| Posted by Lou | The time is 11.50pm here in London UK |
1 Are there any things that you did for the first time last year?
Um? I don't know... I got made redundant for the first time... but that's rather passive... Err... Oooh! I dyed my hair red for the first time! Something I'd wanted to do for a very long time. Oh, and I moved into a flat by myself for the first time! Also something I'd wanted to do for yonks.
2 Did you have any New Year's resolutions and did you act upon them?
Probably the same ones I always make, and no.
3 Did someone close to you give birth to a child?
Yes! One BFF's baby born in September, and another due on New Year's Eve but as yet not born!
4 Did someone close to you die?
No, nobody. Hurray!
5 Which countries did you travel to?
USA, France, New Zealand, Guernsey, Greece, USA again, Germany. Wanker, and carbon excreter.
6 What do you wish for in 2011 that you missed this year?
Job satisfaction.
7 Which days of 2010 will you remember?
Meeting my niece, us getting pissed-as in Wellies, nearly fainting up at the Parthenon, my 30th birthday, the last day of my job, Christmas Day. Can't remember any others now let alone in the future...
8 Your biggest success in 2010?
Achieving my aim of getting a big redundancy pay-out?? No, um, I think it would be... shit... Well I think professionally I did handle difficult situations very well. But won't necessarily look back on any of it as an "achievement". Maybe managing to throw a great party?!
9 And your worst failure?
On the flipside of the above, not sticking to my guns and being more firm with dealing with the unfair treatment of my work (ie doing more for less and letting them get away with it). But then again I did the best I could so perhaps it wasn't a failure. Maybe I'll look back on my biggest failure as using a month of paid unemployment to do little other than drink and sleep!
*My real biggest failure emerges later on*
10 Any injuries or diseases?
Another trip to the emergency eye hospital, but the small miscellaneous object stuck to my eyeball had done no real damage so it just sounds dramatic rather than actually being dramatic.
11 What's the best thing you bought in 2010?
An electric blanket! A saviour during the month of -5 to -10 degree nights!
12 Any people that deserve special praise this year?
I would give special praise to Michael Ball for being so gosh-darned genuine and lovely when I was launched upon him.
13 Anyone whose actions shocked and frustrated you?
Personally, I was pretty shocked by a so-called close friend turning out to be a psycho hose beast. Professionally, I was pretty much frustrated by everyone at my old company.
14 What did you spend most of your money on?
Definitely rent. Waterfront one bedroom bachelorette pads are not cheap... Also flights! During this calendar year I've paid for expensive sets of flights to Greece and Vegas, then jaw-droppingly expensive flights to New Zealand that I then had to change for a horrific extra amount.
15 What really pissed you off?
Everybody and everything!
Like Bel, politically I am fucked off at the governments here and back in Kiwiland for fucking up the people who most need help and furthering the divide between rich and poor; all under the banner of this recession which was caused by the people who are now better off for it...
Then work, of course. I couldn't even begin to explain all the elements pissing me off there - from the failure of management and HR to treat myself and my boss fairly, the failure of my boss to have my back, and the failure of many of my former colleagues (several of whom were so-called "work friends") to even bother turning up at my leaving drinks.
And the level of customer services in the UK... fuuuck. It really is absolutely shocking, and unhelpful, and total shite.
And personally... the aforementioned ex-friend, and another friend who continues to stagger me with their supreme uselessness. I genuinely think my ability to get pissed off about anything and everything is my most dominant and uncontrollable personality trait.
But seriously - the thing that has pissed me off most of all is myself - specifically my constant inability to motivate myself. I feel like I am one of the most unmotivated people ever right now. I think I have vastly underestimated how much the battle to get a job I loved in my (former) profession when I first moved here, and the failure to achieve that, has critically undermined my former enthusiasm, motivation, go-getting, and optimism. One of the aims of my upcoming trip is to try and regenerate and come back refreshed and like the old me.
16 What song will always remind you of 2010?
I don't think there is or could be just one.
17 In contrast to January 2010 you're now...
Sadder or happier?
Thicker or thinner?
Richer or poorer?
I think happier, because I'm out of my negative workplace situation.
Definitely thicker (am scared to try and put any of my jeans on).
And definitely richer! So much richer! *rolls in money*
18 What would you've liked to do more often?
Seized opportunities.
19 And less often?
Direct copy and paste from Bel's answer: Pointless fictional arguments in my head.
20 Did you fall in love in 2010?
No!
21 How many one-night-stands?
As if I would post the answer to this on a public blog! Which means "more than none".
22 What was your favorite TV show?
Mad Men is The Best, and Miranda is not far behind.
23 Do you despise anything that you didn't mind before?
I don't actively despise anything I used to like, but contrarily to Bel I did stop drinking coffee in the last part of the year. (Though no doubt I will switch back on the minute I see a flat white on a menu...)
24 What was the best book you read?
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
25 What's the best music you discovered this year?
Me? Discover music? Bahahahahaha
26 What did you want and get?
I was literally showered with amazing shiny sparkly things for my birthday and redundancy. Crystal jewellery stands out as the most important, Oh, and The Best Clutch Ever (thanks Bel!).
27 What did you want but didn't get?
A new phone. Must resolve asap.
28 What are your favorite movies this year?
Untouchable Girls, The Hurt Locker, Inception, Rachel Getting Married, Blue Valentine, Boy, Trouble the Water... I can't remember what else I've seen! It's like the second half of 2010 is a blur (or I didn't go to anything).
29 What did you do on your birthday and how old did you turn?
30! And on the day I had a full body massage (with an hilarious incident involving a tiny paper g-string and my winter grooming, ahem) followed by cocktails and dinner at a new old-school steak place.
30 What would've made your year easier?
Hah! Like Bel I think honestly being less lazy and more pleasant... and having someone to reliably go on all holidays with (preferably someone who provides other services, ahem).
31 What would you call your style 2010?
Dresses with cinched in waists.
32 How did you manage to not lose your mind?
Compulsive inter-hemispherical emailing. And money.
33 Which artist did you admire the most?
Josh Groban, of course. Seeing him live I realised he is a staggeringly brilliant singer and musician. Meeting - okay, stalking - him made me realise that he actually might be one of the few genuine celebs in the world. But mostly I admire that he came back from an embarrassing early career of being naively cornered into a particular genre (known as "cringeful old lady music" (case in point: You Raise Me Up)), and has taken back control of his career and his music to take it in a much more exciting and, dare I say, innovative direction.
34 What political subjects caught your interest most?
Fucking Tory cunts! Riot students, riot!
35 Who did you miss?
I missed my niece after getting to meet her and see what she was like at 18 months and know I was missing a hugely active and changeable year.
36 Who's the best new person you met in 2010?
Taking out the aforementioned wonderful people I idolise and had the great pleasure of meeting, I can't think of one stand-out person. I did make some new friends - mostly through work - and they are people I like and who very much widen my friends circle by being different to people I already know, so that was cool. However unfortunately none of them are friends friends, if you know what I mean.
37 Quote a song that sums up your year 2010.
Off the top of my head I'm going to take an extract from Patti Smith's Horses that retrospectively means a lot to how I failed in 2010:
I didn't waste time, I just walked right up
and saw that up there -- there is a sea
the sea's the possibility
There is no land but the land
(up there is just a sea of possibilities)
There is no sea but the sea
(up there is a wall of possibilities)
There is no keeper but the key
(up there there are several walls of possibilities)
Except for one who seizes possibilities, one who seizes possibilities
Seize all possibilities
And conjoined to that is Liam Finn's Better to be lyric:
Better to be looking for an answer
Out in the sea than under your bed
I’ll probably just leave it to the morning
My energy is already spent
38 Are there any important lessons you learned 2010?
See above! Seriously! Apathy/ Fear of Change is bad for you!
And generally, I had the biggest reminder of them all that you should never love a company because it will never love you back - also known as the "you're the only one who actually cares" principle of self-empowerment.