1. What did you do in 2005 that you’d never done before?
Went skydiving, interned at the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), taught freshmen about life (orientation/university seminar TA), went to a baseball game (Yankees, where we started a stadium-wide wave that went around six times!), visited San Francisco with some of the best people I know
2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Didn’t keep most of them; will make some.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Nope.
4. Did anyone close to you die? Nope.
5. What countries did you visit? Waiting to get my advanced parole approved by the Department of Homeland (In)security. Hopefully, it’ll get approved this year so I can go to Canada and/or Bahamas.
6. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005? More time to read, write, learn, and explore as I please.
7. What date from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? 07 May, 18 September: went skydiving after talking about it for years, 17 November, 09 December
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Being a pretty decent orientation leader.
9. What was your biggest failure? Not writing, reading, learning and exploring as much as I should.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Not much besides the general colds and such.
11. What was the best thing you bought? My absolutely beautiful 12″ G4 PowerBook.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My friends in NYC who are absolutely brilliant.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? The Bush administration.
14. Where did most of your money go? An assortment of liquor (cabernet sauvignon, merlot, whiskey, gin), books, PowerBook, my Olympus OM-1.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? My PowerBook, seeing my uncle who I haven’t seen since I was 9,
16. What songs will always remind you of 2005? Jack Johnson, The Dandy Warhols’ Welcome to the Monkey House, Nine Inch Nails’ With Teeth, Fiona Apple’s Extraordinary Machine, Peter Sallet, Nick Drake, Howie Day, Beck, Ben Harper.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? happier
ii. thinner or fatter? same
iii. richer or poorer? richer
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Kept in touch with people I like.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Allowing my laziness to get the best of me. (this has been the exact same for as long as I’ve done these.)
20. How will you be spending Christmas? I ate banana pancakes for breakfast, fiddled around on my computer, and read.
23. How many one-night stands? None.
24. What was your favorite TV programs? I don’t really watch television but if I did, it would be Family Guy and The Daily Show
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Hating people is like letting them live rent free inside your head. I’m too broke to allow this to happen. (this is always the same, too, inadvertantly.)
26. What was the best book you read this year? Flowers for Algernon, Utopia, and Daily Afflictions.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Beck, Elliot Smith, the John Butler Trio, and Nick Drake
28. What did you want and get? A good life of good family, good friends, New York City living, but best of all, clarity in all of these things.
29. What did you want and not get? To travel.
30. What was your favourite film of this year? Sin City, Finding Neverland. Others that I’m forgetting.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? 20, went out drinking with some folks. Skydiving the day before was actually the more important thing.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Producing some quality writing and sending it to be reviewed by places that publish.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005? fashion? English major: fake birks, blazers, button down shirts, “dirty hippie” skirts, the like.
34. What kept you sane? Friends.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Not quite my style.
36. What political issue stirred you the most? Class issues. The war.
37. Who did you miss? My mom, Ham, some friends.
38. Who was the best new person you met? Tyler Davis and Lee Transue. Some quality freshmen.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005. Live and let live. Have no expectations and you won’t be disappointed.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: “It’s always better when we’re together” - Jack Johnson’s “Better Together” from In Between Dreams
