That time of year again (yup, can't sleep)
1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before? Spent New Year's outside the New York area. Interned for a judge and wrote a published memorandum opinion. Joined the world of the SmartPhone (then promptly lost it three months later and had to buy a new one). Got selected for Law Review e-board. Visited five major league stadiums in one year. Set foot on Cornell campus. ... You know, part of the problem with this year is that I really didn't do too many new, positive things. Which is probably why I've felt so blah recently -- I've basically been reliving a hackneyed rerun of 2010.
2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Apparently, I didn't make one last year (or at least said I'd make one a few weeks into the year -- haven't read my early January LJ entries to see, but I suspect I never did). This year, though, as I said a few posts ago, I think I'm going to attempt to get rid of the "somedays" (i.e. "We should get together someday"; "I really need to contact them someday soon."). Putting things off for no reason other than my own insecure perfectionism just isn't healthy.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Two of my cousins had kids. One of my law school friends also gave birth, but I'm not as close with her as I was 1L. As well as a couple of other friends in remote locations.
4. Did anyone close to you die? See my previous entry. Not really close, but did upset me enough to write about it. EDIT (12/31): Add my great-aunt to that; she was 95 and was in poor shape for a while--went on hospice last week--so we knew this was coming. Guess it means I start off the new year with a funeral?
5. What countries did you visit? No countries, but went back to DC for the summer, as well as visited Southern California, Philadelphia, Ithaca, and Atlantic City.
6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? Something to get excited about. I would hope graduation and my post-law school prospects (or lack thereof) would bring as much.
7. What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Funny, the only days that stick out (without me having to look up exact dates) are my birthday, which I celebrated with PBS followed by a couple of bars in Arlington, Virginia, Sarah's wedding weekend September 22-24 and November 14, the day the agony ended. Sad.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Making the Law Review e-board and coming out of the Note-writing process alive (I hope -- this is presuming I don't have to rewrite it, which I won't know for a couple more weeks).
9. What was your biggest failure? Letting stress get the best of me to the point where I couldn't think straight.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I had some stomach spasm problem over the summer -- may have been stress, who knows. And the whole being eaten alive thing (which I guess is an injury?).
11. What was the best thing you bought? Maybe my SmartPhone. Which was kind of unnecessarily necessary (since I only bought it because I lost my first one) -- but still, glad I did. Perhaps second was my Michael Kors raincoat, which was a little pricey, but I love it.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration? Shoutout to former roommie Judith, who finally found a job she loves and is making good on her artistic talents.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Pretty much most of America, beginning with the government (particularly Congress), continuing to the Conservative fuckwads who are serious about the White House, and ending with the Occupy movements.
14. Where did most of your money go? As usual, rent. And tuition (if you consider that money mine). In general, though, prices on everything seem much higher this year.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? I guess I was excited to start work at PBS, but it was kind of disappointing. See #6.
16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2011? Anything by Adele. I think "Set Fire to the Rain" is permanently ingrained in my head.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
I. Happier? No, but hopeful.
II. Thinner or fatter? Feel fatter, but probably about the same.
III. Richer or poorer? Definitely poorer. Debts are mounting behind closed doors, and I'm paying close to $100 more in rent this year. I paid close to 50% more in health insurance this year. Everything, in general, just seems more expensive (Has anyone seen the prices of dairy as of late? Insane.)
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Enjoying myself.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Freaking myself out silly, working stupid hard at the expense of the rest of my livelihood.
20. How will you be spending Christmas? With my family in New Jersey (Dad's birthday) feasting on lox and bagels. (Yes, my family is chronologically confused when it comes to holiday food this year -- we had Chinese food for Thanksgiving.)
22. Did you fall in love in 2011? I thought I might be earlier this year, but it turned out to be not what I thought it was.
23. How many one-night stands? Does it count as one night if it happened on multiple occasions?
24. What was your favorite TV program? 30 Rock is really all I kept up with this year. Started watching TruBlood, was totally hooked before the website I streamed from went belly-up. Beyond that, lots of stupid crap I watched on Bravo and the Style Network on my summer roommate's TV; the less said there the better.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? People who think they're representative of the 99% of America.
26. What was the best book you read? Besides vampire porn those trashy TruBlood novels, can't say I read all that much. Either Heartburn, by Nora Ephron, which was surprisingly good, or Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, which made me cry. Also reread The Great Gatsby, which I reviled in 10th grade, but absolutely loved now.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Gonna go with Adele again.
28. What did you want and get? A good roommate to replace the old one.
29. What did you want and didn´t get? Just about everything else.
30. What was your favorite film of this year? Either Harry Potter (again, I cried -- why am I suddenly so mushy over pop culture?) or The Muppets, which resurrected my childhood.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? Golden year for me, and I spent it at PBS, where they coincidentally had their monthly birthday celebration that day. Then went out for dinner with a couple of friends at a couple of bars. Played some pool. It was a pretty good day. Which was rare this year.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Hard to choose just one. Maybe if I hadn't had that screw-up with my Note topic and had been on schedule I wouldn't've freaked the fuck out all summer and on into the fall how behind I was. Big maybe.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011? I discovered sweater dresses -- which work in just about any non-formal context -- and leggings. Changed my life.
34. What kept you sane? Honestly, there were times this year when I wondered whether I was.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Before I lost connection, Bill from TruBlood was on his way to becoming my new Angel, if only because I always need a broody vampire in my life (who doesn't sparkle).
36. What political issue stirred you the most? I think just about everything in the news stirred me up this year, because there are a lot of misinformed, knee-jerk radicals out there, and I'm tired of being a reality check, because I pay attention to more than partisan propaganda that preaches to the choir.
37. Who did you miss? My sister Jody on Thanksgiving, because apparently she has another family now. ;-)
38. Who was the best new person you met? Probably my new roommate Ashley, who, as a fellow law student, completely gets my constant venting about how my life has gone to pot.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011: Life is too short to waste it on internal stress or festering old wounds.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: Metaphorically, "It's been a long December, and there's reason to believe / maybe this year will be better than the last / I can't remember all the times I've tried to tell myself / to hold on to these moments as they pass."
2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Apparently, I didn't make one last year (or at least said I'd make one a few weeks into the year -- haven't read my early January LJ entries to see, but I suspect I never did). This year, though, as I said a few posts ago, I think I'm going to attempt to get rid of the "somedays" (i.e. "We should get together someday"; "I really need to contact them someday soon."). Putting things off for no reason other than my own insecure perfectionism just isn't healthy.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Two of my cousins had kids. One of my law school friends also gave birth, but I'm not as close with her as I was 1L. As well as a couple of other friends in remote locations.
4. Did anyone close to you die? See my previous entry. Not really close, but did upset me enough to write about it. EDIT (12/31): Add my great-aunt to that; she was 95 and was in poor shape for a while--went on hospice last week--so we knew this was coming. Guess it means I start off the new year with a funeral?
5. What countries did you visit? No countries, but went back to DC for the summer, as well as visited Southern California, Philadelphia, Ithaca, and Atlantic City.
6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? Something to get excited about. I would hope graduation and my post-law school prospects (or lack thereof) would bring as much.
7. What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Funny, the only days that stick out (without me having to look up exact dates) are my birthday, which I celebrated with PBS followed by a couple of bars in Arlington, Virginia, Sarah's wedding weekend September 22-24 and November 14, the day the agony ended. Sad.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Making the Law Review e-board and coming out of the Note-writing process alive (I hope -- this is presuming I don't have to rewrite it, which I won't know for a couple more weeks).
9. What was your biggest failure? Letting stress get the best of me to the point where I couldn't think straight.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I had some stomach spasm problem over the summer -- may have been stress, who knows. And the whole being eaten alive thing (which I guess is an injury?).
11. What was the best thing you bought? Maybe my SmartPhone. Which was kind of unnecessarily necessary (since I only bought it because I lost my first one) -- but still, glad I did. Perhaps second was my Michael Kors raincoat, which was a little pricey, but I love it.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration? Shoutout to former roommie Judith, who finally found a job she loves and is making good on her artistic talents.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Pretty much most of America, beginning with the government (particularly Congress), continuing to the Conservative fuckwads who are serious about the White House, and ending with the Occupy movements.
14. Where did most of your money go? As usual, rent. And tuition (if you consider that money mine). In general, though, prices on everything seem much higher this year.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? I guess I was excited to start work at PBS, but it was kind of disappointing. See #6.
16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2011? Anything by Adele. I think "Set Fire to the Rain" is permanently ingrained in my head.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
I. Happier? No, but hopeful.
II. Thinner or fatter? Feel fatter, but probably about the same.
III. Richer or poorer? Definitely poorer. Debts are mounting behind closed doors, and I'm paying close to $100 more in rent this year. I paid close to 50% more in health insurance this year. Everything, in general, just seems more expensive (Has anyone seen the prices of dairy as of late? Insane.)
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Enjoying myself.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Freaking myself out silly, working stupid hard at the expense of the rest of my livelihood.
20. How will you be spending Christmas? With my family in New Jersey (Dad's birthday) feasting on lox and bagels. (Yes, my family is chronologically confused when it comes to holiday food this year -- we had Chinese food for Thanksgiving.)
22. Did you fall in love in 2011? I thought I might be earlier this year, but it turned out to be not what I thought it was.
23. How many one-night stands? Does it count as one night if it happened on multiple occasions?
24. What was your favorite TV program? 30 Rock is really all I kept up with this year. Started watching TruBlood, was totally hooked before the website I streamed from went belly-up. Beyond that, lots of stupid crap I watched on Bravo and the Style Network on my summer roommate's TV; the less said there the better.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? People who think they're representative of the 99% of America.
26. What was the best book you read? Besides vampire porn those trashy TruBlood novels, can't say I read all that much. Either Heartburn, by Nora Ephron, which was surprisingly good, or Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, which made me cry. Also reread The Great Gatsby, which I reviled in 10th grade, but absolutely loved now.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Gonna go with Adele again.
28. What did you want and get? A good roommate to replace the old one.
29. What did you want and didn´t get? Just about everything else.
30. What was your favorite film of this year? Either Harry Potter (again, I cried -- why am I suddenly so mushy over pop culture?) or The Muppets, which resurrected my childhood.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? Golden year for me, and I spent it at PBS, where they coincidentally had their monthly birthday celebration that day. Then went out for dinner with a couple of friends at a couple of bars. Played some pool. It was a pretty good day. Which was rare this year.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Hard to choose just one. Maybe if I hadn't had that screw-up with my Note topic and had been on schedule I wouldn't've freaked the fuck out all summer and on into the fall how behind I was. Big maybe.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011? I discovered sweater dresses -- which work in just about any non-formal context -- and leggings. Changed my life.
34. What kept you sane? Honestly, there were times this year when I wondered whether I was.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Before I lost connection, Bill from TruBlood was on his way to becoming my new Angel, if only because I always need a broody vampire in my life (who doesn't sparkle).
36. What political issue stirred you the most? I think just about everything in the news stirred me up this year, because there are a lot of misinformed, knee-jerk radicals out there, and I'm tired of being a reality check, because I pay attention to more than partisan propaganda that preaches to the choir.
37. Who did you miss? My sister Jody on Thanksgiving, because apparently she has another family now. ;-)
38. Who was the best new person you met? Probably my new roommate Ashley, who, as a fellow law student, completely gets my constant venting about how my life has gone to pot.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011: Life is too short to waste it on internal stress or festering old wounds.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: Metaphorically, "It's been a long December, and there's reason to believe / maybe this year will be better than the last / I can't remember all the times I've tried to tell myself / to hold on to these moments as they pass."