1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Moved in with J. Quit journalism. Started becoming a librarian. Went to grad school. Volunteered for a political candidate. Took out student loans. Grew a garden. Co-painted a whole apartment. Wrote a press release. Kayaked solo. Switched to tofutti cream cheese.
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
31 for 31, my dears. Someone just pointed out that if I live a long life, that list is going to get really impressive (i.e., impossible) eventually.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Shannon!
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Just found out about a dog I’ve known for a long time, which is sad, but no humans (no kinahurrahs, please).
5. What countries did you visit?
No foreign travel this year except Canada. All your money belong to us, says the government.
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
More self-discipline (fourth year running! again, that one is probably a permanent resident of this list). A regular yoga practice and/or exercise regimen. A more diverse garden. A clearer focus on school. A Zen-like sense of calm and detachment. Ha.
7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
May 31/June 1: moving days. Dec. 14, my mom’s 60th-birthday surprise party.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Changing a lot of stuff about my life without more drama than necessary, hopefully. Also making some really lovely new friends both at school and in Ithaca.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Lack of progress on the novel(s).
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I had bronchitis and strep throat this summer... I’ve been sick with minor things more in Ithaca than I was in DC.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
An old-fashioned wicker sewing box for $2 at the Unitarian Universalist rummage sale. Also the donations from the alternative gift fair in the same church.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
I guess I have to give a few hundred million voters a shout-out here. Yes they can.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Let’s award this one to every member of the Bush administration who didn’t see this recession coming.
14. Where did most of your money go?
The credit card company, is the short answer.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The election. The idea that Hillary Clinton could wind up on the Supreme Court. The selection of the presidential and vice-presidential puppies. Starting school. Getting a Wii. Living with J.
16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
Not exactly a song, but this is the year I became relentlessly hooked on multiple podcasts and re-established a close relationship with my old-school 2004 iPod.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? happier
b) thinner or fatter? thinner
c) richer or poorer? poorer
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Spending time outside in the summer. Visiting DC friends. Exercising. Writing.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Worrying -- fourth year in a row and probably forever. Also whining.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Watched “Seven Pounds” (awful) and went out for Chinese food (good) in Lancaster with my parents.
*(editing starts here)*
23. What was your favorite TV program?
Mad Men, Brothers and Sisters, Project Runway, Top Chef, How I Met Your Mother, The Wire. Thanks to Neflix and the Internets, I manage to watch a lot of TV for someone without cable.
25. What was the best book you read?
Elizabeth Crane’s “When the Messenger Is Hot.” According to GoodReads, my other five-star books were Kate Atkinson’s “When Will There Be Good News,” Calvin Trillin’s “About Alice,” Kiara Brinkman’s “Up High in the Trees,” Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own,” Ann Patchett’s “Run,” Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Unaccustomed Earth,” Alice McDermott’s “After This,” Marjorie Williams’ “The Woman at the Washington Zoo” and Margaret Hathaway’s “The Year of the Goat.” Either I was participating in some grade inflation or it was a good reading year for me.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Anais Mitchell, from a friend at school.
27. What did you want and get?
A wonderful new home in all senses of the word.
28. What did you want and not get?
Everyone I love living in the same place.
29. What was your favorite film of this year?
I loved Doubt, Silver City and Rachel Getting Married.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
31, and J and I made sushi.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Depressing that these are always the same. Just like last year: A published book with my name on the cover. A year with no cavities. Both seem equally impossible right now.
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Decimated, then rebuilt. I got rid of tons of old stuff when I moved, and now I seem to have replaced it all from the secondhand store that’s way too close for me not to be tempted into it every few weeks.
33. What kept you sane?
Aw, you.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Kind of in love with Don Draper on Mad Men, even though he is a jerk and I also do not know the actor’s name. Also still in love with Philip Seymour Hoffman and possibly Meryl Streep.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
Getting an annual physical will not cause a complete mental breakdown.
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
"’Cause we don’t want to be the ones/
To lie and cheat and slander/
So we hold each other up to a higher standard/
But I’ll tell you what, I’ll never try to make it hard/.
‘Cause when you’re hard just to be hard/
The only thing that’s hard is you.”
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