(no subject)
1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
- my first ever cloudswing performance (in front of 1500 people, yikes!)
- spent 2 weeks dancing with a whole bunch of strangers
- got up close and personal with people in new ways
- Saw something so tragic in a stranger's eyes that it made me cry
- Became a giant preying mantis and a giant flower in a Singaporean shopping mall
- quit salaried work altogether - made my living solely from contracting
- sub-contracted a colleague
- got my own logo and business cards (designed by my very talented brother in law)
- learned things about Maori and other indigenous cultures that I had never appreciated before, and came to see western culture from a whole new perspective.
- discovered that people are even more perceptive than I thought about tiny physical manifestations of emotional/mental states
- discovered links between my government and performance work that helped me understand both better.
- Went to a foreign country not even knowing what the currency was called, let alone the exchange rate (Doh. But isn't it amazing what you can get away with these days!)
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't do new years resolutions - too much pressure.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not this year
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, phew.
5. What countries did you visit?
The Republic of Boulder
Tahiti
Singapore
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
- A house!!!
- A good venue for the Wgtn Circus Trust
7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
There's no specific date, but I there were a number of times when I suddenly realised that I had got where I've wanted to be for many years
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
- making a success out of contracting
- getting to the point where I was able to perform cloudswing (and managed not to fall off in front of 1500 people)
9. What was your biggest failure?
Well, I still haven't got my website up. No excuse really ... I have become an old fogey - I just can't figure that stuff out any more.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
- Actually, (cross fingers) this year I finally seem to be in the last stages of a resolution to a long running pain syndrome. This is quite huge for me. Also, thanks to fish oil, my chronic excema seems to have finally cleared up completely. Golly, near perfect health!
- Had a yicky cold, but that doesn't really count.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Probably my trip to the Aerial Dance Festival in August.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
My sister, for putting her principles into practice and encouraging others to do the same (You should see her blog)
Jez, as always, for being principled, strong, and never boring.
Various ppl on my Flist (you know who you are) and also my Mum & Dad - for strength and calm in the face of adversity
All of the people who are keeping the Wgtn Circus Trust alive during difficult times.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
There're a few things, but I'm not going to go into that right now.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Well, there's this gigantic tax bill that's going to hit in April 2010 ... but then again that's more than a year away, right?
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
- Doing a throw-out (cloudswing move) over top of 1500 people in the Michael Fowler Centre. That buzz kept me going for a couple of weeks - I felt like batman!
16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
Probably the track that I'm working up my current tissu piece to
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or hardened? Neither, but more assured.
ii. thinner or fatter? The same
iii. richer or poorer? richer - but there is gigantor mortgage + gigantor tax bill in the future ...
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
- I wish I'd had the space in my life to follow up on some of the really great ideas that came out of the Aerial Dance Festival.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Procrastinating ... it's not normally a problem for me, but contracting plus the waiting-to-start-building thing has encouraged me in that direction. I'm going to have to keep an eye on it.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Well, that was yesterday .. brunch with friends, scrabble, champagne, then friends at our place plus my awesome sister & her family, more wine, dancing alone in the lounge, sleeping. It was one of the best christmases ever. And tomorrow I get to do family xmas - yay!
21. What LJ users did you meet for the first time?
Pinkiepoopoo, rikan_feral
22. Did you fall in love in 2008?
It's more of an ongoing thing.
23. How many one-night stands?
That's not really my kind of thing
24. What was your favorite TV program?
Battlestar Galactica
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No.
26. What was the best book/fanfic you read?
Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge.He's one of my favourite authors. He should write moar books!!
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Ochre - discovered yesterday - they are awesome. And you can dance alone in the lounge to them ...
28. What did you want and get?
- a successful contracting business
- some really cool aerial and stilt gigs
- a happy life
29. What did you want and not get?
- a house ... but we did get an undeserved piece of luck that will make the house much easier, so can't complain really.
- a fully formed, videoed, marketable tissu solo act, but it's not too far away.
30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Didn't do much in the way of films this year. Not sure why not.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I worked.
I was 36. No really, I was. Don't argue.
32. Whats one thing that would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A house!!!! But we have to save something for next year, right?
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Is it clean? OK, I'll wear it.
34. What kept you sane?
Performing as surreal manifestations from the depths of Emily's brain. Seriously, performing gets me out of myself in a way that is really good for me.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
What, am I thirteen?
Hang on ... am I?
/gets calculator
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
- US presidential election getting a sensible result
- Other stuff that I'm not going to reiterate here ...
37. Who did you miss?
- Jez. I really don't like travelling.
- Michelle. It's been too long.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
Met some amazing, lovely people at the Aerial Dance Festival. Also other ppl around Wgtn. To single someone out would be unfair.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:
- Intuition is even more powerful than I thought, and is something that western culture tends to ignore, to its detriment.
- Being lazy is only bad if you're hurting someone by it.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
I don't have a good knowledge of song lyrics. But something about having good things happen and appreciating the good stuff while it lasts would be appropriate. This has been a pretty amazing year - better than I ever had any right to expect.