2007
Aight, 2007. Surveys are always a good time ;-)
1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?
stay at home for several months and thoroughly enjoy it. disaster relief work. fall for, become involved with, and then trainwreck things with a close friend. go on professional job interviews; get an internship offer. learn a little CAD. "research."
work full-time at my internship with Chevron. Live in California. Have my own appartment and pay rent and all that. Meet and make friends with people from Texas, Christian conservatives, and other folk that I never saw myself being friends with.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
i don't remember any of them. haha. and i suppose i have some general ones for 2008.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
no
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Mary-Lou Dorsett, a wonderful woman with a heart of gold, passed away. She was a genuinely good person who helped and cared for troubled children and I always considered her to be a saintly persona. If anyone from my church could be considered to live like a true Christian and "practice what one preached," it would have certainly been her.
5. What countries did you visit?
none in 2007. [2008 looks to be much better; I type this from France and yesterday I was in Switzerland for about three hours in the Geneva airport.]
6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007? haha, well, the last two years I wanted an i-pod, but in 2007, Chevron gave me an i-pod shuffle, and I have yet to use it. I am laaame.
But on to what I would like in 2008: Perhaps to be attracted to a great guy, not a jerk, and to have that attraction be mutual. 2007 showed me several combinations of these attributes but never in that particular desired arrangement.
7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Once again, a lot of good memories. I am very thankful.
- Seeing Avenue Q on broadway and then hanging out in a bar in Manhattan with a bunch of ivy-league characters, most notably that one guy who likes to pop in and out of my life every so often.
- Another Manhattan memory was with the Tiffster when we went ice-skating at Rockefeller!
- Hate to say this, but a lot of days from when the roommate situation turned sour while I simultaneously got involved with a mutual friend. Aiysh.
- Clearing, or at least attempting to clear, my mind from said situation, and moving to California to start my internship
- Meeting the other 70+ interns, liking all of them, and traveling the California coastline with various groups of them almost every single weekend
- Particularly the Norah Jones concert at Santa Barbara
- But also camping at San Simeon, the Sequoias, Lake Tahoe, and Yosemite.
- As well as visiting San Francisco and biking across the Golden Gate bridge, 6 Flags trip when we stayed in LA and had a ridiculous night there, visiting San Diego and seeing BK in nearby Carlsbad, going to Lake Isabella and really bonding with that group of interns.
- the 2 intern softball team games i dared to try playing in
- The day my mentor played a prank and made me think that I had lost my "smartbadge" ID my first week of work.
- My final presentation at work
- Canoe trip along the Delaware with Elise
- playing on SWE's im volleyball team
- Lan's birthday party
- a few interesting BMB study sessions...
- BMB becoming my favorite class, especially the presentation component
- Many things from Fall semester 2007; several interesting dates, spending long evenings in Fenske - the chemical engineering bldg, working really hard on design projects/coursework/speeches, finding out at the last minute that I was studying abroad.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I have to say that 2006's should have been getting that job offer in California because it turned out to be such a wonderful experience. 2007's would be perhaps working full-time (and absolutely loving it). Being accepted to study abroad was the first step in the fulfillment of a dream I've had for a very long time.
9. What was your biggest failure?
ummm, that roommate situation during the spring 2007 semester was just a mess. the times that i continued to behave immaturely/rudely/meanly towards my parents esp. my mom, and of course failing to help organize my mess-of-a-house.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
nothing too serious, for which i remain quite thankful. there was that weird landing on my ankle during im volleyball in the first game, but i believe that has all but healed.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Hmm, probably national park admissions and things for the many wonderful weekend trips over the summer. and the tickets/car shipping to California. and the rent for our appartment.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
I'm going to repeat the "all my friends" response, including both new and old friends because they all are amazing and make me happy to be alive, as slightly scary/intense as that might sound. And my new roommate fall semester for being an awesome person to me cough cough sophomore year roommate.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled?
My answer last year was 'several select men.' Oh, right, and my soph. year roommate for turning into a frigid bitch.
14. Where did most of your money go?
still education and travel. both are worthy causes.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
adventures and friends this summer! getting into study abroad!
16. What songs will always remind you of 2007?
Flo Rida - Low, which has also begun 2008 pretty well hahaha
The Starting Line - Best of Me (my fun roommates wakeup ringtone)
Rihanna - Umbrella
Fergie - Clumsy
Nickelback - Rockstar
Rascal Flatts - My Wish
Brooks & Dunne - Play Something Country (my very smalltown-girl summer roommate)
Carrie Underwood - Before He Cheats
Down aka Kilo (I think is his name) - Lean Like a Cholo
Soulja Boy or Soulja Boi or whoever the hell he is
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? perhaps about the same or a bit happier
b) Skinner or fatter? heh fatter
c) richer or poorer? well, i did have a full-time job for the first time . . . but i spend a lot of money getting there, getting back, and having fun while i was there so about the same.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
HAHA last years was speaking French, and right now I'm in France. Okay, it was funny when I read it.
Maybe I wish I'd spent enough time on research for it to be an meaningful and somewhat enjoyable experience, because that hasn't happened yet.
Also, I wish I had spent more time with certain friends at school. I let research and school work trump my social life sometimes, and that's a slipperly slope to workoholism. Hard work is important, but so is making time for the people you care about, and I think I neglected that department sometimes this semester and that's pretty dick of me to have done.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Still being a brat to my parents, esp. my mom. Also being angry at my sophomore roommate for not liking me anymore and remaining livid about it when i should have just let it go.
20. Did you fall in love in 2006?
hah, NO.
21. How many one-night stands?
I prefer to be a repeat offender.
22. What was your favorite TV program?
Still many things comedy central. I enjoyed the couple episodes of 'The IT Crowd' that I saw as well.
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Hah, yes, that roommate. The ironic thing is that she's now an RA.
24. What was the best book you read?
Oh goodness. Bowling Alone was pretty interesting. I wish I had more time to read, but this summer just didn't leave the time and truth be told I'm not particularly heartbroken.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I have finally accepted the fact that after 5 semesters at Penn State and a summer of working with southerners, I, Tamara Siskind, like country music. George Straight is a legit artist, and as much as I particularly dislike to admit to, so is Toby 'Proud to be American and support that dumbass in the Whitehouse' Keith. I am proud to like the Dixie Chicks.
26. What did you want and get?
another amazing summer, to enjoy working full-time as an engineer, related-ly to do well in my first engineering job, to get into a study abroad program for France, to see Yosemite, to survive my first technical design project. an iPod lol.
27. What did you want and not get?
a digital camera. i think i'm going to have to remedy that r'l soon.
28. What was your favorite film of this year?
once again, i wasn't terribly impressed with any of the few movies i went out to the movie theater to see. movies are so expensive these days that i expect a heck of a lot, and i'm not frequently satisfied.
I saw Stranger Than Fiction, Click, and The Holiday were all 'legit.' Stranger Than Fiction and Click both starred comedians in roles that delved into much more serious subject matter than I was used to seeing from them, but I enjoyed both of those films (despite the horrible reviews Click receieved.)
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 20, and recall the majority of the day being blah - it was even raining. My best friends from school *did* take me out to dinner, though, and a wonderful guy friend brought me a bouquet of flowers. I enjoyed the weekend before my birthday. I know I volunteered at a nature center for a halloween-type even for sprouts and that I went to Tussey Mountain, and I think I went dancing too.
30.What's one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
to bring up the roommate thing yet again, not having had those issues would have been wonderful. also, my study partner not wanting to date me would have been fantastic. and maybe not having a crush on a guy in my major who wasn't exactly worth my time and energy.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
haha, still pretty boring but forced to become more professional when I was working for Chevron.
32. What kept you sane?
thank you, my friends. dancing, my CAS class, my new roommate.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Jude Law is rather attractive
34. What political issue stirred you the most?
the monks in Burma, because it forced me to confront the fact that the company I worked for and admired is apolitical but continues operations and pays taxes to all sorts of evil governments.
global warming because i requested to be placed in the carbon capture and sequestration division of my company for my next internship, and instead they gave me process consulting...
35. Who did you miss?
Starting the fall semester at school, I really missed my California friends. As always, I miss the Long Islanders - friends and family, and now I again miss my nearest and dearest Penn Staters.
36. Who were the best new people you met?
Page, Nick, Erica, Jason, Soong Hay, Adam, Bob, Asad (over the phone), Mike Plowman, okay everyone at work including interns and field office people, Lan, Viktor, Ike, and George. Jon and Jeff the chemE grad students are pretty cool.
37. What do you look forward to in 2007?
studying abroad in France! finally!
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006:
There are a lot of wonderful people out there. I'm happy to have become acquainted with so, so many of them thus far :-)
2007 was a really great year. A couple people hurt me pretty badly, but I think that the wonderfulness of the people that enter and continue to stay in my life more than makes up for those who are not worth me concerning myself with. Although I continue to not be religious, I do have some sort of secular prayer because I am thankful for every day and every experience that I have. Something about hitting the 20-year-mark has made me really concious of the fact that I'm blessed in a lot of ways and lucky to have so many things to be thankful for.