Nerdgasms 2007 Year in Review

Because I lack both the originality and the recall necessary to recount my year without the constant prompting of a meme, I have “gacked” the following from one of my Livejournal friends. Don’t ask what “gacked” means or what its etymology could possibly be. (Actually, Urban Dictionary mostly describes it as being high on cocaine or meth. Stealing only comes into it by definition #5!) I’m sure we can all agree that internet speak is complete nonsense. I hope the person who came up with “gacked” is proud of themselves. Or perhaps they were so high that they don’t even remember their linguistic innovations.

So what did I get up to in 2007? The account in this blog is certainly piecemeal, so maybe I should remedy that. Or something.

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?
I moved abroad. Well, not “moved” moved, but enough of a move to be a hassle. To England specifically, to get my MA.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I know I resolved to work out, save money and make England happen. I did all of the above, or at least I made England happen, worked out until my gym membership expired in June, and saved money until I got to England where such a thing was no longer possible. I failed to learn the metric system or re-learn Italian. I have a bunch of resolutions this year too, most of which involve various ways of being less of an idiot.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Some acquaintances, but no one close.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Not really, no.

5. What countries did you visit?
Costa Rica, England. Hopefully this list will be a bit longer in 2008.

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
Financial security. Pheromones. My own place (near the end of 2008).

7. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Urm….I’m not terribly good with dates. I don’t even know birthdays.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Made it to England. In retrospect this wasn’t terribly impressive.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Choosing the wrong graduate program.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Redacted due to it not being the internet’s business.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Tie: plane tickets or my gorgeous and insanely expensive leather bag.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
D, J, J, K, M, E, K, D, L, R and several others.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
D mostly.

14. Where did most of your money go?
The collected coffers of the United Kingdom. And I’ve only been there since September!

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Costa Rica, England. This must mean that I’ve reached the stage of jadedness where I don’t get excited by anything smaller than an entire country.

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
Several. “Paloma” by Carbon Leaf, “One Last Drink” by Enter the Haggis, “North American Scum” by LCD Soundsystem…

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? the same
ii. thinner or fatter? slightly thinner
iii. richer or poorer? much, much poorer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Dancing, writing, keeping up with current events, learning another language , traveling.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Letting my daily schedule be dictated by other people. Purposeless internet surfing. Being insecure. Procrastinating. Avoiding.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
I got to be the referee. Festive!

22. Did you fall in love in 2007?
No.

23. Did your heart break in 2007?
No.

24. What was your favorite TV program?
Heroes.

25. Where were you when 2007 began?
Dancing on a bar. This was closely followed by the worst hangover of my life. On the plus side, I got the worst day of 2007 out of the way early! (Knock wood…still one more left kids!)

26. Who were you with?
Several of my friends from William & Mary.

27. Where will you be when 2007 ends?
A club in Manhattan, though hopefully not on a bar and with a slightly lower BAC.

28. Who will you be with when 2007 ends?
Several of my Staten Island friends.

29. What was the best book you read?
The one that stands out the most for me is Londonstani by Gautam Malkani. I loved this book but the twist sucks SO MUCH that I can’t recommend it without reservations. Read it but skip the last chapter. Oh! And Making History by Stephen Fry. AND The Astonishing Lige of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation by M.T. Anderson. AND the His Dark Materials trilogy. So it’s a tough call, really…

30. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I might be able to track this a little more accurately if I didn’t lose half of my musical collection with semi-regularity. I did recently have an epiphany that I seem to like rock with a country influence. This was hard for me to handle as I’ve always been virulently anti-country music. Does this count as a musical discovery?

31. What did you want and get?
To go to England. (You might be able to tell that 2007 was a pretty one-note year.)

32. What did you want and not get?
Many other assorted bits and bobs.

33. What was your favorite film of this year?
If I hadn’t just gone to the movies today (saw Sweeney Todd) I’m sure I wouldn’t even be able to tell you the last movie I saw, much less my favorite of the year. I need to keep better track of what I watch.

34. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I ate Japanese food. I was 23.

35. How many different states did you travel to in 2007?
Urm…2? New Jersey and Florida? I need to do the whole cross-country road trip thing sometime soon.

36. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Layers, tights and boots and, as ever, tweed. (Right now, for instance, I am wearing a cardigan over a tank top, tights and boots, and a tweed miniskirt.

37. What kept you sane?
The dream of getting out, and then getting out.

38. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Stephen Fry is a new idol as of 2007, but I can’t quite say I “fancy” him.

39. What political issue stirred you the most?
Universal healthcare.

40. How many concerts did you see in 2007?
I think zero? I know I saw J’s friend T perform, but I don’t know if posturing as Bob Dylan really counts as a concert… Oh, and I saw Carbon Leaf and Flogging Molly. So three.

41. Did you have a favorite concert in 2007?
I was the most excited about Flogging Molly, although I was miles away from the stage and with people who were not excited at all, so the experience could have been better.

42. Who was the best new person you met?
There are many!

43. Did you do anything you are ashamed of this year?
The time I got so drunk I faceplanted on the sidewalk was a little shameful.
44. What was your most embarrassing moment of 2007?
Did I mention this time I fell flat on my face in the middle of a sidewalk? And had to be taken care of by people I had just met? That might rank.

45. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007:
England is scarily like the US. Don’t believe the rankings. You can eat stodgy British food and still lose weight. Walking everywhere is wonderful. I need to be with someone who makes me laugh.

46. What are your plans for 2008?
Throw myself headlong into life and hope for the best.

47. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

“Chase the high ground – where you’d rather be
Where you might be found
Face all aglow, to leave from here
To pack up and go
But it takes some time to get away
And you will have to build from what remains
To run it takes the courage of a lamb
To love, the fierceness of a storm……..

…….Paloma you wonder if you’ll miss the thunder
Everyone’s staring but no one is caring for you now
Paloma you cry out you beg for connection
The dreams you seek are straight ahead in every direction.”