Gonna give this year-end survey a shot, even though my LJ entries don't really back me up this year.
1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Start law school, see Cooperstown, go away overnight with a boyfriend, attend a friend's wedding, introduce a boyfriend to my family, finally see the Guggenheim (twice!), get published in a real book, attend my five-year Barnard reunion, finish a semester of law school.
2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
In answer to this question last year, I wrote, "I'm sure I'll make other, similar partial resolutions for next year, too." Problem is, I never said what. Suffice to say, I probably didn't make anything important. I'll think about it over the next week.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My Israeli cousin (to whom I'm not really close, but I did become friendly with her brother, who was working in New York this summer) had a girl in July. And my mom's cousin living out in California just had a boy, like, yesterday.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Off the top of my head, can't think of anyone. ::knocks wood:: So as of 11:30 p.m. on December 23, the answer is thankfully "no."
5. What countries did you visit?
Haven't left the U.S. of A since returning from Barcelona on December 30, 2008. Can't afford it. In regard to individual travels, though, I have made a couple trips to Philadelphia, was in D.C. at the end of July and early August, took a day trip to Harrisburg in January, and, of course, Albany and Cooperstown for my birthday. Will be leaving for San Francisco on Friday, so hopefully that goes well.
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Motivation to work harder, manage my time better, and get things done efficiently. Also, a good summer internship (which obviously I couldn't've had this year, seeing as I wasn't a student, but still).
7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
My birthday (and the day before and after) - baseball heaven (see above)
July 29-August 2 - SABR 39 in Washington D.C.
October 16 - Adam and my one-year anniversary; instead of spending it with him (he was out of town and sent me roses), I went to Game 1 of the ALCS and watched the Yankees and CC kick some serious Angel ass.
August 17 - I became a student again.
December 17 - I finished a semester and drank myself silly.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Deciding to give up MLB and go back to school.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not being able to manage my time better, then complaining about how I wasted so much. If my grades are only mediocre this semester, I'll know why.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Anything bad?
Well, after I recovered from the stupid stomach condition I picked up in Barcelona to start the year, I immediately came down with a bad cold, so I was pretty much sick all of January. Then I came down with the flu in July, just in time for the All-Star break, when I was naturally working day shifts. And I remember having some kind of a cold or virus in November as I was trying to finish my legal memo. So yes, for me, that's like being chronically ill, because I never get sick.
11. What were the best things you bought?
Does my tuition count? (Not that I'll know if I spent my money wisely for three years, though...) More superficially, my waterproof snowboot-type shoes have definitely saved me from the rain this year. And I love my little Netbook.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
I feel like I say the same thing every year, but my friends are always doing such amazing things and making such amazing strides, I can't help but celebrate them.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
AOL News -- which actually is a microcosm of how I feel about news media in general these days. If you're not in the twitter cult[ure] (in both a literal and figurative sense), you're out of work. Or maybe you're both.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent and tuition (much more tuition, but considering it's the government's money right now, I'm not sure if that counts)
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
December 17. The weeks leading up to it after Thanksgiving were endless and seemingly hopeless.
16. What song/s will always remind you of 2009?
Probably anything Lady Gaga. She's all-pervasive.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. Happier or sadder? Probably happier
ii. Thinner or fatter? Haven't weighed myself in a year, but my eating habits were horrible during finals, so likely fatter.
iii. Richer or poorer? My bank account says richer, but we all know most of that money isn't mine and I'm already accumulating massive amounts of debt. So poorer.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Writing. (And blogging here.) Seeing friends.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Being so hard on myself for just about everything.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
In San Francisco with Adam.
21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
I'm starting to believe I have. Crazy.
22. How many one-night stands?
Zero.
24. What was your favorite TV program?
Glee!
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
"Hate" isn't a word to be thrown around lightly. Though there were definitely a couple of my smug law school classmates for whom I was strongly rooting to fail.
26. What was the best book you read?
Having buried myself in law books for so long, I'd forgotten I once read novels. Thinking back, I guess either The Nanny Diaries or Little Women (I know, I know, how can the two be uttered in the same sentence, but they're apples and oranges for me).
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Spring Awakening -- saw it the day before it closed in January and couldn't stop listening to the soundtrack for months afterward.
28. What did you want and get?
A sense of purpose and intellectual fulfillment. I guess the former I sort of had, but the latter was sorely lacking.
29. What did you want and not get?
Fame, fortune, yadaya, the usual.
30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Why can't I remember anything I saw this year other than Harry Potter in IMAX? Could it be because the recession breeds sucky movies and I've barely seen anything?
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 27, and if you're paying attention I answered the rest in #1, #5, and #7. :)
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Getting straight A's (which theoretically could still happen, since I haven't gotten my grades back and I have no idea what The Curve will do).
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Old. As in, I've looked at my wardrobe recently and realized I'm still wearing a lot of the stuff I purchased five (or more!) years ago, very little of which I bought recently. That really has to change next year.
34. What kept you sane?
My friends (old and new), Adam (who also drove me crazy at times;)), baseball
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Off the top of my head, the only new male celebrity I can think of that I really got excited about this year was Nick Swisher. But I wouldn't really say I "fancied" him in that way.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Universal health care. I know what my parents think, and I know the plan about to be passed by the Senate is far from perfect, but darn it, we need to work toward something, and the way partisan politics are, a radical overhaul of the broken system we have in place now is only going to happen through gradual changes and adjustments. If we can't pass even that much through today, then when?
37. Who did you miss?
Seeing everyone at Barnard reunion (and then not seeing most of them at THE WALK! a few weeks later) really made me miss us being all together, and the friends who'd left town.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
My law school friends -- I definitely don't have the same sort of bond with them yet that I have with all my strong Barnard women, but it is kind of interesting to see the makings of a whole new group just because we all suffered over this same material together for four months.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
The best things in your life happen when and where you least expect to find them.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
"Encumbered forever by desire and ambition
There's a hunger still unsatisfied
Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon
Though down this road we've been so many times"
Start law school, see Cooperstown, go away overnight with a boyfriend, attend a friend's wedding, introduce a boyfriend to my family, finally see the Guggenheim (twice!), get published in a real book, attend my five-year Barnard reunion, finish a semester of law school.
2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
In answer to this question last year, I wrote, "I'm sure I'll make other, similar partial resolutions for next year, too." Problem is, I never said what. Suffice to say, I probably didn't make anything important. I'll think about it over the next week.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My Israeli cousin (to whom I'm not really close, but I did become friendly with her brother, who was working in New York this summer) had a girl in July. And my mom's cousin living out in California just had a boy, like, yesterday.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Off the top of my head, can't think of anyone. ::knocks wood:: So as of 11:30 p.m. on December 23, the answer is thankfully "no."
5. What countries did you visit?
Haven't left the U.S. of A since returning from Barcelona on December 30, 2008. Can't afford it. In regard to individual travels, though, I have made a couple trips to Philadelphia, was in D.C. at the end of July and early August, took a day trip to Harrisburg in January, and, of course, Albany and Cooperstown for my birthday. Will be leaving for San Francisco on Friday, so hopefully that goes well.
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Motivation to work harder, manage my time better, and get things done efficiently. Also, a good summer internship (which obviously I couldn't've had this year, seeing as I wasn't a student, but still).
7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
My birthday (and the day before and after) - baseball heaven (see above)
July 29-August 2 - SABR 39 in Washington D.C.
October 16 - Adam and my one-year anniversary; instead of spending it with him (he was out of town and sent me roses), I went to Game 1 of the ALCS and watched the Yankees and CC kick some serious Angel ass.
August 17 - I became a student again.
December 17 - I finished a semester and drank myself silly.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Deciding to give up MLB and go back to school.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not being able to manage my time better, then complaining about how I wasted so much. If my grades are only mediocre this semester, I'll know why.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Anything bad?
Well, after I recovered from the stupid stomach condition I picked up in Barcelona to start the year, I immediately came down with a bad cold, so I was pretty much sick all of January. Then I came down with the flu in July, just in time for the All-Star break, when I was naturally working day shifts. And I remember having some kind of a cold or virus in November as I was trying to finish my legal memo. So yes, for me, that's like being chronically ill, because I never get sick.
11. What were the best things you bought?
Does my tuition count? (Not that I'll know if I spent my money wisely for three years, though...) More superficially, my waterproof snowboot-type shoes have definitely saved me from the rain this year. And I love my little Netbook.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
I feel like I say the same thing every year, but my friends are always doing such amazing things and making such amazing strides, I can't help but celebrate them.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
AOL News -- which actually is a microcosm of how I feel about news media in general these days. If you're not in the twitter cult[ure] (in both a literal and figurative sense), you're out of work. Or maybe you're both.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent and tuition (much more tuition, but considering it's the government's money right now, I'm not sure if that counts)
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
December 17. The weeks leading up to it after Thanksgiving were endless and seemingly hopeless.
16. What song/s will always remind you of 2009?
Probably anything Lady Gaga. She's all-pervasive.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. Happier or sadder? Probably happier
ii. Thinner or fatter? Haven't weighed myself in a year, but my eating habits were horrible during finals, so likely fatter.
iii. Richer or poorer? My bank account says richer, but we all know most of that money isn't mine and I'm already accumulating massive amounts of debt. So poorer.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Writing. (And blogging here.) Seeing friends.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Being so hard on myself for just about everything.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
In San Francisco with Adam.
21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
I'm starting to believe I have. Crazy.
22. How many one-night stands?
Zero.
24. What was your favorite TV program?
Glee!
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
"Hate" isn't a word to be thrown around lightly. Though there were definitely a couple of my smug law school classmates for whom I was strongly rooting to fail.
26. What was the best book you read?
Having buried myself in law books for so long, I'd forgotten I once read novels. Thinking back, I guess either The Nanny Diaries or Little Women (I know, I know, how can the two be uttered in the same sentence, but they're apples and oranges for me).
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Spring Awakening -- saw it the day before it closed in January and couldn't stop listening to the soundtrack for months afterward.
28. What did you want and get?
A sense of purpose and intellectual fulfillment. I guess the former I sort of had, but the latter was sorely lacking.
29. What did you want and not get?
Fame, fortune, yadaya, the usual.
30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Why can't I remember anything I saw this year other than Harry Potter in IMAX? Could it be because the recession breeds sucky movies and I've barely seen anything?
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 27, and if you're paying attention I answered the rest in #1, #5, and #7. :)
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Getting straight A's (which theoretically could still happen, since I haven't gotten my grades back and I have no idea what The Curve will do).
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Old. As in, I've looked at my wardrobe recently and realized I'm still wearing a lot of the stuff I purchased five (or more!) years ago, very little of which I bought recently. That really has to change next year.
34. What kept you sane?
My friends (old and new), Adam (who also drove me crazy at times;)), baseball
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Off the top of my head, the only new male celebrity I can think of that I really got excited about this year was Nick Swisher. But I wouldn't really say I "fancied" him in that way.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Universal health care. I know what my parents think, and I know the plan about to be passed by the Senate is far from perfect, but darn it, we need to work toward something, and the way partisan politics are, a radical overhaul of the broken system we have in place now is only going to happen through gradual changes and adjustments. If we can't pass even that much through today, then when?
37. Who did you miss?
Seeing everyone at Barnard reunion (and then not seeing most of them at THE WALK! a few weeks later) really made me miss us being all together, and the friends who'd left town.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
My law school friends -- I definitely don't have the same sort of bond with them yet that I have with all my strong Barnard women, but it is kind of interesting to see the makings of a whole new group just because we all suffered over this same material together for four months.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
The best things in your life happen when and where you least expect to find them.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
"Encumbered forever by desire and ambition
There's a hunger still unsatisfied
Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon
Though down this road we've been so many times"