2008 in Retro Specs

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

Uhm. Sex comes to mind. Plus, I guess, attending uni and all that entails, working at the hostel and all that entails. But if we have to be specific, I’m gonna go with the sex :P

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Heh. I just looked through some old scribbly notes, and some of my resolutions last year included: Don’t Nag DW, Speak More Articulately about Your Feelings, Keep Track of Where You Spend Money, Have Open Body Language (?). I’m gonna go with a success on the first, and a work-in-progress on the second, a 'meh' on the third, and an overly-self-aware shrug on the fourth. I'm sure I'll have resolutions this year too, although they haven't been completely formulated yet. That'll be a January job ;)

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

A girl who I was friends at school with did. Seeing as how my only contact with her has been through facebook, however, 'close' is maybe a bit too strong.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Closer to other people than to me. A family friend. DW's Oma.

5. What countries did you visit?

Only my own =)

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

Ooh. Hm. I'm lucky in life. So the true answer is that I just want to hold onto all the good things in 2009... health and happiness, both my own and of those who I love... good friends, a good relationship with a wonderful guy, fulfilment in study, work, and personal pursuits. If I have to give a non-cliche answer, maybe I'd go with being always content with the balance between the last three.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

...None?

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Actually... I'd have to say I'm pretty proud of doing well at uni. Two high distinctions in first year law, booyah.

9. What was your biggest failure?

First thing that comes to mind was crying after (well, not right after) my new boss told me he thought I would have been better, way back at the start of the year. A bad day maybe, but come on. So I'd say my biggest failure was not dealing with (temporary!) failure.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nothing extreme =)

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Ooh. Hm. Seriously, I don't know. Were there any presents that went particularly appreciated? Awesome clothing buys? Thrifty gadgets? I don't think there were any thrifty gadgets. Pass.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

My handsome Chinese colleague's, for being a perfect gentleman on many uncelebrated occasions. My former nut-shop boss, who began as manager at a new store a good twenty years younger than the old shop stalwarts and was incredibly tactful, good-humoured and diplomatic for the time that she was there.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Two buddies from school who reportedly came to DWs birthday celebration so they could feel 'better than everyone else'. Wtf? I know the joke is on them because it is the fact that nobody really likes them anymore that has led to all this bitter kicked-dog behaviour, which then leads to them being avoided even more... and of course they were the ones who had nothing better to do with a Saturday night than go to a party with people they don't like. I mean, who is the loser here? But neverthless, the whole scenario, including the fact that they were both once very good friends of mine, leads to me feeling appalled and depressed.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Probably food and clothes.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Booking a trip to Turkey, which then became a trip to Borneo.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

A bit hard to say without retrospect, isn't it? Like what if one song continues to be a hit into 2009 and 2010 while another fades away, only ever to be thought if in association with this year? Just for shits and giggles, I'll go with 'Kissed a Girl', by Katy Perry, for a pop culture reference, and 'I Got the Way' by Kate Miller Heidke for a personal reference, because even though it may not have been released in 2008, I only listened to it this year. And, while others on her Little Eve album (like Mama and Little Adam) may last as favourites, that song wasn't all that awesome, so will probably only remind me of the time when I had that CD in the car. Also, the references to rearranging your life and finding the right, well, 'way' have been particularly pertinent to the first year navigated without the structure of school. So it has a kind of real meaning too.
...Um, ok, overzealous answer much?

(Speaking of things that remind you of other things, use of the word 'zealous' always reminds me of playing this personality-quiz maze computer game that would ask you questions and give you a list of adjectives describing you when you finished the maze. I may have been described as zealous.)

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:a) happier or sadder?b) thinner or fatter?c) richer or poorer?
a) I'm pretty content now, but I imagine last year I may have been happier in a more... exuberant fashion... what with the end of year 12 and the year ahead being much less easily imaginable.
b) No idea, really, but I feel kind of fat now after the consumption of many Christmas chocolates =P
c) Richer, I'd say.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

I probably should have done more with uni aquaintances in breaks and whatnot, in order to make more friends. Dashing off to do something really un-urgent, like going to the library or getting lunch by myself, is so me. Um... and maybe more running. And more watching of worthy movies. Maybe next year I should gather up all the people who I chat to casually in tutorials and enforce some sort of weekly communal jogging-cum-film-watching session. Yeah, that'd work.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Work? In the retail-drone sense, not in the uni sense.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

One side of the family came over for a casual barbeque, the other side were visited for a more keyed-up fancy we-made-all-the-food-green-and-red-and-now-we're-going-to-sing-carols thing. On Christmas Day itself we had lunch at the house of relatives on the former-mentioned family side.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?

Only more so =P

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Gotta go with Scrubs on DVD.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Nah, I don't really do hate.

24. What was the best book you read?

Hm... Recently, I really liked 'Joe, the Only Boy in The World', a philosophical discussion of what it means to be human as written by the father of an autistic boy. I can't really remember what I read further back. Was 'The Time Traveller's Wife' this year or last year? It gets an honourable mention anyway. I guess I was introduced to a few classics at uni if we're going to go for an objective best, of which my favourite was probably Camus' 'The Outsider'.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

DeVotchka, or Vampire Weekend.

26. What did you want and get?

The job at the hostel. Some Christmas stuff, I guess.

27. What did you want and not get?

Well, I haven't got around to spending the money on an 8g Ipod yet. I'm waiting until I really have the time to tinker with labelling songs and creating playlists. However, I seem to have the time to write a post full of blah blah like this, so maybe I should get onto that.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

I... dunno. Gosh, if I'm so bad with slicing up the blur of the past into '2008' and 'everything else' when I'm this age, hows it going to be when a few more decades add up? Let's see, David gave me The Green Mile for Christmas last year, so chances are I probably watched it in 2008. Lets go with that. Because I don't think I saw anything really noteworthy at the cinemas.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I was nineteen, and I didn't do a lot, really, because I was too apathetic beforehand to organise a party. OMG AGAIN WITH THE MIDDLE AGED RESPONSE. How sad, I have entered the stage where birthdays are a once-a-decade-or-so celebration. Be it known that next year I will rebel against this trend, and have a killer 20th! To be fair, I did spend time with lovely friends and family and boyfriend, just not all at once, and there were negligible amounts of alcohol. For shame.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

I can't speculate on something like that. My year was plenty safisfying.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

Well according to a male buddy, in winter I wore skirts, tights, boots, and the colours blue and purple predictably often. Maybe I still had some private school nostalgia. Or not. "No longer restricted to her school uniform, skinny pale chick swaps below-the-knee for minis, Clarks lace-ups for heels, and a school blazer for a fitted jacket!" Woot.

32. What kept you sane?

I'm gonna go with DW?

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Ooh. Obama =P

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Well, some US states nullifying the same sex marriages which they had previously allowed... that kinda sucked.

35. Who did you miss?

There were times when I missed some acquaintances and teachers from school, I guess. But the good friends were always around for the seeing.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

I'm getting tired of this quiz now, which is a shame because I feel I'm going to do the best new person I met an injustice and be all 'meh' about them. Probably one of the people from the hostel, or maybe the stand-out new uni friend.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.

So close to the end, and this hardcore question? Life lessons are best slowly absorbed, leaking through the paper towel of your outer being until you are all soaked through with said lesson but you couldn't have picked the point at which you went from being mostly dry to mostly wet. Not put in a little carefully-labelled capsule and swallowed whole.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

See question #16 =P "I've been busy rearranging/Where I get off and where I get on..."
Another Kate Miller-Heidke: "My favourite place is me and you." (Naw.)

Note: I am not normally this KMH obsessed. Nor do I think of myself so much in relation to school. Ah well. Here's to another year.

(And to one with a pretty number. 09 has a much nicer mental aesthetic than 08, and is certainly better than the clinical 2010. What a pity that seven eight nine.)