2011: I can't say i'll think of you fondly

2011: I can't say i'll think of you fondly

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?

Went to South Dakota.

I would not recommend it.

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

I don't think I made any last year. This year: get over it.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

I don't think so... but it seems that a bunch of friends are incubating

fetuses at the moment. 2012 will be the year of babies and weddings.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No.

5. What countries did you visit?

I'll count SD as a separate country. I did not recognize the moon there.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?

$$. peace.

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

August 17.

September 11.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Taking 14 credits, 3 jobs, dealing with heartbreak, and making

out at the end of the semester alive, with straight A's.

9. What was your biggest failure?

I had to ask for two extensions. One after I realized my ex dumped

me for a 24 year old, and the other when I just basically collapsed,

physically and mentally. I still got A's on those assignments, eventually,

so I guess it's fine.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Not really. I think i had the beginnings of a stress fracture prior

to the half marathon, and my back hurts to the point that friends have

flinched while merely touching it. I won't be overly maudlin and count

heartbreak as an actual physical break. i suppose there are worse things.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

My fox t-shirt. It's rad. And has a story about a fox that stole cheese on

the inside. As though the shirt was made simply for me.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

My friends. All of them. Sue, who travelled cross-country to visit me

for a weekend. And all those who held my sanity when i was not able.

And my parents who never liked him anyway. Mom, "I wasn't going

to say it if you were really in love with him, but I thought you could

do better. And, you know what i didn't like about him? That he was

homeschooled." My mom is SO RAD.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

RB. Never been so hurt in my life. Undermined my definition of

love that somebody could so easily treat me like that.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Grad school. booze.

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

kittens. weddings to come.

16. What song will always remind you of 2011?

"Gypsy Faded" - Joseph Arthur

"Colder Weather" - Zak Brown Band

"Things Change" - Caitlin Rose

"Mama's Broken Heart" - MIranda Lambert

"Payne's Bay" - Beirut

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? sadder
b) thinner or fatter? I think i was fatter last year around this time, but probably about the same. lost a bunch of weight earlier in the semester, but replenished it with booze.
c) richer or poorer? Poorer, despite the three jobs. Tuition's a bitch.

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

sleep. spin.

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

driving. crying.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

At Beth's family's place. I rode a horse in the snow!!! Rocky Mountain

Christmas and surrounded by warmth. win.

21. Did you fall in love in 2011?

Yeah.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Parks & Rec? Maybe.

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

RB. And, sadly and pathetically, a girl I've never met.

24. What was the best book you read?

Bluets - Maggie Nelson (blew my fucking mind)

Schizophrene - Bhanu Kapil

-probably the first time ever that my "best books" are all from classes

taken

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

I'm pretty into Lykke Li at the moment. Not really a discovery, though.

26. What did you want and get?

Good question.

27. What did you want and not get?

Home for Christmas. Security of a relationship.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

The Future - Miranda July

Also, The Beginners

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

Oh, shit. 30 was good. I celebrated first in Boston with my amazing

friends. Then, in Snowmass with my amazing parents. Then Fort Collins

with my amazing friends.

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

Not having my heart broken.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?

Pick an outfit and go with it. Until a scruffy Alaskan who owns two t-shirts starts

to critique your style. Then you know it's time to change.

32. What kept you sane?

Friends. Wine.

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

cliche, but Ryan Gosling

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Environmental issues. Really, though, watching the news made me

cry a lot this year.

35. Who did you miss?

I miss a lot. There's a lot of missing in me.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

Not that I met her this year, but Lauren's become so much closer

and held my sanity with Herculean strength. And the laughing, oh

the laughing.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.

It goes on.

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

"you broke my heart" - Lavender Diamond

"you found you another love. she's gone and given up her hand,

the one you call the one. guess it was a long time coming.... i am

still the fool." - caitlin rose

"that's what this turmoil has been about. that and the rumors of

who you been screwing.... but darlin you were definitely the last

one of us standing when you gypsy faded on us. I needed to say goodbye

but you gypsy faded on us." - Joseph Arthur