Adios, 2009!

So... the following questionnaire, unabashedly lifted from All & Sundry, is kind of depressing but I'm posting it anyway because 2009 has been hard. I avoided blogging a LOT because I didn't feel I had that much happy to discuss and I didn't feel like writing about the suck. I look forward to a happier 2010 with fun stuff like gainful employment, better health, and continued freedom from debt.

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?

Grew closer to my folks. House- and pet-sat like it was going out of style. Went to dinner at Vanessa and Brenda’s a number of times. Grew closer to my friend Luckdragon via multiple-hour phone conversations. Got laid off. Learned about surviving on less money. Said farewell to my last living grandparent. Hired myself out over the summer for yard work/outdoor gigs so I could make extra money. Went on some bitchin’ road trips.

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

No and no. I’m not making any for this year. I mean, I’ve made a few general ones in my head like watch less TV, move more, and drink more beer, but I’m not making a ridiculously long list of things I want to change in 2010 because a lot of it is likely to sound like whining, at least from my POV. Let's just say that life will morph as it's supposed to and I welcome positive change in many things in my life. Even though my list for 2009 WAS entirely attainable, learning to play the fucking cello is just not on my list of priorities for 2010.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Not outside of the Intarwebs.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Yeah :’(

5. What countries did you visit?

Did not make it outside America. Would like to, soon, but no official plans yet.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?

A full-time job that doesn’t make me want to kill myself.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory and why?

I have specific dates for crappy stuff like Grandma’s death and my layoff but I’m glad to say that there were lots of days that didn’t suck. I went to St. Louis for the weekend in October and visited with my friends Sasha and Nicole. We spent the weekend sitting around, talking, drinking martinis, eating sushi, laughing, and watching TV. I also remember my second road trip, back in March, right after I got laid off (THEME TRAIN WOOT WOOT), and standing outside with women from Michfest, laughing so hard I was doubled over in my friends’ driveway. There was a LOT of suck this year, for me and for everyone I know (and people I don’t "know know," like the bloggers I read), but there were some pretty good times too. I’m still glad 2009 is ending though.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Continuing to move forward when everything in me screamed to stop and just fucking give up already.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Not finding another full-time job yet. I know, I’m competing with, like, 167 people for each job I apply for but STILL.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Got a smidge of The Flu that was going around, though it never got bad enough to squeal like a peeg and send me to the E.R. for meds. I fucked up my left knee and have been at my physical worst most of the year. Thankfully, from here, there is nothing but UP.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

I was pretty stoked by starting my collection of Nice, Adult-Like Dishware.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Certainly not mine.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

People who claim to be persecuted Christians – all the wingnuts who think gays and our legal right to marry is going to rip through the fabric that makes America great. Also: Most “reality show” contestants.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Takeout.

15. What did you get really excited about?

Jobs for which I thought I was a shoo-in.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?

Stereophonics' "Maybe Tomorrow"

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

– happier or sadder? Sadder
– thinner or fatter? Fatter.
– richer or poorer? Financially poorer.

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

Moved energy around to avoid stagnation.

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

Been unhappy.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

With my family, opening presents (duh), and then having breakfast (Eggs! Bagels! Salmon!) before heading off to petsit and then have dinner with immediate fam and members of extended fam.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?

Nah. Had some crushes, saw possibility in a couple dates, but nothing amazing.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Drop Dead Diva, Royal Pains, Project Runway, and Monk all got several slices of my joy this year.

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

Yep.

24. What was the best book you read?

Best in recent memory was sitting on my parents’ couch on Christmas morning, partially crushed under the weight of my new, hardbound copy of the American Heritage Dictionary, which I delicately stroked as though God herself had asked for a neck massage. (I’m drawing a blank on whatever else I read or read from this year. Brain fried.)

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Stereophonics’ “Decade in the Sun.” The Script. Matt Nathanson. The ‘wedding song’ from Jim and Pam’s wedding on The Office, even though it’s by fucking Chris Brown. Most of Whitney Houston’s new album (haven’t purchased it but heard it in a store and liked a lot of it). Lady Gaga songs that I heard while hanging out and watching drag shows at the local queer bar.

26. What did you want and get?

More of a social life. A new primary care doc. To be free of Effexor’s grasp.

27. What did you want and not get?

To complete NaNoWriMo in November. A new job.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

Slumdog Millionaire

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

Went to lunch with my folks and some friends, spent the day farting around, went to dinner with different friends. I turned 36.

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

Freedom from worry.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?

Jeans, old t-shirt, and bare feet, as often as possible.

32. What kept you sane?

Laughing through the suck.

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

Matt Damon. What? He's PRETTY. And smart. And a writer. And...

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Gay marriage, health care, how frightening the aforementioned wingnuts are and their distorted views of pretty much everything.

35. Who did you miss?

Grandpa V, who passed away in 2004. I missed him like he died last week. I feel like my family lost Grandma to dementia in 1998, basically, so by the time she finally passed earlier this year, it was more of a relief than anything because we knew she wasn’t suffering anymore.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

I started seeing a new therapist a couple weeks ago and I’m pretty fond of her so far.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.

You can live on $8.76/hour. You won’t like it, but you can do it.

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

I look around at a beautiful life / been the upperside of down / been the inside of out / but we breathe / we breathe