Waaaagh!

A New Year

Lets see. 2006 in review. I didnt really do much... met a couple people I feel I'm better off for having met... got some work things accomplished... got liquid enough to be able to pay off all my debts... bah - lets do it in a more traditional blog manner (is there such a thing?)

1. What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before?
Went to Maui... got a real job at a real company (about time i suppose)...

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Hmm... i had resolved to keep proper perspective on things - and managed it most of the year. I dont think i started getting stressed out until I started burning up here in montreal. New resolutions? Hmmm... my expanding waistline would probably prefer that i make one or two - but I know i'm not well positioned to have any control over my life right now - so it's silly to try and impose my will on the wave. "Stay on the board" is probably as good as it gets.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Die?
Nope. Lotta people workin on both though...

4. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
A dog. But it's not realistic. I really miss Fred. Fewer fish in the pond now... i'll probably have toads this year. More toads.

5. What date(s) from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
July 10th... i turned 40... which counts in my head. Its not that i'm uncomfortable or anything, i just feel like i'm beginning to age.

6. What was your biggest achievement of the year? What was your biggest failure?
I dont really see the world that way... but for the sake of the quiz... i suppose the work situation counts as a success. It's a good scene - and I'm pretty glad it's working out well. Failure? the house still isnt in good shape. I really want to get that nightmare kitchen cleaned up - getting rid of the last vestiges of destruction visited upon the house by the ex would be a bonus. That and I'd love to finish the pond properly (i have the mortar... just need the time). Probably going to have to pay someone though... just dont see any other way to get the place 'finished' with me in foreign countries all the time.

7. What was the best thing you bought? I didnt buy anything. Well... an Armani suit - but i never get to wear it.

8. Whose behavior merited celebration? Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? What a judgemental question... and who the hell am I to answer that... Oh there are people who have made choices I wouldnt have made... and those who're probably not making decisions that are terribly helpful to the others in their lives... but you know, i'd have to take life a lot more seriously than it deserves for any of that to matter. The universe and it's inhabitants has been around a lot longer than my little self-absorbed opinions merit any sort of commentary... well... except that W makes me appalled and depressed every day.

8. Where did most of your money go? Disposable income? Restaurants - which is fine. Time with my friends is the most important thing in my world. Thank god for the internet - without being able to talk to my friends regularly i'd have lost it long ago. The rest? to the feds... i end up paying more in taxes as a percentage of my income than just about anyone - if they weren't spending my money on bullets i probably wouldnt feel so annoyed.

9. What song will always remind you of 2006? The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows

10. Compared to this time last year, are you: happier or sadder? thinner or fatter? richer or poorer? Yes. Well... considering the previous year was rather tumultuous - i cant help but think i was happier. I'm bigger - but i'm healthier too... in fact i think i got into better shape last year than i've ever been (though that's gone downhill being away from home). Wealth? I'm better off now no question... Oh sure - i've spent money this last year rather than save it - but i'm liquid enough to be able to retire all of my debts if I wanted to. I dont have the sorts of children and wives responsibilities - so i can play more fast and loose than most i know. Doesnt make me happier directly - but i think i make some of the people in my extended orbit happier for it - and that makes me happy.

11. What do you wish you'd done more of? What do you wish you'd done less of? Hmm... expectations and regrets eh? Not much of either. I wish I'd done more to clean up the house. It might've been fun to write more - but only because i like storytelling. I wish I'd had a chance to play more games with my friends.

12. What was the best book you read? Hard. Let's say Prince of the Marshes. There were others - lots - but I think that one was the best.

13. What was your greatest musical discovery? The bootiesf website.

14. What did you want and get? What did you want and not get?
New interesting people in my life.

15. What was your favorite tv/film of this year? I spent a couple months with netflix chewing through genres... sat and watched anime for the first time in a decade - and there's some really good storytelling going on there now... I'd say Haibane-Renmei was the best thing i saw this year.

16. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? A good BBQ place in Montreal.

17. What kept you sane? Who said I was sane? My forest.

18. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Angelina Jolie and George Clooney - because they're both using celebrity in a positive way... (and the way George teared up when his pig died got to me).

19. What political issue stirred you the most? Iraq. Duh. Though the fundies and their religious intolerance is finally starting to piss me off.

20. Who did you miss? I live out of a suitcase... who didnt i miss.

21. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin
I dont know where Ill be tomorrow
Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin

Ive been trying to make it home
Got to make it before too long
I cant take this very much longer
Im stranded in the sleet and rain
Dont think Im ever gonna make it home again
The mornin sun is risin
Its kissing the day

Bwahahahaha... i still hate Journey... ok - how about...

And you may ask yourself
How do I work this?
And you may ask yourself
Where is that large automobile?
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful house!
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful wife!

Somehow, at this existential stage of my life, that seems more appropriate ;)
Happy New Year