the cosmolinguist (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cosmolinguist) wrote2018-12-30 03:24 pm
cosmolinguist) wrote2018-12-30 03:24 pm
Entry tags:
End-of-year meme
1. What did you do in 2018 that you'd never done before?:
Spoke at Lib Dem Conference. Saw Hamilton twice!
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?:
I told myself I wasn't going to buy new books until I'd read some of the backlog of paper books, and I pretty much succeeded at that, though it was by not reading much and not buying books.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?:
A couple of WI chums: Nicole early in the year and Lucy in August.
4. Did anyone close to you die?:
No.
5. What countries did you visit?:
The U.S. for prolonged periods; Belgium and Scotland overnight.
6. What would you like to have in 2019 that you lacked in 2018?:
A new president. The revocation of Article 50.
7. What date from 2018 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?:
The dates I saw Hamilton. The dates my parents left here (June 22) and I left there (September 10 and, admittedly less impressive a feat of memory, December 28). I can still tell you when some of my exams were and when my essays were due.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?:
I got really good grades and a first overall in my first year of university.
9. What was your biggest failure?:
Still haven't finished the Kickstarter book.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?:
Lots of migraines the last couple months. Eye pain like I don't remember ever having before. It's all the inaccessible uni reading I'm having to do.
11. What was the best thing you bought?:
Insurance for the plumbing problems we keep having.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?:
Mine. I've looked after a lot of people and done a lot of things that needed to get done.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?:
Trump and May and those who continue to enable them.
14. Where did most of your money go?:
Mortgage/bills. Wherever else?
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?:
Kaye and Marcus's wedding. The Jodrell Bank festival. Hamilton.
16. What song will always remind you of 2018?:
"Progress" I think. (Public Service Broadcasting.)
17. Compared to this time last year, are you
i. happier or sadder? I don't know
ii. thinner or fatter? Probably about the same?
iii. richer or poorer? Poorer.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?:
Writing a book. Going to the gym.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?:
Procrastinating.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?:
Same as always: with my family in Minnesota.
21. Did you fall in love in 2018?:
No but I got to start telling someone that I love them again, which has been pretty great.
22. How many one night stands?:
None.
23. What was your favourite TV programme?:
Doctor Who and The Good Place. Both of these coming back also count as things I got really, really, really excited about this year.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?:
I dunno about hate, but I'm pretty severely disgusted with the behavior of a partiuclar person towards some of the people I love the most. It's not my story to tell.
25. What was the best book you read?:
I've been better at keeping track of that this year! It's nice to look back at Goodreads and see Norse Mythology, The Man who Mistook HIs Wife for a Hat, Wolf Hall, a really great book about the Empress Dowager Cixi that increased what I know about China by like one million percent, a book about astronomy and "starlore" in the Southern Pacific, Black Tudors, a book about the Franklin expedition and the modern politics of finally listening to Inuit knowledge about what happened to it [which I actually bought another copy of to give Stuart as a Christmas present because he is interested in the expedition], Space Opera which is like if Douglas Adams wrote about Eurovision...
But I think my favorite is Black and British by David Olusoga, a vast history of Britain's history with black people going back hundreds of years.
Audible prompts your reviews with questions like "Loved it? Struggled to finish?" Both are true here. This is a real tour-de-force of a history. So much needs telling, so much I knew little or nothing about but felt it incumbent in me to understand better about the country I live in.
I struggled to finish only because the last chapter, about Windrush and "race riots" on the 50s, featured exactly the same rhetoric we hear about immigration today. And none of it's good. Have we learned so little? With Brexit, the last gasp of a generation who believes it is owed an empire, I think Britain has learned very little indeed, changed very little in how it thinks about race and about its place along other nations.
So many details are telling. A Labour government of 70 years ago already spouting off "concerns about immigration" and trying to divert Windrush to Africa. Preference shown for white immigrants over black British subjects. Having helped foster the global movement of people, Britain was surprised its black subjects took it up as well as its white ones, and quickly curtailed that freedom for some while keeping it for those it considered more desirable, the white Commonwealth countries. The laws aren't so blatantly racist today, but their effects still are.
The book doesn't mention Brexit, staying as it does carefully away from history more recent than the last 50 years or so. But it kind of doesn't need to: the shadows this postwar era cast are very long, and they easily reach up to us in the present day.
White Britain has erased its black history, its colonial history, at great peril and to its own cost.hafnia
Spoke at Lib Dem Conference. Saw Hamilton twice!
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?:
I told myself I wasn't going to buy new books until I'd read some of the backlog of paper books, and I pretty much succeeded at that, though it was by not reading much and not buying books.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?:
A couple of WI chums: Nicole early in the year and Lucy in August.
4. Did anyone close to you die?:
No.
5. What countries did you visit?:
The U.S. for prolonged periods; Belgium and Scotland overnight.
6. What would you like to have in 2019 that you lacked in 2018?:
A new president. The revocation of Article 50.
7. What date from 2018 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?:
The dates I saw Hamilton. The dates my parents left here (June 22) and I left there (September 10 and, admittedly less impressive a feat of memory, December 28). I can still tell you when some of my exams were and when my essays were due.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?:
I got really good grades and a first overall in my first year of university.
9. What was your biggest failure?:
Still haven't finished the Kickstarter book.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?:
Lots of migraines the last couple months. Eye pain like I don't remember ever having before. It's all the inaccessible uni reading I'm having to do.
11. What was the best thing you bought?:
Insurance for the plumbing problems we keep having.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?:
Mine. I've looked after a lot of people and done a lot of things that needed to get done.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?:
Trump and May and those who continue to enable them.
14. Where did most of your money go?:
Mortgage/bills. Wherever else?
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?:
Kaye and Marcus's wedding. The Jodrell Bank festival. Hamilton.
16. What song will always remind you of 2018?:
"Progress" I think. (Public Service Broadcasting.)
17. Compared to this time last year, are you
i. happier or sadder? I don't know
ii. thinner or fatter? Probably about the same?
iii. richer or poorer? Poorer.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?:
Writing a book. Going to the gym.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?:
Procrastinating.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?:
Same as always: with my family in Minnesota.
21. Did you fall in love in 2018?:
No but I got to start telling someone that I love them again, which has been pretty great.
22. How many one night stands?:
None.
23. What was your favourite TV programme?:
Doctor Who and The Good Place. Both of these coming back also count as things I got really, really, really excited about this year.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?:
I dunno about hate, but I'm pretty severely disgusted with the behavior of a partiuclar person towards some of the people I love the most. It's not my story to tell.
25. What was the best book you read?:
I've been better at keeping track of that this year! It's nice to look back at Goodreads and see Norse Mythology, The Man who Mistook HIs Wife for a Hat, Wolf Hall, a really great book about the Empress Dowager Cixi that increased what I know about China by like one million percent, a book about astronomy and "starlore" in the Southern Pacific, Black Tudors, a book about the Franklin expedition and the modern politics of finally listening to Inuit knowledge about what happened to it [which I actually bought another copy of to give Stuart as a Christmas present because he is interested in the expedition], Space Opera which is like if Douglas Adams wrote about Eurovision...
But I think my favorite is Black and British by David Olusoga, a vast history of Britain's history with black people going back hundreds of years.
Audible prompts your reviews with questions like "Loved it? Struggled to finish?" Both are true here. This is a real tour-de-force of a history. So much needs telling, so much I knew little or nothing about but felt it incumbent in me to understand better about the country I live in.
I struggled to finish only because the last chapter, about Windrush and "race riots" on the 50s, featured exactly the same rhetoric we hear about immigration today. And none of it's good. Have we learned so little? With Brexit, the last gasp of a generation who believes it is owed an empire, I think Britain has learned very little indeed, changed very little in how it thinks about race and about its place along other nations.
So many details are telling. A Labour government of 70 years ago already spouting off "concerns about immigration" and trying to divert Windrush to Africa. Preference shown for white immigrants over black British subjects. Having helped foster the global movement of people, Britain was surprised its black subjects took it up as well as its white ones, and quickly curtailed that freedom for some while keeping it for those it considered more desirable, the white Commonwealth countries. The laws aren't so blatantly racist today, but their effects still are.
The book doesn't mention Brexit, staying as it does carefully away from history more recent than the last 50 years or so. But it kind of doesn't need to: the shadows this postwar era cast are very long, and they easily reach up to us in the present day.
White Britain has erased its black history, its colonial history, at great peril and to its own cost.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery?:
Does Public Service Broadcasting count? I knew about them before and I thought I loved them because I loved The Race for Space way back during the Witney by-election (i.e. 2016) but I got totally obsessed this year. I listened to them so much in the run-up to seeing them in July that I still feel warmer just hearing some of those songs now because they remind me of the summer.
Does Public Service Broadcasting count? I knew about them before and I thought I loved them because I loved The Race for Space way back during the Witney by-election (i.e. 2016) but I got totally obsessed this year. I listened to them so much in the run-up to seeing them in July that I still feel warmer just hearing some of those songs now because they remind me of the summer.
27. What did you want and get?:
Good grades.
28. What did you want and not get?
The WI committee to understand that my problem with them was about respecting people's privacy and wishes, including that those wishes might differ from one person to another, and not just something I was making a fuss about to annoy them personally.
A working screenreader.
More finanical security.
29. What was your favourite film this year?:
I really liked Ocean's Eight because it was so goddam refreshing to see what was in every way a normal heist movie except that it just starred a bunch of women. It isn't virtue-signaling or political correctness; it actually makes me feel something different and good to see and hear lots of women doing stuff. And I love that them being women was made part of the plot: they were invisible and underestimated in so many situations (especially the women of color) and they relied on that to make their plan work.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?:
Mom and Dad take us out for a meal every year. They asked me where I wanted to go (my birthday = my decision fatigue! yay happy birthday to me) and I said out of habit/familial love that we should see if my grandma was up to joining us, which would dictate our choice of restaurant. My mom clearly didn't want to do this because she's fed up with her mom/family right now, and a few days before my birthday Facebook had reminded me that a year ago we'd gone to see this light display, and I'd like to go again, so I told my parents and we did.
(Then on Christmas Eve there was stupid drama because my aunt who lives with my grandma thought we hadn't been to see them as we usually did because we were mad at them/her. Mom said she wasn't but honestly I think that pretty much was the reason. Ugh, these people are whatever the knurd equivalent for neurotypicality is.)
Oh, second part of the question! I was, am, 37.
Good grades.
28. What did you want and not get?
The WI committee to understand that my problem with them was about respecting people's privacy and wishes, including that those wishes might differ from one person to another, and not just something I was making a fuss about to annoy them personally.
A working screenreader.
More finanical security.
29. What was your favourite film this year?:
I really liked Ocean's Eight because it was so goddam refreshing to see what was in every way a normal heist movie except that it just starred a bunch of women. It isn't virtue-signaling or political correctness; it actually makes me feel something different and good to see and hear lots of women doing stuff. And I love that them being women was made part of the plot: they were invisible and underestimated in so many situations (especially the women of color) and they relied on that to make their plan work.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?:
Mom and Dad take us out for a meal every year. They asked me where I wanted to go (my birthday = my decision fatigue! yay happy birthday to me) and I said out of habit/familial love that we should see if my grandma was up to joining us, which would dictate our choice of restaurant. My mom clearly didn't want to do this because she's fed up with her mom/family right now, and a few days before my birthday Facebook had reminded me that a year ago we'd gone to see this light display, and I'd like to go again, so I told my parents and we did.
(Then on Christmas Eve there was stupid drama because my aunt who lives with my grandma thought we hadn't been to see them as we usually did because we were mad at them/her. Mom said she wasn't but honestly I think that pretty much was the reason. Ugh, these people are whatever the knurd equivalent for neurotypicality is.)
Oh, second part of the question! I was, am, 37.
hafnia mentioned in passing about a month earlier that 37 is a sexy prime, so I look forward to being especially sexy this year.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?:
Better politicians. [I wrote this in the 2016 version of this that I'm copying the questions from now, and I cannot think of anything worth deleting that and replacing it with.]
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2018?:
I've shunned the femme-y stuff because just wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt every day causes so much less decision fatigue. It's great.
33. What kept you sane?:
Nothing. I'm not. But I appreciate the efforts of friends, partners, Gary the Wonder Dog, naps and booze for their part in trying to help with this.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?:
Aw I know there is one but I can't remember now. I'm so terrible at fancying people I don't know. I'll add it later if I think of who it is.
35. What political issue stirred you the most?:
I can't wait for the year when I don't have to write FUCKING TRUMP AND FUCKING BREXIT for this one, you know?
36. Who did you miss?:
My grandpa. My brother. My friends in America that I never see. Lucy and Kat who moved away, and their kids. The WI people who weren't awful, when I had to stop going.
37. Who was the best new person you met?:
This was the year I started using Mastodon to break my Twitter habit, and it's worked really well! So I've virtually met a lot of cool new people there.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2018:
Bras without underwires can work for me!
39. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?:
Andrew, since i can't text him we talk more. Maybe my parents if we're counting Skype: they take up at least half an hour a week.
40. Quote a song that sums up your year:
"It's tiring always stretching out for something that's just out of reach." (I wrote about it here.)
41. What was your favorite moment of the year?:
Singing along to "Gagarin" and "Go!" with Bethan when we saw Public Service Broadcasting? Sitting on a hay bale with Stuart watching a read-through of A Midsummer NIght's Dream at the best wedding? Hamilton (especially the second time when I was so close I could see everything)? Hard to pick one.
42. What was your least favorite moment of the year?:
Nothing stands out and I don't see any point in trying to think of a particular one.
43. Where were you when 2018 started?:
Brighouse.
44. Who were you with?:
Whoever was awake at that point, I don't remember. Minus James. It was so sad for the lack of him.
45. Where will you be when 2018 ends?:
Brighouse. Andrew and I have done the same thing for NYE since at least 2012.
46. Who will you be with when 2018 ends?:
Whoever of Andrew, James, Jennie, Holly and Mat hasn't gone to bed yet. And Spike and Roxy.
47. What was your favourite month of 2018?:
I have to say June 22-July 21, with the wedding road trip/weekend and then seeing Hamilton and then going to see cricket at Headingley with a bunch of friends and booze, and then going to the Blue Dot Festival to see my favorite band with the lovely Bethan.
48. Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2018?:
I still have so much whisky from previous birthday and Christmas presents that I had to tell my friend who normally gets me whisky not to this year.
49. Did you do a lot of drugs in 2018?:
I don't ever.
50. What are your plans for 2019?:
Getting good grades in my second year of university. Starting my last one. Last one!
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?:
Better politicians. [I wrote this in the 2016 version of this that I'm copying the questions from now, and I cannot think of anything worth deleting that and replacing it with.]
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2018?:
I've shunned the femme-y stuff because just wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt every day causes so much less decision fatigue. It's great.
33. What kept you sane?:
Nothing. I'm not. But I appreciate the efforts of friends, partners, Gary the Wonder Dog, naps and booze for their part in trying to help with this.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?:
Aw I know there is one but I can't remember now. I'm so terrible at fancying people I don't know. I'll add it later if I think of who it is.
35. What political issue stirred you the most?:
I can't wait for the year when I don't have to write FUCKING TRUMP AND FUCKING BREXIT for this one, you know?
36. Who did you miss?:
My grandpa. My brother. My friends in America that I never see. Lucy and Kat who moved away, and their kids. The WI people who weren't awful, when I had to stop going.
37. Who was the best new person you met?:
This was the year I started using Mastodon to break my Twitter habit, and it's worked really well! So I've virtually met a lot of cool new people there.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2018:
Bras without underwires can work for me!
39. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?:
Andrew, since i can't text him we talk more. Maybe my parents if we're counting Skype: they take up at least half an hour a week.
40. Quote a song that sums up your year:
"It's tiring always stretching out for something that's just out of reach." (I wrote about it here.)
41. What was your favorite moment of the year?:
Singing along to "Gagarin" and "Go!" with Bethan when we saw Public Service Broadcasting? Sitting on a hay bale with Stuart watching a read-through of A Midsummer NIght's Dream at the best wedding? Hamilton (especially the second time when I was so close I could see everything)? Hard to pick one.
42. What was your least favorite moment of the year?:
Nothing stands out and I don't see any point in trying to think of a particular one.
43. Where were you when 2018 started?:
Brighouse.
44. Who were you with?:
Whoever was awake at that point, I don't remember. Minus James. It was so sad for the lack of him.
45. Where will you be when 2018 ends?:
Brighouse. Andrew and I have done the same thing for NYE since at least 2012.
46. Who will you be with when 2018 ends?:
Whoever of Andrew, James, Jennie, Holly and Mat hasn't gone to bed yet. And Spike and Roxy.
47. What was your favourite month of 2018?:
I have to say June 22-July 21, with the wedding road trip/weekend and then seeing Hamilton and then going to see cricket at Headingley with a bunch of friends and booze, and then going to the Blue Dot Festival to see my favorite band with the lovely Bethan.
48. Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2018?:
I still have so much whisky from previous birthday and Christmas presents that I had to tell my friend who normally gets me whisky not to this year.
49. Did you do a lot of drugs in 2018?:
I don't ever.
50. What are your plans for 2019?:
Getting good grades in my second year of university. Starting my last one. Last one!
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
And to you as well. <3
no subject
no subject
no subject