Hello, much abandoned and left-out blog. I know, I pay more attention to Twitter and Pinterest than you a lot of the time, but you are frequently on my mind. In the spirit of new beginnings, I present to you my two resolutions for 2012:
1. Read at least 26 new (to me) books.
2. Revamp this site, details on what “revamp” means pending.
The first is a constant that I’ve been able to achieve since 2007, when I started it. I’ve met the goal every year, including this year: 33 books read! Check out all of them, the good and bad, over at Goodreads. I cannot recommend Goodreads enough; I always get great ideas from what other people are reading, and the “shelves” help me keep track of different book groups (e.g. what’s from the library, what year I read them, overall topic). Big props to the local library: all but 8 of the books I read this year were checked out from them.
Continuing in the tradition of blogs everywhere, I bring you the end of the year meme.
1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before? Got married (and planned a wedding, hodang), moved into an apartment complex and was surprised how much I love it, spoke at a professional conference, and traveled out of state for work.
2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Hit my mark of 26 new books and then some, but totally busted out on fitness stuff. Eating habits have gotten better, though, and I drink my 8 glasses of water a day without fail, so that’s a boost.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Most of the birthing happened at the end of last year, so nope.
4. Did anyone close to you die? Thankfully no, though death touched a number of close friends.
5. What places did you visit? Cruised around the Midwest for the honeymoon, went up to Bayfield for a long weekend, and went to Austin, TX in October.
6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? More traveling time.
7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched on your memory, and why? June 18, my wedding day.
9. What was your biggest failure? Trying to keep myself running at 100% all of the time. 80% really is optimal – then I’ve got the extra room to roll with the suddenness life always pitches instead of overloading and shutting down.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I continued to examine and manage my anxiety, and my knee (and surrounding muscles) continued healing from the Oct 2010 surgery.
11. What was the best thing you bought? I was really happy with my wedding getup; the dress was not only comfortable but had pockets!
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? All of my family and friends who made our wedding day an absolute smash. Totally blown away, even 6+ months later.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Pretty much all of the government, all of the time. I got shouty with the newscasts on the radio.
14. Where did most of your money go? Wedding and moving. I always forget how expensive and crazy moving is.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Predictably: the wedding. Also moving out from under the rule of our horrible landlord!
16. What song will always remind you of 2011? “A Little Bit of Everything” by Dawes. It makes me cry in both sad and happy ways. You owe it to yourself to listen to it.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier, in ways I never imagined.
b) thinner or fatter? About the same, the fat has just started a migratory pattern.
c) richer or poorer? Richer, in ways I never imagined.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Again, travel, but it was a crazy year.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Stress out about other people’s shit. Seriously.
20. How did you spend Christmas last year? A two-day family circuit (Chris’ family on Christmas Eve, my family on Christmas Day) with Christmas morning set aside for the two of us.
21. Did you fall in love in 2011? My love became more multifaceted as it grew, which was (and is) wonderful. Cliche time: marriage changes things.
22. What was your favorite TV program? Community, easily.
23. What did you do for your birthday in 2011? Chris took me to see a production of “The Fantasticks” at the Winona Shakespeare Festival. It was amazing, as I’d been wanting to see the show performed for a long time.
24. What was the best book you read? Bossypants by Tina Fey, a woman for whom “undying admiration” just doesn’t cover how I feel.
25. What did you want and get? A wedding doused in love from start to finish from friends and family.
26. What did you want and not get? Resolution to some issues, though I’m working on coming to terms with them just remaining unresolved (and being fine with that).
27. What was your favorite film of the year? Toss up between Moneyball and The Muppets. Don’t make me choose between baseball and the Muppets, it just won’t happen.
28. Did you make some new friends this year? Yes!
29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? A longer sweet corn season? I don’t know, my year was pretty damn fabulous.
30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011? Improving – I’m wearing stuff that has a better fit and flatters my body how it is, instead of trying to make my body how I want it to be.
31. What kept you sane? Chris and my friends (especially Jess Pants) who listened to all my mind blurt and gave wonderful advice. Also the occasional glass(es) of wine.
32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Totally loving Donald Glover’s hilaaarious work on Community with Danny Pudi as Troy and Abed.
33. What political issue stirred you the most? The ridiculous and sickening movement to write discrimination into the Minnesota constitution by defining marriage as between one man and one woman, all while the state ran out of money.
34. Who do you miss? My girlfriends from my time in Japan. Julie came to my wedding and we both immediately started to cry when we saw each other.
35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011. The Cult of Done Manifesto made me about 1000x more productive in everything I do – I wish I’d discovered it earlier in the year. It’s printed out and hanging up by my work and home desks.
