A Christmas meme

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone has had (or is going to have, depending on your time zone) a wonderful day, whether you celebrate or not. It's been a great day in my neck of the woods - lots of good food and drink, and santa was good to me this year, which is always nice.

To celebrate the day, a Christmas meme, which I actually started a few days ago. It's rather long though, which is why it's only getting posted now!

1. What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before?
Signed a lease. Experienced a traction machine. Wrote a program in binary. Did a tax return on paper (stupid e-tax wouldn't work for me). Flew home for a funeral. Walked the long way home late at night in high-heels and a ball gown. Pretended to be singing in the Qantas choir whilst standing on a beach.

2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't do New Years' resolutions, so no, I didn't keep them, and no, I won't make any for next year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yep - my cousin.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes. I went to two funerals this year.

5. What countries did you visit?
Absolutely none! This is a terrible situation that I fully intend to rectify in 2007. How's that for a New Years' resolution? I resolve to leave the country sometime during the next year...

6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
A neck that doesn't cause pain all the time. A dining table and chairs for the new house! Um... I don't think I really lacked that much this year!

7. What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Finishing exams (finally!) on November 17 comes to mind immediately, but that's really not that huge. I hurt my neck the first week in September - I don't want to keep going on about it, but it has rather dominated the second half of the year for me!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I'm really proud of some of the work I did this year, particularly in some of my American Studies courses. I finally feel like I, well, 'get it'. I was reading over some of my old essays a few weeks ago (mostly because I'm masochistic - there's nothing like reading your writing from first year to make you feel like a complete and utter idiot), and saw that my history lecturer wrote almost exactly the same comment on two essays that I wrote in consecutive semesters. It's only now that I actually feel like I understand what he was on about!

9. What was your biggest failure?
I wanted to do more in one of my jobs, but time just got away from me.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Um, yes :) In January it was my back, February was dominated by tooth problems (which will finally be resolved in January 2007 when I have my final appointment with my specialist for a double root canal, oh joy), and the second half of the year was dominated by my stupid neck. I went to the physio 11 times between September and the beginning of December, which I think is quite an achievement. Also, shingles.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My shiny new laptop!

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
The new group of people I lived with at college! My fabulous friends. The American public, who did good in the mid-term elections.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
John Howard, for oh so many reasons. Ditto for George Bush. A couple of my IT lecturers, who continue to take teaching quality to new and unexplored heights of mediocrity. Some people that I work with/for.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Moving into a house for the first time is an excruciatingly expensive exercise. Also, the physio.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Moving into a house of my own! Some of my courses, as nerdy as that sounds. The U.S. mid-term elections, which I suspect sounds even nerdier.

16. What song will always remind you of 2006?
'Walk Away' by Kelly Clarkson.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Happier.
ii. thinner or fatter? Thinner.
iii. richer or poorer? Right now, probably poorer, but once I get paid on Thursday it'll hopefully be different!

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Travel.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Watching a little less tv probably would have been a good idea! Facebook has also been steadily consuming my life in recent months.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Well Christmas is nearly over, but here's how I spent the day: morning with the family, opening presents and eating mangoes (bit of a tradition). And then, for only the third time in my entire life, we had Christmas lunch somewhere other than at our house, namely at my uncle's house. It was good though - much food was eaten, many presents were opened, etc. Then it was home to crash on the couch, where I watched some O.C. with my brother (he is absolutely obsessed).

21. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?
I'm going down the coast to spend a few days at a friend's beach house. Should be good.

22. Did you fall in love in 2006?
Nope.

23. How many one-night stands?
None.

24. What was your favourite TV program?
Well, if we're talking new programs, then I'd have to see Dr. Who. Close runner-up would have to be Heroes. As for ones that I've been watching on a regular basis, some of my favourites are still Veronica Mars, House, and How I Met Your Mother. Too much good tv, too little time!

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Not really - my hatred for John Howard increases steadily with each passing day, but I hated him last year too, so it's not as if anything has changed dramatically.

26. What was the best book you read?
Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides. Absolutely incredible.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Vienna Teng. Also, Kelly Clarkson I guess.

28. What did you want and get?
A new shiny laptop!

29.What did you want and not get?
I honestly cannot think of anything major off the top of my head; more money with which to go travelling, I guess, but that's always true for me.

30. What was your favourite film of this year?
The Prestige was incredible. Also notable: Good Night, and Good Luck and V for Vendetta.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
It was the big 2-1 this year, very exciting. Fitting for such a big event, my birthday celebrations went on for about two and a half months, which was fabulous. I had two parties; one in Tassie and one in Canberra, with about a month in between the two of them. And then, just when I thought it was all over, about a month later I got a present in the mail from Sandro's mum! Turning 21 is the best thing ever.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
See answer to question 29; this year, on the whole, was pretty damn satisfying!

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
'Personal fashion concept'?! Um, whatever was on sale at Target? :)

34. What kept you sane?
My friends. Without them I would have surely collapsed into a quivering mass of patheticness sometime around March.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
If possible, Hugh Jackman, George Clooney and Brad Pitt actually become more attractive as the years go on. Also, maybe a little oddly, Jon Stewart, but mostly because he's one of the funniest men ever.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
I was absolutely furious when the federal government overturned the ACT's gay marriage legislation; even now, just thinking about it gets me incredibly riled up. The way GLBTI citizens are treated is one of the last vestiges of institutionalised discrimination in this country and around the world, and... well, yeah, as you can tell, the issue stirred me up a little! Also, John Howard's ridiculous citizenship test, which is stupid on so many levels, not least of which is it won't actually keep one single terrorist out of the country, or prevent events like the Crunulla riots.

37. Who did you miss?
Come back, Matt!

38. Who was the best new person you met?
The new people I lived with! Several other people come to mind, but I'm not going to name names.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006:
A life without chocolate, and/or friends like mine, is obviously not one worth living.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
"American Dreamz/Dreams with a Zee"...

God, that took a while. Merry Christmas again, folks!