2007 in hindsight

Luckybuzz referred to this meme a bit before Christmas, and reminded me that it's one I like, that requires a little thought and results in a neat retrospective of the previous year. And since I'm THRILLED to see the backside of 2007, I thought this might be as good a way as any to bid it adieu.

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?
Got fired. Woo hoo.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I probably made some half-assed ones, and did nothing to keep them. I doubt I'll even pretend this year. Although as I say, I'm really glad to see 2007 go, so maybe this year I'll make a conscious effort to make 2008 more to my liking.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
At least one good college friend - I think two (I can't remember when these things happen very well). A dear friend from grad school. And some cool bloggers! (Other bloggers, if I'm missing you, feel free to remind me in the comments.) (oops, this blogger too!)

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My dad.

5. What countries did you visit?
Can I count U.S. states? Some of them feel like different countries.

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
A career. Or at least a plan. And a HOUSE. Or at the very least, a living space in which I can control the ambient temperature and in which there are actual drawers in the kitchen.

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
April 26 - when my dad died. April 3 - when I got fired. Pretty pathetic that I'm even remotely equating those two things, isn't it? Clearly April is the cruelest month.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Surviving the move to NLLDH City without impelling him to kill me (very specifically, surviving the DRIVE. Oh my God, the agony). And I suppose figuring out that losing my job does not in fact mean that my life is over.

9. What was your biggest failure?
See #1!

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing memorable. I think I had a couple of colds. I don't do anything physically vigorous enough to cause injury. Though I did manage to whack myself in the face with my car door the other day, I kid you not.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Agh, I can't remember. I buy lots of crap.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
NLLDH's, always. (Okay, almost always.)

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
How many politicians can I name?

14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent. Moving. Credit cards.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The movie versions of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Golden Compass and Sweeney Todd! And living with NLLDH again. And seeing snow on a regular basis again.

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
Okay, this is going to sound a little weird, but... Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats." The lyrics don't describe anything that happened to me, and even if you do the romantic-relationship-as-metaphor-for-job thing, it's not parallel to my situation, but let's just say that for a while there I could really dig the song's overall sentiment. It's a good revenge anthem. Ooh, ooh, and the Plain White Ts' "Hate (I Really Don't Like You)" (the chorus is, "Hate is a strong word, but I really really really don't like you"). What can I say, music lets me express my inner bitterness.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
Happier (I went through a lot of unhappiness between then and now, but I'm happier no longer being in Former College City); neither fatter (good) nor thinner (bummer); not necessarily richer, but less poor, since we're only supporting one household now. Oh, and actually, this time last year NLLDH hadn't got his current job yet, so I guess we're richer. Although to be precise, NLLDH is richer and I'm poorer. But it all evens out, I guess.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
I know it sounds puritanical and awful, but exercise - I think it would have made me feel happier and healthier overall. Writing. Reaching out to others to have a social life not centered around the internet. (Not that internet sociability isn't really cool. It's just that face-to-face would be nice, too.) Getting to bed at a reasonable hour.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Worrying about what Former College thought of me (fat lot of good it did me!). Aimless surfing of the internet. Staying up late doing nothing in particular.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Hanging out with NLLDH. It was the first Christmas without my dad, and I miss getting together with my family for the holiday, as NLLDH and I don't do much of anything special, but it could have been so so so SO much worse, so I'm not complaining!

21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
Nope, that happened a long time ago (everyone say awwwwwwwww...)

22. How many one-night stands?
Yeah, not so much. (I think I have had a grand total of one one-night stand ever, and it was a long time ago now.)

23. What was your favorite TV program?
Battlestar Galactica, Californication, Flight of the Conchords, 3o Rock, and Dexter. (We also watched Weeds religiously, but while I think it's an excellent show, there's something about it that really freaks me out.  Though I adore Elizabeth Perkins in it. It's almost like I can see a kind of twisted reality in the show that I really don't want to acknowledge exists. But then, I have a similar though milder reaction to Californication, so I think it's just that southern California really disturbs me. No offense, anyone who lives there! It's just that I come from a cold, puritanical place.)

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I don't like the idea of hating anyone, so I don't think I should answer this. Let's just say that there are some people whose behavior I resent.

25. What was the best book you read?
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation. This is seriously THE most awesome book. Okay, it helps to like history, and maybe to have a vague familiarity with the Enlightenment/early American history. But it's incredibly good. I might have enjoyed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows a teeny bit more, but Octavian Nothing is definitely the better book. (Yes, these are both technically children's books.)

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Well, re-discovering Sweeney Todd in the wake of the movie has been fun. (In college I was a total showtunes nerd.) Otherwise, I haven't really made any real musical discoveries this year as much as I've consoled myself with old favorites. (I tend to fall into OCD mode and pick one album and listen to it nonstop for literally weeks, until I'm totally sick of it. So I don't need to find a lot of new stuff on a regular basis.) Can I pick Flight of the Conchords? (Foux da fa... foux da fa fa fa fa fa...)

27. What did you want and get?
A job in NLLDH City (at least for the year).

28. What did you want and not get?
AHA interviews. Ah, well.

29. What was your favorite film of this year?
Keeping in mind that I'm not claiming that my favorites are the best films, just the ones I enjoyed most: Waitress, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Stardust, Eastern Promises, Sweeney Todd, and The Golden Compass. (I think No Country for Old Men is probably one of the best movies of the year, but while I enjoyed it, it's not something I could watch over and over - way too creepy!)

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Heh. I turned 38, and drove three hours with the cats to Summer Teaching Gig Location to settle in for a month. That evening I went out to dinner with the organizers of and other faculty in Summer Teaching Gig, and no, I didn't tell them it was my birthday (they were basically a bunch of strangers). There are worse ways I could have spent it, but here's hoping for something more fun next year!

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Not getting fired! Or getting a spiffy new tenure-track job. But again, ah, well.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
What personal fashion concept? Ill-defined is probably a good word.

33. What kept you sane?
Who says I'm sane? As cheesy as it sounds, though, blogging probably helped. (So thank you!)

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Probably Viggo Mortensen. 

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
Hey, I'm a medievalist, I only think about things that happened over five hundred years ago.

36. Who did you miss?
My dad.

37. Who was the best new person you met?
Oh, a variety of folks.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006.
You can survive having a lot of crap thrown at you. Especially when you realize it's not nearly the worst crap that's out there.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Now that it's over
I don't even know what I liked about you.

Comments

[Anastasia]

I had a baby!

[Belle]

Hey, if you'd stayed at Former College, you wouldn't be living with NLLDH!

My new mantra: contentment with the past, happiness in the present, hope for the future. Letting go of negative past is, for me, the hardest. How sick is that?

[luckybuzz]

Flight of the Conchords is an EXCELLENT choice for best musical discovery of my year, too. :)

[Amy]

Yay Dexter!!! I wish I'd known y'all were watching that... we need other people to bounce our theories off of.

Do you watch The Wire?

[New Kid on the Hallway]

Belle, yeah, I think getting out of Former College was a very GOOD thing - I just wish the circumstances had been different! :-P

Amy, Dexter is so totally a show you need to bounce around theories about - it's one of the few shows that makes me feel that way! I have to say I wasn't thrilled with the ending of the Lila situation - it seemed a little forced - but it is such an intriguing show! We haven't watched The Wire, though I hear good things about it.

[Christine]

You are hilarious!

[Anastasia]

I was also going to say I love your carrie underwood/plain white T's songs. I think break-up songs are so appropriate for this job.

[sm]

I think it's OK to think about losing your father and getting fired in the same range of bad things.