Rose Colored Retrospectacle

1. What did you do in 2004 that you'd never done before?
Went to Chicago. Went to Victoria, BC,Canada. Sold a piece of artwork to someone I don't know. Drove to the Sevier Desert and dug up a lot of sand. Joined a gym. Got a ticket on TRAX. Had someone else prepare my taxes. Saw a sea lion in the wild. Saw beluga whales (and cried my eyes out watching them). Had my cholesterol tested (it was GOOD!). Biked all the way home from Sandy, including one trip on the Jordan River Parkway. Visited / camped out in Montana. Fostered a dog. Saw a band I've loved for almost 20 years: Skinny Puppy.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
It wasn't a New Year's resolution per se, but I did eat a much healthier diet this year, and lost weight. I doubt I'll make any resolutions this year, either.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Tootles. I don't know if we were close, but we did sleep together every night for a few months. She was a good dog.

5. What countries did you visit?
Canada.

6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004?
More love and calm in my home life. A raise. More DJing gigs.

7. What date(s) from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
November 2, of course.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I registered people to vote. I sang in front of Paul without feeling like I was going to vomit. I worked out regularly for 3 months, and I improved my eating habits.

9. What was your biggest failure?
I didn't start my ministry while I was 33. I didn't conquer my depression.

10. Did you suffer any illness or injury?
Nothing serious. I had post-Convergence crud in the spring, and a headcold recently. I don't think I vomited all year, which is more than I can say for 2003!

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Nothing really stands out. I guess the dress that Donna made for me is the thing I have enjoyed most. A new scanner. It wasn't much of a buying year for me, I guess (that's a good thing!). I'd say "gym membership" but honestly, that sorta sucked.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
I believe John Kerry set the standard for running a presidential campaign. He was honest, smart, and level headed, and he didn't give into pressures to do things he didn't believe in, or to pretend to be anything he was not.

Also, all my friends who registered and voted for the first time this year.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
The "51%" -- whom frankly I think was a lot closer to 45%. Also, Diebold, Ken Blackwell, and all those who stole our election from us. Dubya, Cheney, and their ilk. Some other more personal ones I don't want to go into here.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Mortgage! Food and other bills. Travel. Art supplies.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The election. Ever feel like you've been cheated?

16. What song will always remind you of 2004?
We Want Your Soul - Freeland. Emerge - Fischerspooner.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? The same, but pretty sad.
b) thinner or fatter? Thinner. Not by much, but it's something!
c) richer or poorer? Pretty much the same, but I own a few more square inches of my house. On the other hand, my car is worth less.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
I wish I'd biked and exercised more, and lost more weight. I really wish I'd had more fun; that I'd been able to cut loose more and dragged myself out to more things.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Moped. Cried. Worried.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
I suspect Paul and I will go to Paul's parents place for Xmas eve and open gifts, and spend the night. Xmas day, I'll cook all day, and we'll light a fire, and I'll spend some time with Ant.

21. Why is there no question 21?
Now there is! It was with the rum. Or the pineapples.

22. Did you fall in love in 2004?
No. But I didn't fall out of love, either, so we're even.

23. How many one-night stands?
Not a single one! D'oh!

24. What was your favorite TV program?
Dead Like Me, I guess, since it was literally the only TV I watched, and it was downloaded. Thank goodness for the internet, or I'd be terminally uncool in matters of idiot-box life.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No. If anything, I worked out a lot of stuff over the last year with some people. In one case, I still sort of hate them, but things are a little clearer between us. I never hate anyone without it being highly complicated, and this is no exception. I'm annoyed with some people these days that I wasn't annoyed with before, but that's not hate.

26. What was the best book you read?
The Pillars of the Earth.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Adam Freeland. It wasn't that great of a year, musically.

28. What did you want and get?
Another ferret. Sand. More grape vines. To lose weight. The money the IRS owed me. A Poisoner Skirt from Arsenic Fashions. More friends. To see New Model Army and Skinny Puppy.

29. What did you want and not get?
A patio. To lose a substantial amount of weight. An elicit snog at Convergence. To DJ more. Regular housework from my house-mates. To travel more. A Dimage A2 camera.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow was the most beautiful, although I was ultimately disappointed. Fahrenheit 9/11 was most amazing (in a meta way -- what was amazing was how well it did, and yet how badly it failed where it counted). Supersize Me was really good. The Village was a colossal disappointment. Nothing else is really standing out.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 34. I rode my bike and took TRAX. After work, I went to the gym and worked out for an hour. When I left the gym, I sat in a patch of clover, and found a deformed 4-leaf clover. I had a crying fit in the clover patch behind the gym. Then I rode home and felt sorry for myself. Sadly, this wasn't even the worst birthday I've ever suffered (16 was pretty horrible, as was 17. I'm not sure which was the worst, now. They were all bad in different ways.)

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Oh, jeez... the first thing that comes to mind is too horrible and evil and schadenfreunde-ish, so I'll just say making my weight goal would have been nice.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004?
Stay in bed? No, I guess Steampunk and stripes.

34. What kept you sane?
What a big assumption, Mr. Meme! Who says I am sane?

Ok: revenge fantasies.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
What does "fancy" mean, really? I continue to find Johnny Depp (mmmm... eyeless blind Johnny-Cash wannabe Johnny...) and Jonathan Rhys Meyers to be sexy hotties worthy of shagging fantasies, not that I'd ever fantasize about such things. More importantly, John Kerry and John Edwards were big inspirations to me, although I don't think I'd say I "fancy" them, per se.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Ha ha ha ha ha! That's a funny one. Anyone who knows me knows I'm political far beyond the point where it's just tiresome and annoying.

37. Who did you miss?
As always, I miss my family -- living and dead. I miss all my faraway friends.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
That's hard. I met too many new people to pick just one.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004:
I pretty much learned a carpe diem lesson this year.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
No one thing really sums up my year. It was a rather depressing and introspective year, and I spent a lot of it thinking about the past. So, maybe this:

Time it was, and what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence
A time of confidences
Long ago, it must be I have a photograph
Preserve your memories
They're all that's left you