{"id":101,"date":"2008-12-18T19:06:39","date_gmt":"2008-12-19T03:06:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/melissaruth.com\/blog\/?p=101"},"modified":"2010-06-24T15:08:09","modified_gmt":"2010-06-24T22:08:09","slug":"101","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/melissaruth.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/101\/","title":{"rendered":"End of the Year Meme"},"content":{"rendered":"

What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hiked five miles and lived to tell the tale.<\/p>\n

Did you keep your new years’ resolutions and will you make more for next year?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My only goal for this year was to be less negative, and I really think I succeeded in that regard.<\/p>\n

Did anyone close to you give birth?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My friend Sarah had her little boy on March 1!<\/p>\n

Did anyone close to you die?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No.<\/p>\n

What countries did you visit?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just this one!<\/p>\n

What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Wii.<\/p>\n

What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

November 4th! (I frown upon socialism and Chicago politics.)<\/p>\n

What was your biggest achievement of the year?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Paid off the credit cards, hiked five miles, bought a house.<\/p>\n

What was your biggest failure?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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!<\/p>\n

Did you suffer illness or injury?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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)<\/p>\n

What was the best thing you bought?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The loom! And all the yarn!<\/p>\n

Whose behavior merited celebration?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’m trying to think.<\/p>\n

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where did most of your money go?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credit cards, car payments, and yarn.<\/p>\n

What did you get really, really, really excited about?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stitches, my Texas trip, Big Trees, buying the house (after I finished spazzing)<\/p>\n

What song will always remind you of 2008?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Uhh…<\/p>\n

Compared to this time last year, are you:<\/strong><\/p>\n

i. happier or sadder?<\/em> happier!
\nii. thinner or fatter?<\/em> fatter, I think.
\niii. richer or poorer? <\/em>richer! Until I get drilled on. Then I will be poorer!<\/p>\n

What do you wish you’d done more of?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

What do you wish you’d done less of?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Loafing around, guacamole intake. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

How will you be spending Christmas?<\/strong><\/p>\n

With my family here in town. Moving into the house.<\/p>\n

Did you fall in love?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No.<\/p>\n

What was your favourite TV program?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Supernatural and Dexter.<\/p>\n

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’m a lover, not a hater. (hahaha)<\/p>\n

What was the best book you read?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

What was your greatest musical discovery?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I can’t remember if Abby discovered Eskobar this year or last year.<\/p>\n

What did you want and get?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A loom. A sheep cake.<\/p>\n

What did you want and not get?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Wii.<\/p>\n

What was your favorite film of this year?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Probably Iron Man. I didn’t get out to the theater much this year though.<\/p>\n

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I went paddle boating on the Reservoir and ate a sheep cake. I was 28.<\/p>\n

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably satisfying?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally finding a boyfriend? I am not even sure at this juncture how to do that.<\/p>\n

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Current with a touch of 70’s.<\/p>\n

What kept you sane?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My indomitable spirit.<\/p>\n

Which celebrity\/public figure did you fancy the most?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I went through a brief yet intense Christian Bale period.<\/p>\n

What political issue stirred you the most?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You ask this on an election year? I think the treatment of Sarah Palin in the media was appalling.<\/p>\n

Who did you miss?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My friends, who pretty much all live far away. \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n

Who was the best new person you met?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I totally don’t think I met any new people this year. A couple new coworkers, I guess. I need to get out more.<\/p>\n

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Fixing cavities is fucking expensive.
\n2. Credit cards are bad.
\n3. Linoleum is cheap.
\n4. I heart yarn.<\/p>\n

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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:<\/p>\n

I shake through the wreckage for signs of life
\nScrolling through the paragraphs
\nClicking through the photographs<\/p>\n

I wish I could make sense of what we do
\nBurning down the capitals
\nThe wisest of the animals<\/p>\n

Who are you? What are you living for?
\nTooth for tooth, maybe we\u2019ll go one more<\/p>\n

This life is lived in perfect symmetry
\nWhat I do, that will be done to me<\/p>\n

Read page after page of analysis
\nLooking for the final score
\nWe\u2019re no closer than we were before<\/p>\n

Who are you? What are you fighting for?
\nHoly truth? Brother I choose this mortal life<\/p>\n

Lived in perfect symmetry
\nWhat I do, that will be done to me
\nAs the needle slips into the run-out groove
\nLove – maybe you\u2019ll feel it too<\/p>\n

And maybe you\u2019ll find life is unkind
\nAnd over so soon
\nThere is no golden gate
\nThere\u2019s no heaven waiting for you<\/p>\n

Oh boy you ought to leave this town
\nGet out while you can the meter\u2019s running down
\nThe voices in the streets you love
\nEverything is better when you hear that sound<\/p>\n

Spineless dreamers hide in churches
\nPieces of pieces of rush hour buses
\nI dream in emails, worn-out phrases
\nMile after mile of just empty pages<\/p>\n

Wrap yourself around me
\nWrap yourself around me
\nAs the needle slips into the run-out groove
\nMaybe you\u2019ll feel it too
\nMaybe you\u2019ll feel it too
\nMaybe you\u2019ll feel it too
\nMaybe you\u2019ll feel it too<\/p>\n

Spineless dreamers hide in churches
\nPieces of pieces of rush hour buses
\nI dream in emails, worn-out phrases
\nMile after mile of just empty pages<\/p>\n

Spineless dreamers hide in churches
\nPieces of pieces of rush hour buses<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n