01/06/05: 40 questions about 2004 meme

1. What did you do in 2004 that you'd never done before?

I went to Burning Man, I painted myself orange, I got to be a rockstar

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don't do resolutions as much as set goals, but I met them for the most part. More goals for 2005 have been created.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yep, lots! My college roommate Lorraine had her second child (Anthony), Jim and Robin had their first (Mariella), Stefan and Heather had their first (Tanith), Durk and Daphne had their first (Thandie), Darren and Sharon had their first (Alex), Mac and Wendy had their first (Linda), my cousin Eva and her husband Tito had their first (Matias). Offspring aplenty!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Nope.

5. What countries did you visit?
None, unfortunately. But I did knock out my 49th state!

6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004?
A debt-free existence.

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

  • March 26th: My first ninja date ("Are you DICOM compatible?")
  • April 1: I started an LJ
  • June 25th: I was kissed goodbye at the Phoenix airport
  • August 13th: Our amazing live performance of The Wall at the Drama League
  • October 21st: The day the decision was made not to move to San Francisco
  • November 1st: My first day back at work
  • December 11th: Another rockin' performance of The Wall at the Baby Grand, complete with ninja attendance

    8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
    Keeping my wits about me under unpredictable and stressful circumstances, trusting again, got two huge-dollar job offers in one week after being unemployed for 4 months.

    9. What was your biggest failure?
    Not taking the risk of starting a dialogue; cowering away from 30 precious opportunities to connect and communicate. 10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
    I had a kidney infection that crept up on me within an hour, rendered me pretty much unable to walk and unconscious and put me in the emergency room. It was HORRIBLE. I am forever indebtted to Chris Turner for taking care of me that night. The power of antibiotics fixed me up to perfection in 48 hours. Miraculous.

    11. What was the best thing you bought?
    A reiki/brain massage with Kathleen MacKenzie; Avanti polyurethanes.

    12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
    Jeremy for making a very difficult but wise decision; my cousin Dell for beating the crap out of cancer; Lee Hirata for rocking and being such a fun, encouraging, rocksteady and magnificent person; Matt Casarino for having supah-success in the play-authoring arena; Georgie Staley for going full-frontal-buck-nekkid-nude on stage; Joe Trainor for pulling together The Wall and the other 98613928769126 amazing things he did this year; Chris Turner for nailing the best job in Philly; Amy Wing for kicking the ass off her PA exam; John for being Board Certified!

    13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
    I'd rather not say. They know.

    14. Where did most of your money go?
    Credit card, The Corner Bistro, road trips and plane tickets.

    15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
    The Wall, San Francisco, spending time with John, and my tri-pointing roadtrip with Rob, pinball

    16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2004?
    The Theme from the Dukes of Hazzard (Waylon Jennings), I'm the Man who Loves You (Wilco), I'm Gonna Be Strong (Cyndi Lauper), Frontier Psychiatry (The Avalanches), and The Wall Album (better late than never)

    17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
    i. happier or sadder? - Much happier.
    ii. thinner or fatter? - A little thinner.
    iii. richer or poorer? - poorer, but on the way back, yo.

    18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
    Connecting. Taking risks. Stretching. Gazing. Making out. Standing up straight.

    19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
    Overthinking. Worrying. Assuming. Spending. Saying, "Whatever you want to do is fine with me" when it wasn't.

    20. How did you spend Christmas?
    At my folks' house, surrounded by family, music, food, cheer, gratitude, and SMS messages from the ninja.

    21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
    It's a tie between my mom and John.

    22. Did you fall in love in 2004?
    Indeedy.

    23. How many one-night stands?
    I would say none, Alex.

    24. What's your favorite TV program?
    I got rid of my cable service in 2004, so I have no idea. I'm willing to bet it'd still be Nigella Bites or Most Extreme Challenge, though.

    25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
    Nah.

    26. What was the best book you read in 2004?
    Either Shopgirl, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, or A Confederacy of Dunces.

    27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
    Good Lord, lots of 'em . The Wall, microtuning (thanks to Juana Molina), Bjork, Wilco, Radiohead and electronic music as a genre.

    28. What did you want and get?
    Adventure, a new job, the summer off from work, a cute smart funny nerdy musical guy who loves pinball.

    29. What did you want and not get?
    An apology, and a sincere stare-into-my-eyes-and-really-mean-it-thank you, a winning lottery ticket.

    30. What was your favorite film of this year?
    I can't remember the name of it, but I saw it at the Red Vic with John. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was pretty rockin', too.

    31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
    I turned 33. To celebrate, I threw a 3rd birthday party for a piece of pie that my mom baked for my 30th birthday that has been sitting festering a tupperware for 3 years. Next year we're putting it in a Montessori school and signing it up for piano lessons.

    32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
    Courage. (More money and more sleep and would have been nice, too.)

    33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004?
    Same as last year: Jeans, T-shirt and red hoodie sweater on comfy days; business casual on work days. Big shoes. Antennae whenever possible.

    34. What kept you sane?
    Jeremy, Trainor, candles, LiveJournal and my "boys filter" commentators.

    35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
    As always, Steven Page from BNL.

    36. What political issue stirred you the most?
    Bleugh.

    37. Who did you miss?
    John, Jeremy, Joe, Izzle, Blatt, Joe Pisano (strangely enough) and my Arizona peepz.

    38. Who was the best new person you met?
    The Ninja!

    39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004:
    Speak up. You won't G-E-T if you don't A-S-K. :-)

    40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
    Makin' their waaaaaaay the only way they know how... YEAH!

    or All alone or in twos, the ones who really love you walk up and down outside the wall
    some hand in hand, some gathered together in bands
    the bleeding hearts and the artists make their stand
    and when they've given you their all, some stagger and fall, after all, it's not easy
    banging your heart against some mad bugger's wall


    Until next year...

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