2010 in review

| Posted by Bel | The time is 11.06am here in Wellington NZ |

1 Are there any things that you did for the first time last year?

I went back to a hairdresser and asked her to re-do my hair. I felt vomitous doing it, and could see she was mortified to be told I didn't like what she'd done, but it was worth it in the end.

2 Did you have any New Year's resolutions and did you act upon them?

Hmm. I do not know. Shall we say yes, and no?

3 Did someone close to you give birth to a child?

I have a nephew that I am yet to meet - we'll be catching up next weekend.

4 Did someone close to you die?

Unless you count Alexander McQueen, no.

5 Which countries did you travel to?

None. Boo.

6 What do you wish for in 2011 that you missed this year?

A remedy to #5 above.

7 Which days of 2010 will you remember?

Any day where I got a chance to lie on my bed undisturbed in the afternoon sun reading.

8 Your biggest success in 2010?

Probably professionally? I learnt a lot, kicked the ass of the projects I needed to, and then landed a new job.

9 And your worst failure?

 No doubt personally. I am regularly disappointed in myself and my ability to manage well my relationships with the people close to me.

10 Any injuries or diseases?

I briefly got pityriasis rosea which was freakin weird.

11 What's the best thing you bought in 2010?

• Hot rollers
• Smartphone
• Boots from Country Road

12 Any people that deserve special praise this year?

I gave these ladies props back in September for their inspiration in my life. I should probably also give a shout-out to Wholly Bagel on Willis Street for their regular provision of a naked jalapeno cheddar bagel (sliced).

13 Anyone whose actions shocked and frustrated you?

Pretty much EVERYONE'S. I am easily scandalised.

14 What did you spend most of your money on?

Rent. And food has gotten more and more expensive as the year has gone on. And we'd just dropped a grand on fixing up shit on our car a month before it got nicked. (Sigh.)

15 What really pissed you off?

Mostly the way John Key and the National government have consistently fucked things up for average New Zealanders and yet so many people are acting like it's a huge favour to have him around.

16 What song will always remind you of 2010?

Maybe Empire State of Mind?

17 In contrast to January 2010 you're now...

Sadder or happier?
Thicker or thinner?
Richer or poorer?

I really think this has been a pretty even-keel year. Maybe that's because 2009 was so all over the place? I mean, sure, we moved house, but in 2009, we moved house twice. I worked the same job for the whole year in 2010, as opposed to 2009, which was the most insane year I have ever had professionally (and pray to God will ever have).

18 What would you've liked to do more often?

Take time off. I feel like I didn't get away much in 2010.

Sometimes staying put in Wellington was a much more attractive option (such as when Lou come over to visit and entertain me at Easter) but other times, I just wound up frustrated - like when we'd planned to go up to Hamilton and then wound up car-less.

19 And less often?

Pointless fictional arguments in my head.

20 Did you fall in love in 2010?

Frequently.

21 How many one-night-stands?

I now get to have double date sleep-overs and they're just as much fun, with zero chance of picking up an STI.

22 What was your favorite TV show?

Mad Men reigned supreme. But Community has been a recent discovery which goes to the top of the list.

23 Do you despise anything that you didn't mind before?

Umm. I can say something that is the opposite? I started drinking coffee again for the first time in five years. Dear beloved coffee. I only have it very occasional, but oh. OH. It is so good when I do.

24 What was the best book you read?

I will blog about The List and update on my reading, honest! HONEST!! (Quickly though: Philip Hoare's Leviathan and Jane Fonda's autobiography were both amazing.)

25 What's the best music you discovered this year?

• Fitz and the Tantrums
• Amanda Blank
• The xx

26 What did you want and get?

Heaps of stuff. More than is decent.

27 What did you want but didn't get?

Laptop. Flat screen telly. BECAUSE MY FAMILY'S POOR, KENNY.

28 What are your favorite movies this year?

(In no particular order)

• Sin Nombre
• Black Swan
• Inception
• Harry Brown 
• Shutter Island
• Some Like It Hot (yes, of course I'd seen it before)
• Singing In The Rain (as above)
• The Philadephia Story (as above)

And hey? Guess which film sucked? Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Lovely Bones! My review of it, which pointed out quite clearly how badly it sucked, is the most read article thing on this damn blog.

Many, many people have landed at the URL throughout 2010 after searching for "the lovely bones sucks" or "the lovely bones movie sucked" and even the singular, but stinging, "the lovely bones worse movie ever" and also, yes, "lovely bones is fucking boring". You won't find me disagreeing folks!

29 What did you do on your birthday and how old did you turn?

I turned 28 on the 29th in the middle of the year's dark cold months. I wore a leopard-print dress and got my hair did. (There are zero photos to prove this ever happened, sorry.) The night finished in the early hours dancing to The Gossip on the tiny floor space of our apartment with friends of friends I'd never met before.

30 What would've made your year easier?

Oh, it's so easy to say money, but probably being less lazy and more pleasant would have made things run a lot smoother, really.

31 What would you call your style 2010?

Jane Russell meets Little Edie.

32 How did you manage to not lose your mind?

And what evidence are you basing this on?

33 Which artist did you admire the most?

Audrey Kawasaki

34 What political subjects caught your interest most?

Abortion rights and anti-whaling.

35 Who did you miss?

Half my friends live overseas. Boo.

36 Who's the best new person you met in 2010?

I don't actually think I made any new friends this year just been. I went out for a girls' night with my husband's boss, but that almost feels like your mum setting you up on a blind date, you know??

37 Quote a song that sums up your year 2010.

To the bottom of the mineshaft
The list of things of I used to be is longer than the list of things I am
Ex-lover, ex-friend
Ex-communicated atheist, expatriate
Living in the heartland
Living on the small chance
Luck would save the last dance
For an underrated writer, overrated rapper
Undecided major on an unrelated matter
One day I'd like to say what all the tug-o'-war was for
More than slack rope, more than sun stroke
Than rum soaked in sad jokes at rap shows
Some folks know how slow that trap closes, proses, closest
Have ever been to feeling like I found it
I'm not a writer I just drink a lot about it
If diamonds are a girl's best friend
Then you can share a fine laugh and you can
Send me back to the bottom of the mineshaft


I've been here before and I know where it goes
It goes down


Snow falls fast and thin
Angels ash Virginia Slims
And if we've come a long way then I suspect it's sideways, further from our origin,
No closer to our destination
I'm bad with names, shit, I'm bad with faces
I'm bad with bills and little kids and well-lit places
I'm beginning to write like Anna Karenina, give me a minute, a mic
A little to like, get rid of the spite, a bit of the pride to fight
You tried, you're right fried (you're live on all lines)
You're tired, you're fired
You're inside of the lie
It's a brilliant design
It's like, "Just act surprised"
I lost some money on the weighted dice
I lost an octave to the Camel Lights
And when I lost you, I lost some good love and a hand to bite
I lost a friend to my wit and my pride
I'd rather sit while you drive


I've been here before and I know where it goes
It goes down

"Mineshaft" - Dessa

38 Are there any important lessons you learned 2010?

When making bellinis, add the pureed peaches after the bubbles.

I got this template of questions from Susie Bright's Journal (N entirely SFW, if you are in the sad circumstances of being at W right now)