The End of Year Survey

851 words written by dylan
Posted December 22, 2003 @ 12:41 AM
2 TrackBacks

This meme is going around. I got this from Kat, but I did some research and filled in most of the missing questions.

  1. What did you do in 2003 that you'd never done before? Went to San Francisco. Saw REM and Wilco in concert. Buzzed my hair. Knocked a girl up.
  2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't think I had any, though I made my midyear resolution to lose 40 pounds. There will be resolutions for next year, they're just not written yet.
  3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My cousin. Wayne and Karen.
  4. Did anyone close to you die? With ten days to go in the year, nope.
  5. What countries did you visit? Does California count?
  6. What would you like to have in 2004 that you lacked in 2003? Self-confidence, a clue about my vocation, and a healthy baby. Also, $10M in cash.
  7. What date from 2003 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? February 14, for reasons that will not be discussed here. July 17, again for reasons that we will not go into. August 2, aka "Look dear, there are two lines on the stick."
  8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Relaunched a university web site almost all by myself.
  9. What was your biggest failure? Not answering the what-do-you-want-to-be-when-you-grow-up question.
  10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Sliced two fingers open on separate occasions. Me not like knives. Otherwise, a smattering of colds.
  11. What was the best thing you bought? A Canon A70 digi camera.
  12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My wife, for putting up with me -- and for finishing her first novel.
  13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I plead the Fifth.
  14. Where did most of your money go? Great question. Unfortunately, not enough into savings.
  15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Baby-making. Having my own digi camera.
  16. What song will always remind you of 2003? Hard question. Let's go with "Hey Ya!"
  17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
    1. happier or sadder? About the same.
    2. thinner or fatter? Thinner, and hopefully, thinner still next year.
    3. richer or poorer? A little poorer, but that's mostly inflation.
  18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Cleaning the house. Getting out more. Rebuilding my social life.
  19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Procrastinating. Acting immature. Drinking soda.
  20. How will you be spending Christmas? In Alabama with the in-laws.
  21. {appears to be missing}
  22. Did you fall in love in 2003? Already there.
  23. How many one-night stands? Zero.
  24. What was your favorite TV program? I had a few. Good Eats. Sealab 2021. Arrested Development.
  25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Nope.
  26. What was the best book you read? Didn't read a lot this year at all. I think I read four books cover to cover, and none of them were fiction. (Update: Oops, forgot that Order of the Phoenix was this year.) I'll say it's a tossup between On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee and Designing with Web Standards by Jeffrey Zeldman.
  27. What was your greatest musical discovery? 70s soul music.
  28. What did you want and get? One last vacation before going for the kidmaking.
  29. What did you want and not get? An iPod.
  30. What was your favorite film of this year? Drama, Master and Commander. Comedy or musical, Lost In Translation. Animation, Finding Nemo.
  31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? 31. Felt sorry for myself as usual. Avoided people in light of last year's 30th birthday party debacle.
  32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? The Buffs doing better than 5-7.
  33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2003? Same clothes, but new wool coat, much shorter hair, and a size smaller pants.
  34. What kept you sane? Susan. Computers. Music.
  35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? This the British meaning of "fancy?" If so, Miranda Otto was quite easy on the eyes.
  36. What political issue stirred you the most? The idiotic unilateralism of the Iraq war. Also, anti-spam legislation, the RIAA, the DMCA, and the Patriot Act.
  37. Who did you miss? At times, my family.
  38. Who was the best new person you met? I barely met anyone new this year, part of my bunker mentality of the last couple years. Samantha is the bee's knees, and I mean that in an "I'm happily married to someone not Samantha" sense. Sherry is cool, while she's not really new but a high school classmate that lives out here in Seattle and is not at all the same person she was in high school.
  39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2003: Kitchen knives are not to be taken lightly. Also, glass shatters when heated then exposed to a cool liquid.
  40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: And he's not responsible for what he's doin'/'Cause his mother made him what he is. -- Ray Wylie Hubbard.