2014 Recap Meme

[windlion]

All right, because it is a meme and it is potentially informative thing to look back on~  I shall follow the example set before me and have a go at the year in review.



1. What did you do in 2014 that you'd never done before?
Moved out properly, as in, full car loads of stuff and rent and new furniture moved.  Landed a completely unexpected job that is actually viable as a career.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
My usual resolution is "Suck less, do more."  I've certainly done more work and adult things, if not so much creatively.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope, though the eldest sibling has a parasite now.  She is getting a chest-burster with a top hat and cane for her baby shower, should she have one.  (And possibly a singing card if we can manage it.  I do love that we're all dorks enough she was quoting it at me when she told me~) 

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully, no.

5. What countries did you visit?
The US of A.  Specifically the eastern half of the continent.  In a very narrow corridor from east to west.  Repeatedly. 

6. What would you like to have in 2015 that you lacked in 2014?
Time!  At least, that's how I feel with the Grown Up Schedule I've been following since September; I don't have nearly as much time to myself for hobbies and fun things any more.

7. What dates from 2014 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
I don't tend to do dates that well - I am bad with remembering numbers.  The big things from this year are quitting my steady but terrible bank job, moving to crash with the Mews, landing the sweet temp job that turned into the best early Christmas present ever.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
New. Job.  Have I mentioned the new job?  And also moving without completely flipping out.  I warned the Mews in advance that there was a good chance I'd be sporadically soggy on them.

9. What was your biggest failure?
. . . Probably creatively, I haven't done nearly as much as I should have with the time I had.  Also I have probably fumbled with people, too.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Mental illness is about the same as usual, but I keep managing to strain various joints.  Also, I pinched a nerve below my shoulder blade and let me tell you, that is weird shenanigans.  The skin above it is still numb sometimes, which is far preferable to itching to burning to pain.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Best thing?  CLAW FEET.  Okay, I think Grina is pretty damn awesome, too.  (Respectively, that is a claw-foot heavily carved marble-top antique dresser and my Lenovo W530 laptop.) . . . And then there is the Squishable Pie, who is excellent for curling up with.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Mews!   The three of them have been pretty dang awesome about welcoming me into the household, and putting up with my shit.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
The worlds'?  Seriously, politics and brutality and and and . . . blergh.  

14. Where did most of your money go?
Grina was not cheap, and also furniture/setting up a new place is really not cheap.  Couple thousand on car maintenance, too, over various intervals. >_> 

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
That's a lot of "really"s, I'm not sure I can live up to these expectations.
(Uh.  Aforementioned large changes.  Being near enough to SCA and HEMA things that I can actually participate in them now if I want.  Books?)

16. What song will always remind you of 2014?
I don't associate songs with years, so much as people or figments or moods. 

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Happier, I think
ii. thinner or fatter? Eh, I hover around the same.
iii. richer or poorer? My bank account says less but my paycheck says more.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Writing and art, exercise and archery.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Putting my foot it in it/being a porcupine. 

20. How did you spend Christmas?
With my family, most of it being a very quiet day.  I baked cookies!  We had Thanksgiving 2.0!  We don't really do large amounts of swag any more, which is fine, but I was happy to be able to give more for my family this year.

21. What Journal users did you meet for the first time?
. . . I don't think I met anyone new this year.

22. Did you fall in love in 2014?
Love is a foreign language I have forgotten how to speak.

23. How many one-night stands?
(Excuse me, cannot speak for laughing.)

24. What was your favorite TV program?
Been awhile since I've had the chance, but I think . . . Mythbusters and Top Gear?  From the first half of the year when Free Time happened.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
It takes some doing to piss me off, and while some have achieved that this year, I can't say I actively hate anyone.  (Old arrogant white man at the fencing center who took my family's money~  Yes, you pissed me off, sir.) 

26. What was the best book you read?
Ooh, dang.  Not sure.  I did read a chunk of L.E. Moddessit and CJ Cherryh, though, which is always good.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Ominous didgeridoo.  Or Shield Guy. 
Seriously, can't remember what was new to me this year.  The Witcher soundtracks are surprisingly awesome and good for writing to, though?  Also, I have been exposed to much Gackt of late for some reason.  XD  "Doomsday" is probably my favorite there.

28. What did you want and get?
My awesome things above.  Hakutaku! 

29. What did you want and not get?
Uh.  A baker's rack, but I'm not deeply upset about that, as there will be other chances.  Handmade arrows, except there's only so annoyed you can get at a 16 year old for not delivering.  (Srsly, he's the local SCA master fletcher.)

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Not many new to choose from here, as usual. 

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Went out to dinner with friends.  Older than I'd been before, younger than I am now.

32.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
. . . Good mental health?  

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2014?
WHY IS MEN'S CLOTHING BETTER? (Raiding dude's department for flannels, sweaters, and hoodies, because why steal from a guy when you can buy them yourself?  Next step, wing-tip brogue oxfords.) 

34. What kept you sane?
Friends and words and music.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
*squints* What.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
LGBT equality, police brutality, I guess?  (The latter is weird, because I have no personal experience with it myself, but one of my most active characters in my brain right now is an idealistic lawful good cop, so it all feels very personal to him.)

37. Who did you miss?
My family, friends who have fallen out of touch.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Not sure if the Mews count as new!  Boss-Lady is entertaining and hella important for going to bat for me.  Steve at archery was brief but cool, as how often do you meet someone that badass?

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2014.
Being a grown up is hard but may pay off eventually.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Uh, I'll come back to this one later, I guess?