's.
14. Where did most of your money go? Books, clothes, eating out with my friends
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Gurren Lagann, The Dark Knight, my various romantic exploits, The Revenger's Tragedy & my presentation, Spanish comic books, Scrabble, etc.
16. What song will always remind you of 2008? Hmm...there are a lot, so I'll just say the openings from Anime Club stuff (Sakura Kissu, Sorairo Days, the Soul Eater & Zetsubou Sensei openings, etc.), the FLCL soundtrack (esp. Little Busters), songs from Lola, Various Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Blue Oyster Cult tunes, certain songs by The Weakerthans (particularly "Uncorrected Proofs," "Civil Twilight," "Aside," "Watermark," and "A New Name for Everything"), and of course RAW RAW FIGHT DA POWA!!!
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? I'm much happier.
ii. thinner or fatter? the same. sometimes thinner, sometimes fatter. it depends.
iii. richer or poorer? Poorer but about to be richer before becoming even poorer still.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? reading things I got to choose and burning the world down.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? It's a toss-up between self-pity, self-loathing, and being stupid.
20. How will you be spending Christmas? The usual suspects (parents, Opa, siblings) wasted the day and then went out for Chinese.
21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with? XP.
22. Did you fall in love in 2008? I have no clue. Once, maybe twice. Maybe not at all really.
23. What was your favorite TV program? Doctor Who. Ghost in the Shell, Gurren Lagann, Lola, Jeopardy, The Simpsons, and the various things we watched in Anime Club are next followed by random comedy shows (Upright Citizens Brigade, Kids in the Hall) that Jim forced on us. I didn't watch a ton of tv this year.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Nah. I'm too lazy to hate. It's a lot more work than people think. Of course, I'll always have an over-developed sense of self-loathing, but other than that I'd like to focus my energies on love. It's a much more rewarding form of self-destruction.
25. What was the best book you read? The Revenger's Tragedy followed by Bardin el superrealista, which has to be the weirdest comic I've ever seen. The Killing Joke deserves a mention, as do Sandman and Watchmen for notable re-reads. I didn't have a lot of time to read outside of class, but most of what we read for Revenge and Restoration and for Chaucer was fun . It's a shame I felt compelled to live Troilus and Criseyde.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery? I dunno. I rediscovered the pillows and stopped suppressing my love of metal. The Weakerthans are probably the best actual discovery, though.
27. What did you want and get? An interesting first semester, good friends, a man who adores me and can beat me at Scrabble, a good Batman movie
28. What did you want and not get? Social skills, superpowers, a chance to travel with the Doctor, a plan.
29. What was your favorite film of this year? The Dark Knight. So much of the important stuff that has happened to me has been tied to that movie. Furthermore, it's Batman and features the Joker, who is fucking amazing.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I went to class. Ro baked me a pudding cake. I tried to throw a party for the school friends and the home friends at my parents' house. I drank a rather large number of girly drinks. I got dumped. I got undumped even though I knew I shouldn't have. I turned 21.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Jeans, and t-shirts - most often black with sweatshirts, my Yggdrasil necklace, and green converse.
32. What kept you sane? friends, good times, books, video games, school, and sheer willpower.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? The Doctor. Also Major Motoko Kusanagi (GitS) and Kamina (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann)
34. What political issue stirred you the most? I tend to see the big, meaningless picture, so I was generally terrified and appalled by the entirety of world politics, but I did pay attention to the election from time to time. I even voted.
35. Who did you miss? First of all, it's "whom" ;p. I missed my friends from home when I was at school and my friends from school when I was at my parents' (like I am now). Also my crazy uncle.
36. Who was the best new person you met? Frozac. I technically met him in 06, but we weren't as close as we are now until he moved onto Haven this year. I really enjoyed the unholy trio (aka the second core) of Carlos, Frozac, and I. It's a shame we had to kill it.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008? Everything burns.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
Do the impossible! See the invisible!
Raw! Raw! Fight the power!
Touch the untouchable! Break the unbreakable!
Raw! Raw! Fight the power! ("Rap no tamashii da...")
Juega conmigo a enloquecer.
Viajaremos juntos a traves de la galaxia.
Yo te prometo que al volver
Nunca volveras a ver la vida sin luz ni sin magia.
No importa si la soledad te atrapa al aterrizar -
Yo estare cerca calmando la tormeta.
No necesitas comprender
Si esto esta mal o esta bien.
No hay que pagar peajes en estos viajes. ("Euforia" - La Sonrisa de Julia con Ivan Ferreiro)
Unseen, I strike the finishing blow
I've survived even this era
Beneath a illusory sky
I can hardly remember what I was afraid of
Secretly watching over the town
I step about carelessly
Setting fires everywhere
What was the name of that town, anyway? ("Last Dinosaur" - the pillows)
Measure me in metered lines
And one decisive stare
The time it takes to get from here to there
My ribs that show through t-shirts
And these shoes I got for free
I'm unconsoled
I'm lonely
I am so much better than I used to be
Terrified of telephones
And shopping malls and knives
Drowning in the pools of other lives
Rely a bit too heavily
On alcohol and irony
Get clobbered on by courtesy
In love with love and lousy poetry
And I'm leaning on this broken fence
Between past and present tense
And I'm losing all those stupid games
That I swore I'd never play
But it almost feels okay
Circumnavigate this body
Of wonder and uncertainty
Armed with every precious failure
And amateur cartography
I'm breathing deep before
I spread those maps out on my bedroom floor
And I'm leaning on this broken fence
Between past and present tense
And I'm losing all those stupid games
That I swore I'd never play
But it feels okay
And I'm leaving with goodbye
And I'm losing but I'll try
With the last ways left
To remember sing
My imperfect offering ("Aside" - The Weakerthans)
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Last year, my goals were to finish one of the bunch of novels I've started, to successfully lead the Anime Club to a convention, to not be stupid when it comes to romantic/sexual relationships, and to devote myself more passionately to my studies. I was a bit more hardcore about my studies - or was more successful in spite of my slacking off, at any rate. I failed at all the other stuff, though. This year I resolve to be true to myself, to be more intelligent about my relationships, and to leave the Anime Club better off than it was when I found it. Also, I resolve to stop overthinking everything and enjoy thinking of this insignificant existance as the game it actually is.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? no
4. Did anyone close to you die? no
5. What countries did you visit? None. I stayed pretty much put, but I did make plans to get the hell out of here (and to Madrid) next year.
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? A plan or the guts to live life without one.
7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Finally getting stuff together with Frozac (Nov. 16-23), seeing The Dark Knight many times, various moments in Westfall's classes, amazing stuff in Anime Club (the end of Gurren Lagann, etc.), Haven amazingness (seeing Burn After Reading, playing Say Anything, rib night, the laundry room & lounge sleepover), my 21st birthday, gummy bears
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Having such an amazing time in spite of myself
9. What was your biggest failure? Not putting an end to things with XP when I should have
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Well, the depression is far from completely gone, but I was otherwise fairly healthy except for that week I spent in bed unable to eat
11. What was the best thing you bought? I have no idea. My PS2 maybe? Or my green converse. They're pretty cool.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? All of my friends, especially Zip and Hayley, who deal with most of my drama. Most of all Zack, whose selflessness is incredible.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? My own, my parents', my grandfather's, XP's, and the government's.
14. Where did most of your money go? Books, clothes, eating out with my friends
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Gurren Lagann, The Dark Knight, my various romantic exploits, The Revenger's Tragedy & my presentation, Spanish comic books, Scrabble, etc.
16. What song will always remind you of 2008? Hmm...there are a lot, so I'll just say the openings from Anime Club stuff (Sakura Kissu, Sorairo Days, the Soul Eater & Zetsubou Sensei openings, etc.), the FLCL soundtrack (esp. Little Busters), songs from Lola, Various Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Blue Oyster Cult tunes, certain songs by The Weakerthans (particularly "Uncorrected Proofs," "Civil Twilight," "Aside," "Watermark," and "A New Name for Everything"), and of course RAW RAW FIGHT DA POWA!!!
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? I'm much happier.
ii. thinner or fatter? the same. sometimes thinner, sometimes fatter. it depends.
iii. richer or poorer? Poorer but about to be richer before becoming even poorer still.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? reading things I got to choose and burning the world down.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? It's a toss-up between self-pity, self-loathing, and being stupid.
20. How will you be spending Christmas? The usual suspects (parents, Opa, siblings) wasted the day and then went out for Chinese.
21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with? XP.
22. Did you fall in love in 2008? I have no clue. Once, maybe twice. Maybe not at all really.
23. What was your favorite TV program? Doctor Who. Ghost in the Shell, Gurren Lagann, Lola, Jeopardy, The Simpsons, and the various things we watched in Anime Club are next followed by random comedy shows (Upright Citizens Brigade, Kids in the Hall) that Jim forced on us. I didn't watch a ton of tv this year.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Nah. I'm too lazy to hate. It's a lot more work than people think. Of course, I'll always have an over-developed sense of self-loathing, but other than that I'd like to focus my energies on love. It's a much more rewarding form of self-destruction.
25. What was the best book you read? The Revenger's Tragedy followed by Bardin el superrealista, which has to be the weirdest comic I've ever seen. The Killing Joke deserves a mention, as do Sandman and Watchmen for notable re-reads. I didn't have a lot of time to read outside of class, but most of what we read for Revenge and Restoration and for Chaucer was fun . It's a shame I felt compelled to live Troilus and Criseyde.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery? I dunno. I rediscovered the pillows and stopped suppressing my love of metal. The Weakerthans are probably the best actual discovery, though.
27. What did you want and get? An interesting first semester, good friends, a man who adores me and can beat me at Scrabble, a good Batman movie
28. What did you want and not get? Social skills, superpowers, a chance to travel with the Doctor, a plan.
29. What was your favorite film of this year? The Dark Knight. So much of the important stuff that has happened to me has been tied to that movie. Furthermore, it's Batman and features the Joker, who is fucking amazing.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I went to class. Ro baked me a pudding cake. I tried to throw a party for the school friends and the home friends at my parents' house. I drank a rather large number of girly drinks. I got dumped. I got undumped even though I knew I shouldn't have. I turned 21.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Jeans, and t-shirts - most often black with sweatshirts, my Yggdrasil necklace, and green converse.
32. What kept you sane? friends, good times, books, video games, school, and sheer willpower.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? The Doctor. Also Major Motoko Kusanagi (GitS) and Kamina (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann)
34. What political issue stirred you the most? I tend to see the big, meaningless picture, so I was generally terrified and appalled by the entirety of world politics, but I did pay attention to the election from time to time. I even voted.
35. Who did you miss? First of all, it's "whom" ;p. I missed my friends from home when I was at school and my friends from school when I was at my parents' (like I am now). Also my crazy uncle.
36. Who was the best new person you met? Frozac. I technically met him in 06, but we weren't as close as we are now until he moved onto Haven this year. I really enjoyed the unholy trio (aka the second core) of Carlos, Frozac, and I. It's a shame we had to kill it.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008? Everything burns.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
Do the impossible! See the invisible!
Raw! Raw! Fight the power!
Touch the untouchable! Break the unbreakable!
Raw! Raw! Fight the power! ("Rap no tamashii da...")
Juega conmigo a enloquecer.
Viajaremos juntos a traves de la galaxia.
Yo te prometo que al volver
Nunca volveras a ver la vida sin luz ni sin magia.
No importa si la soledad te atrapa al aterrizar -
Yo estare cerca calmando la tormeta.
No necesitas comprender
Si esto esta mal o esta bien.
No hay que pagar peajes en estos viajes. ("Euforia" - La Sonrisa de Julia con Ivan Ferreiro)
Unseen, I strike the finishing blow
I've survived even this era
Beneath a illusory sky
I can hardly remember what I was afraid of
Secretly watching over the town
I step about carelessly
Setting fires everywhere
What was the name of that town, anyway? ("Last Dinosaur" - the pillows)
Measure me in metered lines
And one decisive stare
The time it takes to get from here to there
My ribs that show through t-shirts
And these shoes I got for free
I'm unconsoled
I'm lonely
I am so much better than I used to be
Terrified of telephones
And shopping malls and knives
Drowning in the pools of other lives
Rely a bit too heavily
On alcohol and irony
Get clobbered on by courtesy
In love with love and lousy poetry
And I'm leaning on this broken fence
Between past and present tense
And I'm losing all those stupid games
That I swore I'd never play
But it almost feels okay
Circumnavigate this body
Of wonder and uncertainty
Armed with every precious failure
And amateur cartography
I'm breathing deep before
I spread those maps out on my bedroom floor
And I'm leaning on this broken fence
Between past and present tense
And I'm losing all those stupid games
That I swore I'd never play
But it feels okay
And I'm leaving with goodbye
And I'm losing but I'll try
With the last ways left
To remember sing
My imperfect offering ("Aside" - The Weakerthans)