Floating Leaf

Wow. It really is murder out there. Sparkling white, frigid oblivion. The radiators are blasting hot, but I can still feel the icy wind cutting through the cracks in my old window frames. You'd have to pay me a million bucks to make me go outside right now. And it's supposed to get colder by tomorrow morning. BUT I have good news. Our office will be closed. They sent out the automatic voicemail to all employees around 4:00 this afternoon; and then my boss also called me on her cellphone to confirm that I got it. So that was a massive relief. I am also immensely glad that I dragged my ass out to the grocery store yesterday. I did get my period on Friday night, so I was feeling pretty crappy; but I also knew that the weather was going to get worse later, and that the sooner I manage to stock up on food, the better. So I grit my teeth, bundled up and trudged, ankle-deep in snow, to the supermarket. It was an exhausting enterprise that took about two hours... LOL. But it is done, and I didn't have to face the Arctic blast today (or tomorrow). And since I also don't have to go to bed early tonight, I might just as well attempt that year-end meme I have seen floating around...



1. What did you do in 2013 that you'd never done before?
Got addicted to Tumblr.:P

2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't make any last year, and I most likely won't make any now...

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No. One of my cousins did, I think, but they don't qualify as "anyone close". I have a lot of cousins, you see, and they all "did the right thing", according to my mom's side of the family - namely, got married and had kids - while I did not. And so I no longer keep in touch with them, because I have this paranoid feeling that I stick out like a sore thumb. In their view, anyway...

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Fortunately not.

5. Which countries did you visit?
None.

6. What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?
Courage (and enough money) to travel. I haven't gone anywhere in a few years. Oh, and a nice new apartment to live in (fingers crossed for this one, it's in the works).

7. Which date from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Can't think of any...

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
As pathetic as that may sound, probably finding the courage for some work-related phone calls...

9. What was your biggest failure?
Still freaking out about work-related phone calls... *sigh*

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing serious, just natural side-effects of getting older... *sigh*

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Strangely enough, I bought very little this past year, apart from daily essentials. So "the best thing" would probably have to be either one of my new jackets, or the pretty jewellery found on Etsy...

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
My mom's, because she finally treats me like an adult.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Politicians, corporations and the media - the neverending dark circus of hypocrisy and greed.

14. Where did most of your money go?
The usual - rent, bills and groceries. My highest utility bill is the broadband, of course; but I have definitely spent a lot on cellphone airtime in the past few months...;)

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The Vampire Chronicles fandom and the new friends it brought into my life.

16. What song will always remind you of 2013?
Stranger in a Strange Land by 30 Seconds to Mars. Or the cover of Bjork's Hunter by the same band. And, of course, Don't Go by the River by Voltaire.:)

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Happier.
ii. thinner or fatter? A little fatter, I think, but OK with it so far.
iii. richer or poorer? The same, more or less. It feels like I have a little more money, but that's mainly because I have been spending less than usual on non-essentials...

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Talked to some old friends, gone out for walks/daytrips, exercised... I've been an extremely introverted, sluggish couch-potato (and/or internet addict) for much of the year... LOL.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Stayed up too late, earning myself a morning headache...

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
As usual, at my parents' house.

21. How will you be spending New Year’s Eve?
With sister + brother-in-law and a bunch of their friends.

22. Did you fall in love in 2013?
No, unless you count a major rekindling of fierce passion for an old fandom OTP... but that actually happened in 2012. It just shows no signs of abating... LOL.

23. How many one-night stands?
None in the past 10 years or so...;D

24. What was your favourite TV program?
Lost. The only one I watched, to be honest.:)

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Hmmm... some politicians, maybe, but I really try not to dwell on that. Mostly I just drift into cynical detachment. Hatred doesn't solve anything...

26. What was the best book you read?
Kushiel's Mercy by Jacqueline Carey. For a close second, it's a tie between The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and Affinity by Sarah Waters.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Recently, ABNEY PARK. Earlier in the year, 30 Seconds to Mars. And, of course, Voltaire.

28. What did you want and get?
A sense of community in the VC fandom.

29. What did you want and not get?
A bigger salary raise? As in, one that would actually keep up with the inflation... *sigh*

30. What was your favourite film that you saw for the first time this year?
I've seen a few really good ones, especially at the International Film Festival in October... but if I have to pick just one, it has to be Cracks with Eva Green. The dark lesbian drama taking place at a British boarding school for girls in the 1930's...

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 42 (gahhh!!!... where does the time go???...), and I don't recall doing anything special on the exact date. I was a Monday, anyway, and the beginning of March is usually stressful at work, so I'm not often in the mood for celebrations (what's to celebrate about turning 42, in any case?...). I suppose I did have some sort of birthday dinner at my parents' house at some point, since that's what usually happens...

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
More tolerable weather in the Chicago area...;P

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2013?
Casual and comfortable, without turning into downright sloppy. Or so I hope, anyway...;)

34. What kept you sane?
FANDOM. Or rather delightfully insane, in this case... LOL.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
That would still be Viggo, I suppose. With Evangeline Lilly as a close second...:P

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
I don't even want to talk about that. But possibly the drones. You know, the remote control bombing of innocent people in far away countries that is supposedly PREVENTING TERRORISM. BWAHAHAHAAA KILL ME NOW. Because apparently every foreign person - especially every Muslim - is now a terrorist. While the US government, of course, isn't. It's like shooting down an unarmed teenager because he happens to be black (and therefore, somehow, a threat). Every time I hear about US soldiers "defending our freedoms" somewhere across the oceans, I have a vile taste in my mouth...

37. Who did you miss?
Some old friends...

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Oh, that one's easy. burnadette_dpdl, of course.:D

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013.
YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD TO BE A FANGIRL.:P (It's a lesson I keep learning year after year... LOL.)

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
There's a bat they call Lestat who will sink his teeth in you... :D (Don't Go by the River by Voltaire)