End of Year Meme
Jan. 1st, 2011 06:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ricardienne[1.] What did you do in 2010 that you have never done before?
Went to grad school! Started living entirely "on my own" and cooking for myself every day, buying groceries, etc. Got regular paychecks.
[2.] Did you keep all of last year's resolutions?
I'm not sure I had any. If I did, I don't remember.
[3.] Have you any resolutions for next year?
(1) Start playing the cello again regularly. Find people to play it with. (2) Keep up correspondence. (3) Somewhat overcome my fear of my professors. (3a.) Present a a paper somewhere (?). (4) Start dancing again, or do something that involves me a bit in some sort of community that is neither my group house nor the department.
[4.] What countries did you visit?
Didn't leave the USA.
[5.] What would you like to have in 2011 that you didn't have in 2010?
A bit more self-confidence about doing the academic thing. A trip to Europe, either for summer or study or to visit my ex-pat relatives.
[6.] What date in 2010 will remain etched in your memory?
I'm not so good with dates. And I'm not sure that this past year had hugely significant single instants for me. I vividly remember my acceptances to a couple of schools, and I remember how miserable I was when I was having to decide where to go. I remember the one day that I was completely on top of the material and bursting with intelligent things to say in seminar.
[7.] What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting into grad school, probably.
[8.] What was your biggest failure?
Keeping in touch with people.
[9.] Did you suffer any illness or injury?
Anxiety was up and down as always; I fell down the stairs at least five times, and off my bike twice, but none of those were serious.
[10.] What was the best thing you bought?
A heavy wool peacoat for winter (because, while it was a necessary purchase, I really really like the coat I bought) and awesome button boots. Oh! And the Oxford Latin Dictionary and Liddell & Scott's unabridged Greek Dictionary, although those were kind of excused as "necessary" expenditures, too. (The boots were not necessary -- but they have BUTTONS.)
[11.] Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
The Tea Party's. The Democrats'. The American People's.
[12.] Where did most of your money go?
books! Well, strictly speaking, I probably spent more on rent & food than on books, but I did spend a lot on books -- far more than I spent on any other non- "room and board" item.
[13.] What did you get really really really excited about?
A Conspiracy of Kings coming out. Anna coming to Tempe. Olympic Ice-dancing and the World Cup, actually. Getting invited to interview at various schools.
[14.] What songs will always remind you of 2010?
oh I don't know.
[15.] Compared to this time last year are you:
[A] Fatter or thinner? a bit thinner, but not very noticeably.
[B] Happier or sadder? about the same. A year ago, I had just finished undergrad and was utterly relaxed; now I have a lot of work to do and am pretty anxious about that all the time.
[C] Richer or poorer? Richer, I suppose (see: paychecks)
[16.] What do you wish you'd done more of?
keeping in touch; writing for pleasure, revising the Tacitus thing; reading Greek (and Latin)
[17.] What do you wish you'd done less of?
internet; reading fanfiction.
[18.] How will you be spending Christmas?
Spent it with my family: we went for a 15 mile bike-ride and everyone got a couple of awesome presents for each other, and we made a delicious dinner, and it was good all around.
[19.] Which LJ users did you meet for the first time?
none. I saw![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
achyvi for the first time in a while, though!
[20.] Did you fall in love in 2010?
nope
[21.] How many one night stands?
zero
[22] What was your favourite TV show?
Here we see how little TV I watch: Foyle's War was by far the best thing I saw (except for the new season, which was very sub-par); I also watched quite a bit of DS9, which is lots and lots of fun.
[23.] Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't think so. I wasn't so aware of Russell Pearce and Tom Horne and Jane Brewer and the screwballs who are in control of my home state a year ago; I still hate David Brooks.
[24.] What was/were the best books you read?
Oh I can't answer this one ever. "Best" is just too charged a word, and a year is a long time; I don't even remember what I was reading at the beginning of the year. I really liked David Mitchell's novels, though: The 1000 Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, Cloud Atlas, Black Swan Green. Pythia's Pupils was a crazy and entertaining discovery. Can't let this space go by without mentioning A Conspiracy of Kings.
[25.] What was your greatest musical discovery?
Anthoine de Bertrand!
[26.] What did you want and get?
Into a funded graduate program.
[27.] What did you want and not get?
Into the perfect funded graduate program (hint: it turned out not to exist).
[28.] What was your favourite film this year?
Rare Exports: alternately terrifying and heart-warming and utterly hilarious Finnish Christmas movie about a little kid versus Santa Clause-the-evil-ancient-goblin-under-the-mountain. The Secret in their Eyes was also very very good.
[29.] What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
I signed for a snack that day and brought two kinds of cake to seminar and didn't tell anyone it was my birthday; my housemates made tea and had a surprise cake for me in the evening. I had a long talk with my brother about Ursula Leguin and fantasyland vs. fairyland. I turned 24.
[30.] What one thing would have made your year more satisfying?
Getting a perfect score on JUST ONE prose-comp homework. Having done more with my semester off in the first part of the year, maybe.
[31.] How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
Shorter skirts. Tights. Dresses! Trying to dress less self-consciously and more "I like quirky things and I'm not ashamed of that"-ly.
[32.] What kept you sane(r)?
Megan Whalen Turner. Going jogging.
[33.] Which celebrity did you fancy the most?
none
[34.] Which political issue stirred you the most?
I was rather shockingly apathetic once I started school again. Immigration rights was a big issue for me, though, as was the "Ethnic Studies" ban in AZ. And the "Rally To Celebrate the So-Called Middle While We Ignore The Fact That the So-Called Middle Keeps Moving To The Right" ticked me off and rather put me off the oh-so-coolness of Jon Stewart.
[35.] Who did you miss?
Natty, frequently, and friends from home. And the friends from undergrad whom I didn't keep up with. I also found myself missing my grandfather, even though he died five years ago. I'm turning into a real person, and I frequently thought of conversations I wish I could have with him.
[36.] Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned this year? Don't bring highly experimental desserts to parties without trying them first. (Everyone was pretty drunk by the time we got to dessert anyway, and I later brought excellent cake to other events, so I hope I have not been as the departmental "one who can't bake.")
Went to grad school! Started living entirely "on my own" and cooking for myself every day, buying groceries, etc. Got regular paychecks.
[2.] Did you keep all of last year's resolutions?
I'm not sure I had any. If I did, I don't remember.
[3.] Have you any resolutions for next year?
(1) Start playing the cello again regularly. Find people to play it with. (2) Keep up correspondence. (3) Somewhat overcome my fear of my professors. (3a.) Present a a paper somewhere (?). (4) Start dancing again, or do something that involves me a bit in some sort of community that is neither my group house nor the department.
[4.] What countries did you visit?
Didn't leave the USA.
[5.] What would you like to have in 2011 that you didn't have in 2010?
A bit more self-confidence about doing the academic thing. A trip to Europe, either for summer or study or to visit my ex-pat relatives.
[6.] What date in 2010 will remain etched in your memory?
I'm not so good with dates. And I'm not sure that this past year had hugely significant single instants for me. I vividly remember my acceptances to a couple of schools, and I remember how miserable I was when I was having to decide where to go. I remember the one day that I was completely on top of the material and bursting with intelligent things to say in seminar.
[7.] What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting into grad school, probably.
[8.] What was your biggest failure?
Keeping in touch with people.
[9.] Did you suffer any illness or injury?
Anxiety was up and down as always; I fell down the stairs at least five times, and off my bike twice, but none of those were serious.
[10.] What was the best thing you bought?
A heavy wool peacoat for winter (because, while it was a necessary purchase, I really really like the coat I bought) and awesome button boots. Oh! And the Oxford Latin Dictionary and Liddell & Scott's unabridged Greek Dictionary, although those were kind of excused as "necessary" expenditures, too. (The boots were not necessary -- but they have BUTTONS.)
[11.] Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
The Tea Party's. The Democrats'. The American People's.
[12.] Where did most of your money go?
books! Well, strictly speaking, I probably spent more on rent & food than on books, but I did spend a lot on books -- far more than I spent on any other non- "room and board" item.
[13.] What did you get really really really excited about?
A Conspiracy of Kings coming out. Anna coming to Tempe. Olympic Ice-dancing and the World Cup, actually. Getting invited to interview at various schools.
[14.] What songs will always remind you of 2010?
oh I don't know.
[15.] Compared to this time last year are you:
[A] Fatter or thinner? a bit thinner, but not very noticeably.
[B] Happier or sadder? about the same. A year ago, I had just finished undergrad and was utterly relaxed; now I have a lot of work to do and am pretty anxious about that all the time.
[C] Richer or poorer? Richer, I suppose (see: paychecks)
[16.] What do you wish you'd done more of?
keeping in touch; writing for pleasure, revising the Tacitus thing; reading Greek (and Latin)
[17.] What do you wish you'd done less of?
internet; reading fanfiction.
[18.] How will you be spending Christmas?
Spent it with my family: we went for a 15 mile bike-ride and everyone got a couple of awesome presents for each other, and we made a delicious dinner, and it was good all around.
[19.] Which LJ users did you meet for the first time?
none. I saw
achyvi for the first time in a while, though![20.] Did you fall in love in 2010?
nope
[21.] How many one night stands?
zero
[22] What was your favourite TV show?
Here we see how little TV I watch: Foyle's War was by far the best thing I saw (except for the new season, which was very sub-par); I also watched quite a bit of DS9, which is lots and lots of fun.
[23.] Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't think so. I wasn't so aware of Russell Pearce and Tom Horne and Jane Brewer and the screwballs who are in control of my home state a year ago; I still hate David Brooks.
[24.] What was/were the best books you read?
Oh I can't answer this one ever. "Best" is just too charged a word, and a year is a long time; I don't even remember what I was reading at the beginning of the year. I really liked David Mitchell's novels, though: The 1000 Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, Cloud Atlas, Black Swan Green. Pythia's Pupils was a crazy and entertaining discovery. Can't let this space go by without mentioning A Conspiracy of Kings.
[25.] What was your greatest musical discovery?
Anthoine de Bertrand!
[26.] What did you want and get?
Into a funded graduate program.
[27.] What did you want and not get?
Into the perfect funded graduate program (hint: it turned out not to exist).
[28.] What was your favourite film this year?
Rare Exports: alternately terrifying and heart-warming and utterly hilarious Finnish Christmas movie about a little kid versus Santa Clause-the-evil-ancient-goblin-under-the-mountain. The Secret in their Eyes was also very very good.
[29.] What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
I signed for a snack that day and brought two kinds of cake to seminar and didn't tell anyone it was my birthday; my housemates made tea and had a surprise cake for me in the evening. I had a long talk with my brother about Ursula Leguin and fantasyland vs. fairyland. I turned 24.
[30.] What one thing would have made your year more satisfying?
[31.] How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
Shorter skirts. Tights. Dresses! Trying to dress less self-consciously and more "I like quirky things and I'm not ashamed of that"-ly.
[32.] What kept you sane(r)?
Megan Whalen Turner. Going jogging.
[33.] Which celebrity did you fancy the most?
none
[34.] Which political issue stirred you the most?
I was rather shockingly apathetic once I started school again. Immigration rights was a big issue for me, though, as was the "Ethnic Studies" ban in AZ. And the "Rally To Celebrate the So-Called Middle While We Ignore The Fact That the So-Called Middle Keeps Moving To The Right" ticked me off and rather put me off the oh-so-coolness of Jon Stewart.
[35.] Who did you miss?
Natty, frequently, and friends from home. And the friends from undergrad whom I didn't keep up with. I also found myself missing my grandfather, even though he died five years ago. I'm turning into a real person, and I frequently thought of conversations I wish I could have with him.
[36.] Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned this year? Don't bring highly experimental desserts to parties without trying them first. (Everyone was pretty drunk by the time we got to dessert anyway, and I later brought excellent cake to other events, so I hope I have not been as the departmental "one who can't bake.")
