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End of the Year Meme

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

Hiked five miles and lived to tell the tale.

Did you keep your new years’ resolutions and will you make more for next year?

My only goal for this year was to be less negative, and I really think I succeeded in that regard.

Did anyone close to you give birth?

My friend Sarah had her little boy on March 1!

Did anyone close to you die?

No.

What countries did you visit?

Just this one!

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

A Wii.

What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

November 4th! (I frown upon socialism and Chicago politics.)

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Paid off the credit cards, hiked five miles, bought a house.

What was your biggest failure?

Discovering I had seven cavities! Which happened today. I am still not over it. And pretending that I won’t be spending $1800 fixing them. HOORAY!

Did you suffer illness or injury?

I lost my voice at the beginning of the year due to a spastic cold I had. I only had one really serious migraine (on the day of the primaries here in California – perhaps an omen of things to come?? :P)

What was the best thing you bought?

The loom! And all the yarn!

Whose behavior merited celebration?

I’m trying to think.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

The Mainstream Media. I will never watch the news or read the newspaper again. I have found alternate sources on the internet. I just want the news to be reported. The spin, bias, and outright lies of the media have negatively affected this nation.

Where did most of your money go?

Credit cards, car payments, and yarn.

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

Stitches, my Texas trip, Big Trees, buying the house (after I finished spazzing)

What song will always remind you of 2008?

Uhh…

Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. happier or sadder? happier!
ii. thinner or fatter? fatter, I think.
iii. richer or poorer? richer! Until I get drilled on. Then I will be poorer!

What do you wish you’d done more of?

I wish I’d been less busy and been able to hang out with friends more. And I wish I’d made more local, single friends. And I wish I’d drawn more.

What do you wish you’d done less of?

Loafing around, guacamole intake. 😉

How will you be spending Christmas?

With my family here in town. Moving into the house.

Did you fall in love?

No.

What was your favourite TV program?

Supernatural and Dexter.

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

I’m a lover, not a hater. (hahaha)

What was the best book you read?

I LURVED the Twilight series, and how crackalactastic it was. However, by FAR the best books I read this year were the first three books of The Sharing Knife (Beguilement, Legacy, and Passage) by Lois McMaster Bujold. They were absolutely fantastic, chronicling the romance between Fawn, a young farmer and older Dag, a Lakewalker. They’re too hard to describe, but if you like strong world building with fantasy elements, you’ll love these. I also enjoyed the new Jim Butcher books, one more for both his Harry Dresden series and his Codex Alera series.

What was your greatest musical discovery?

I can’t remember if Abby discovered Eskobar this year or last year.

What did you want and get?

A loom. A sheep cake.

What did you want and not get?

A Wii.

What was your favorite film of this year?

Probably Iron Man. I didn’t get out to the theater much this year though.

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

I went paddle boating on the Reservoir and ate a sheep cake. I was 28.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably satisfying?

Finally finding a boyfriend? I am not even sure at this juncture how to do that.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

Current with a touch of 70’s.

What kept you sane?

My indomitable spirit.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I went through a brief yet intense Christian Bale period.

What political issue stirred you the most?

You ask this on an election year? I think the treatment of Sarah Palin in the media was appalling.

Who did you miss?

My friends, who pretty much all live far away. 🙁

Who was the best new person you met?

I totally don’t think I met any new people this year. A couple new coworkers, I guess. I need to get out more.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:

1. Fixing cavities is fucking expensive.
2. Credit cards are bad.
3. Linoleum is cheap.
4. I heart yarn.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Well, I don’t know about sums up my year (I don’t think there’s a song called “WOOO AWESOME WOO! YEAH!”), but I am very much in love with the new Keane album, particularly the Perfect Symmetry song:

I shake through the wreckage for signs of life
Scrolling through the paragraphs
Clicking through the photographs

I wish I could make sense of what we do
Burning down the capitals
The wisest of the animals

Who are you? What are you living for?
Tooth for tooth, maybe we’ll go one more

This life is lived in perfect symmetry
What I do, that will be done to me

Read page after page of analysis
Looking for the final score
We’re no closer than we were before

Who are you? What are you fighting for?
Holy truth? Brother I choose this mortal life

Lived in perfect symmetry
What I do, that will be done to me
As the needle slips into the run-out groove
Love – maybe you’ll feel it too

And maybe you’ll find life is unkind
And over so soon
There is no golden gate
There’s no heaven waiting for you

Oh boy you ought to leave this town
Get out while you can the meter’s running down
The voices in the streets you love
Everything is better when you hear that sound

Spineless dreamers hide in churches
Pieces of pieces of rush hour buses
I dream in emails, worn-out phrases
Mile after mile of just empty pages

Wrap yourself around me
Wrap yourself around me
As the needle slips into the run-out groove
Maybe you’ll feel it too
Maybe you’ll feel it too
Maybe you’ll feel it too
Maybe you’ll feel it too

Spineless dreamers hide in churches
Pieces of pieces of rush hour buses
I dream in emails, worn-out phrases
Mile after mile of just empty pages

Spineless dreamers hide in churches
Pieces of pieces of rush hour buses

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With a Grateful Heart

Chocolate Turkey

I normally don’t write Thanksgiving posts because I am not particularly sentimental and I am not prone to cheese (except the delicious kind). But 2008 is shaping up to be a year where my life has not only changed a lot, but grown, and I have a lot to be thankful for, which I shall talk about in a very practical list.

  1. I have a job. It’s a stable job, and while it may not be what I thought I’d be doing, I am grateful that I have one, and that I like the people I work with for the most part, and I am good at it. Related: I got a raise and a huge vacation accrual increase in August, which allowed me to acquire #2.
  2. I close next week on my purchase of a manufactured home. Yep, I’m movin’ on up… to a trailer park. 😉 What I spent on it is less than a luxury vehicle, and between space rent and mortgage, my monthly cost is less than what it will be to rent a one-bedroom apartment. And I will get two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a den/family room, a laundry room, a living room, dining room, vanity area, carport, and a lawn! Not to mention storage units and an orange tree! I am excited (and nervous) to be undertaking this little adventure. In a couple years I plan to sell it for its actual market value (more than double what I paid) and use that money to buy a real house.
  3. In 2008 I paid off my credit cards. While in the grand scheme of things, I didn’t have that much debt compared to a lot of people, but it was a lot for a single gal in California to carry. Granted, a lot of the stuff I bought was therapy for the very hard year I spent as roommate to the heinous (and stereotypical) Ireland Girls in 2003/2004. I am thankful they eventually got arrested and deported. LOL
  4. I have been pleased to be able to go on a couple of trips out of town this year. I had my first real vacation on my own, and I was able to visit my Texas girls for a whole week in June. I saw Sarah in April and was able to spend time with her new baby. I went up to Redding for my cousin’s wedding, where we battled the smoke from the Big Sur fire and discovered Del Taco. In September I went up to Big Trees with my dad where we hiked up to the Agassiz tree and were amazed by its 2,000 year span.
  5. I’m thankful for Jason, who has let me live with him rent-free, which allowed me to pay off the credit cards that much sooner.
  6. I’m thankful for my mom, who makes me clothes and purses and even a February Lady Sweater. And boy, can she cook!
  7. I’m thankful for my dad, who helped me with the house purchasing and who I enjoy spending time with when we go for our walks at the Lafayette reservoir almost every week.
  8. I’m thankful for my sister, who is smart and funny and patiently waits for me at Starbucks every time I visit her.
  9. I’m thankful for my friends, who even though I don’t see them that often are some of the best friends a person could have. I do wish they lived closer. Now that gas is cheaper I will be able to make more trips up to Sac to see Malvina and Sam (if we can ever coordinate our schedules!).
  10. This has been an amazing year for creative output, even though I haven’t really managed to get back into drawing (or beading, for that matter).  That is something I hope to do next year when I’ve set up my studio and have room.  But as far as fiber stuff – check out the 2008 flickr set for everything I’ve finished.  I mean, I taught myself to weave!  I have so much more to learn, and I’m so excited to learn it.

That turkey at the top of the post? The chocolate turkey?  He was delicious.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  I hope you have a wonderful day. 🙂

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I read you read we all read

Book meme stolen from Jennifer…

  1. One book that made you laugh: I can’t think of any off hand. Meg Cabot can be pretty funny.
  2. One book that made you cry: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. WHAT. Do not tell me that you did not shed a tear for Fred, for Lupin, for Tonks.
  3. One book that you loved as a child: I loved a lot of books as a kid, most notably the Sue Barton Student Nurse books (Helen Boylston), anything by Edward Eager, and the Betsy-Tacy books (Maud Hart Lovelace). When I saw the entire set of Betsy-Tacy books at Barnes & Noble in a nice reprint, I bought them ALL. Love ’em.
  4. One book you’ve read more than once: I read a lot of books more than once, but the book I’ve read the most is Jurassic Park.
  5. One book you loved, but were embarrassed to admit it: I read a lot of crap, I am not embarrassed to admit it. I will never admit to having read most of the Jackie Collins oeuvre though. Oh wait.
  6. One book you hated: Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath can suck it.
  7. One book that scared you: I was quite freaked out by the R.L. Stine books when I was a kid.
  8. One book that bored you: Most of Shakespeare, The Color Purple, Red Badge of Courage, um, most of the books I was supposed to read in high school.
  9. One book that made you happy: The final book in the YA series from Meg Cabot, The Mediator. I forget what it was called, but it pretty much embodied the perfect ending to a series: nicely wrapped up with a happy ending. Sweet.
  10. One book that made you miserable: I don’t read miserable books. I can think of a few that pissed me off to the extent that I stopped reading the author’s books.
  11. One book that you weren’t brave enough to read: Most of the horror genre. Despite my love of zombies and gore, I just don’t do horror.
  12. One book character you’ve fallen in love with: I kind of love Stu Redman from Stephen King’s The Stand, even though I never finished it. (still 200 pages to go)
  13. The last book you read: After the Kiss by Suzanne Enoch. It was okay.
  14. The next book you hope to read: The new Artemis Fowl.

Now I think I’m going to look for my copy of The Stand and maybe finish it.