2010 Meme: All the K00L Kids R Doin It
Jan. 4th, 2011 10:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mallorys_camera1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?
Was broke, without friends, without any kind of support. I wish I could say it made me find resources deep inside myself -- but I'm not sure it did. I just stumbled through it. Possibly an experience worth having had. But definitely not worth having.
2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
2010's Resolutions:
I don't think I made New Years' resolutions last year. This year there have been lots of changes that coincide with the new year. Bur resolutions? No.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Don't think so. No.
5. What countries did you visit?
Sadly, none.
6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
Money! Some kind of mental clarity. Also I'd like to let go of all the bitterness that seems to have congealed over my heart.
7. What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Well, you know I don't remember dates specifically. Seeing Max graduate from Stanford was a huge milestone -- he's launched, he'll do well in life, and whether he knows it or not, he owes that to me-e! I was a good mother to him. On a personal level, the day I discovered that canny human hermit crab Ben had managed to ditch me for a country mouse with furniture was certainly a low point.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Honestly? Surviving it. But 2011 will be different. I have a good feeling about it already.
Oh, wait! How could I forget? I wrote a book! For someone else, of course -- my name won't be on it. But it was an accomplishment of sorts.
9. What was your biggest failure?
That I was felt so beaten down and demoralized that I was absolutely incapable of mobilizing any resources on my own behalf. I just floated down.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Yes. I got so sick over the summer, I ended up in the ER. Some kind of stomach virus; I got really dehydrated.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Bought? Oh, you mean barter those funny little portraits of presidents for material goods? Tires, probably.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Max. He was a good son to me. Jeanna. She was a good sister.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
My aunt Jane. In fact, I am never going to speak to either her or my mother's other sister Annie ever again.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Food. Gas. Rent. Phone. NYSEG in the winter. And of course, paying for all my worldly goods to be kept in two storage units in California.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
I don't think I got excited about anything. Which is telling -- I'm an excitable person.
16. What song will always remind you of 2010?
Oh, Steely Dan: What a Shame About Me.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?
Sadder? Not the operative adjective actually. I've always been inclined towards melancholy, even when things are going well. More forlorn maybe.
ii. thinner or fatter?
Thinner
iii. richer or poorer?
About the same, actually. Which is to say destitute.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Made money. Made friends. Wrote prose of lasting value.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Obsessed about loser X-Husband.
20. How will you be spending New Years?
I spent it fending off phonecalls from swains and watching Upstairs, Downstairs 2010. At 3 in the morning, RTT called for a ride home from a party. Fortunately I slept through the call, so Ben -- running a fever of 101 -- was forced to go out and pick him up instead.
22. Did you fall in love in 2010?
No. I developed an obsession on my X-Husband whom I've always loved, but with whom I haven't been in love for years. For 17 years, he's been the other voice in my inner dialogue -- and to a great extent is still. I don't know whether that's pathology or not. To a great extent I've been translating my thoughts into other_people-ese all my life. With him, I don't have to.
23. What was your favorite TV program?
I don't own a TV although I do watch TV programs. Mad Men? Though I hated that Don ended up with Megan. Oh, and I loved the first two seasons of the British Skins.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Yep. But you know, I'm all about harmony. Not gonna go there.
25. What was the best book you read?
I read a lot of good books in 2010. Hey! a bright spot. Can't single out one.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
You know, I have a certain soft spot for the James Taylor/Carol King Troubadour reunion album. Also love little jazz-bopper Nicki Yanovsky. Russell Brand? Right, not a singer! But I can't get that obnoxious song he sings in Forgetting Sarah Marshall out of my head.
27. What did you want and get?
Did I get anything I wanted? I don't think so.
28. What did you want and not get?
Ben.
29. What was your favorite film of this year?
In a theater? I'd have to say Inception -- though it certainly wasn't the best movie I saw all year. That was Winter's Bone.
As a download? Believe it or not, Get Him to the Greek.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
My 58th birthday was such a wash. I desperately wanted to see Max in Boston and couldn't get it together. I felt awful.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
My heart says, getting Ben back; my mind says, Making money.
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
Actually, you know, I dressed rather well in 2010. Looked good, got loads of attention wherever I went. I'm blessed with good bone structure and natural beauty, and I am thin as a rake these days so I look great in clothes. I still have no idea how a 58 year old woman is supposed to dress, but this being Ithaca, it doesn't seem to matter.
33. What kept you sane?
Grit. My own.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Russell Brand.
35. What political issue stirred you the most?
It's the economy, stupid.
36. Who did you miss?
Susan. Marybeth. Abe.
37. Who was the best new person you met?
Ruben, actually. The El Salvadorean farm worker I'm tutoring in English. He fascinates and inspires me. I mean -- objectively he's got it much worse than me, and he just soldiers on calmly.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
Nobody loves you when you're down and out and money makes the world go round.
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I'm still working on that novel
But I'm just about to quit
'Cause I'm worrying about the future now
Or maybe this is it
It's not all that I thought it would be
What a shame about me
And...
Wrote you this
I hope you got it safe
It's been so long
I don't know what to say
I've travelled 'round
Through deserts on my horse
But jokes aside
I wanna come back home
You know that night
I said i had to go
You said you'd meet me
On the sunny road
Was broke, without friends, without any kind of support. I wish I could say it made me find resources deep inside myself -- but I'm not sure it did. I just stumbled through it. Possibly an experience worth having had. But definitely not worth having.
2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
2010's Resolutions:
I don't think I made New Years' resolutions last year. This year there have been lots of changes that coincide with the new year. Bur resolutions? No.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Don't think so. No.
5. What countries did you visit?
Sadly, none.
6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
Money! Some kind of mental clarity. Also I'd like to let go of all the bitterness that seems to have congealed over my heart.
7. What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Well, you know I don't remember dates specifically. Seeing Max graduate from Stanford was a huge milestone -- he's launched, he'll do well in life, and whether he knows it or not, he owes that to me-e! I was a good mother to him. On a personal level, the day I discovered that canny human hermit crab Ben had managed to ditch me for a country mouse with furniture was certainly a low point.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Honestly? Surviving it. But 2011 will be different. I have a good feeling about it already.
Oh, wait! How could I forget? I wrote a book! For someone else, of course -- my name won't be on it. But it was an accomplishment of sorts.
9. What was your biggest failure?
That I was felt so beaten down and demoralized that I was absolutely incapable of mobilizing any resources on my own behalf. I just floated down.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Yes. I got so sick over the summer, I ended up in the ER. Some kind of stomach virus; I got really dehydrated.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Bought? Oh, you mean barter those funny little portraits of presidents for material goods? Tires, probably.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Max. He was a good son to me. Jeanna. She was a good sister.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
My aunt Jane. In fact, I am never going to speak to either her or my mother's other sister Annie ever again.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Food. Gas. Rent. Phone. NYSEG in the winter. And of course, paying for all my worldly goods to be kept in two storage units in California.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
I don't think I got excited about anything. Which is telling -- I'm an excitable person.
16. What song will always remind you of 2010?
Oh, Steely Dan: What a Shame About Me.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?
Sadder? Not the operative adjective actually. I've always been inclined towards melancholy, even when things are going well. More forlorn maybe.
ii. thinner or fatter?
Thinner
iii. richer or poorer?
About the same, actually. Which is to say destitute.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Made money. Made friends. Wrote prose of lasting value.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Obsessed about loser X-Husband.
20. How will you be spending New Years?
I spent it fending off phonecalls from swains and watching Upstairs, Downstairs 2010. At 3 in the morning, RTT called for a ride home from a party. Fortunately I slept through the call, so Ben -- running a fever of 101 -- was forced to go out and pick him up instead.
22. Did you fall in love in 2010?
No. I developed an obsession on my X-Husband whom I've always loved, but with whom I haven't been in love for years. For 17 years, he's been the other voice in my inner dialogue -- and to a great extent is still. I don't know whether that's pathology or not. To a great extent I've been translating my thoughts into other_people-ese all my life. With him, I don't have to.
23. What was your favorite TV program?
I don't own a TV although I do watch TV programs. Mad Men? Though I hated that Don ended up with Megan. Oh, and I loved the first two seasons of the British Skins.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Yep. But you know, I'm all about harmony. Not gonna go there.
25. What was the best book you read?
I read a lot of good books in 2010. Hey! a bright spot. Can't single out one.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
You know, I have a certain soft spot for the James Taylor/Carol King Troubadour reunion album. Also love little jazz-bopper Nicki Yanovsky. Russell Brand? Right, not a singer! But I can't get that obnoxious song he sings in Forgetting Sarah Marshall out of my head.
27. What did you want and get?
Did I get anything I wanted? I don't think so.
28. What did you want and not get?
Ben.
29. What was your favorite film of this year?
In a theater? I'd have to say Inception -- though it certainly wasn't the best movie I saw all year. That was Winter's Bone.
As a download? Believe it or not, Get Him to the Greek.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
My 58th birthday was such a wash. I desperately wanted to see Max in Boston and couldn't get it together. I felt awful.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
My heart says, getting Ben back; my mind says, Making money.
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
Actually, you know, I dressed rather well in 2010. Looked good, got loads of attention wherever I went. I'm blessed with good bone structure and natural beauty, and I am thin as a rake these days so I look great in clothes. I still have no idea how a 58 year old woman is supposed to dress, but this being Ithaca, it doesn't seem to matter.
33. What kept you sane?
Grit. My own.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Russell Brand.
35. What political issue stirred you the most?
It's the economy, stupid.
36. Who did you miss?
Susan. Marybeth. Abe.
37. Who was the best new person you met?
Ruben, actually. The El Salvadorean farm worker I'm tutoring in English. He fascinates and inspires me. I mean -- objectively he's got it much worse than me, and he just soldiers on calmly.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
Nobody loves you when you're down and out and money makes the world go round.
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I'm still working on that novel
But I'm just about to quit
'Cause I'm worrying about the future now
Or maybe this is it
It's not all that I thought it would be
What a shame about me
And...
Wrote you this
I hope you got it safe
It's been so long
I don't know what to say
I've travelled 'round
Through deserts on my horse
But jokes aside
I wanna come back home
You know that night
I said i had to go
You said you'd meet me
On the sunny road
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no subject
Date: 2011-01-04 04:06 pm (UTC)Man, once you get your crap in a storage locker 3,000 miles away, it's a bitch to get it out. Took me five years. And the irony is (as I'm sure you've noticed) that I could have rented a truck and gone and collected it any one of those years simply by saving up a years worth of storage-locker rental fees lol. It's like American health insurance. In Canada I waited 4 months for surgery on varicose veins in my right leg, but it didn't cost me a dime. Here I could probably get it done much quicker, but I can't afford the deductables and co-pays. Well, I could, easy, if I wasn't laying out $410 a month in 'health insurance' premiums.:-P
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Wow. At our age, that's really lucking out. I usually lose at least one a year, this past year both my best male friend, and a woman I'd know as a friend and very occasional lover for 43 years. A year with no close-friend deaths is a bonus.
I spent it fending off phonecalls from swains and watching Upstairs, Downstairs 2010. At 3 in the morning, RTT called for a ride home from a party. Fortunately I slept through the call, so Ben -- running a fever of 101 -- was forced to go out and pick him up instead.
I'd say that's a definite plus. Being in demand is a real boost to the ego. I vaguely remember what that's like.:-P
no subject
Date: 2011-01-04 04:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-04 04:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 12:51 am (UTC)I'm beyond impressed that you did the meme.