Floating Leaf

It's been mind-numbingly cold for most of the week. I have zero energy, very little motivation for anything and no exciting news to share. So here's my own version of the year-end meme that's been making the rounds. I skipped some questions that seemed pointless, annoying or simply didn't apply.



1. What did you do in 2014 that you'd never done before?
Obtained a U.S. passport.

2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't make any for the last year, and if I have anything in mind for this one, it's to devote more time and attention to old friends - those who have been with me for a while and still seem to like me just the way I am. I think I have attained a whole new level of appreciation for that...

3. Which countries did you visit?
None.

4. What would you like to have in 2015 that you lacked in 2014?
Some travel plans that don't turn out to be a huge disappointment.

5. Which date from 2014 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Not a specific date, perhaps... but the very end of May/beginning of June was definitely a threshold which cut my year into two very separate, uneven parts. In more ways than one.

6. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Regaining some sort of inner peace after a very upsetting situation.

7. What was your biggest failure?
A very typical one for me: refusing to take off my metaphorical rose-tinted glasses, even for a moment - until they are literally yanked from my face and smashed on the ground.

8. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No serious illness, and no physical injury - just some psychological damage, which you could almost say I had "asked for", as I am wont to do.:/

9. What was the best thing you bought?
Can't think of a single purchase that stands out.

10. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
My friend Adriana, who reappeared in my life (after a prolonged absence) right when I most needed a sympathetic ear, and has been a comforting presence ever since.

11. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Someone who told me a number of things I longed to hear, though none of them were true.

12. Where did most of your money go?
As usual - rent and bills and groceries. That's where most money goes for people in my salary bracket.

13. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
A trip to NYC at the end of May. I was almost as excited about it beforehand as I was crushed when I came back.

14. What song will always remind you of 2014?
Just one song?... Hmmm... possibly I Am Terrified by IAMX.

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Sadder, but calmer. That has to count for something.
ii. thinner or fatter? More or less the same, I think. Or maybe I just stopped caring so much.:P
iii. richer or poorer? No noticeable change. My salary raises and inflation progress at roughly the same rate. *sigh*

16. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Some kind of physical activity. Walking, yoga, Pilates... something. I consistently fail at establishing some sort of fixed routine in this regard. *sigh*

17. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Stayed up too late, earning myself a morning headache... (This particular answer remains unchanged from last year, btw.;)

18. Did you fall in love in 2014?
Luckily for me, no.

19. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No. I am bitterly disappointed with someone, but I don't hate her. I seem to have reached a state of hugely unimpressed indifference... and for that, I am grateful.

20. What was the best book you read?
Hmmm... that would be Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb.:) (Reading the next volume of the series now, which is possibly even better... but I am still not finished, so it doesn't count as the best book of 2014.)

21. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Strangely enough, it seems to be a French band called Debout sur le Zinc. I've been going through a massive French phase for the past half-year or more... there is just something totally irresistible about violins and accordions.:) They somehow embody the very essence of my European nostalgia, if you will.

22. What did you want and get?
Some kind of closure/sense of peace after the latest emotional upheaval.

23. What did you want and not get?
A new place to live.

24. What was your favourite film that you saw for the first time this year?
Hmmm... that just might be Agora. Or Xenia, the Greek movie I saw at the International Film Festival last October. I'm sure there were notable ones earlier in the year, but I can't think of any just now. I have been slacking in writing film reviews in here - and it doesn't look as though that will change... *sigh*

25. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Some sort of immunity to emotional pain, I suppose.

26. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2014?
Same as always: simple, understated, color-coordinated, comfortable and entirely independent of any popular fashion trends.:P

27. What kept you sane?
I'm not sure whether the word "sane" actually applies to much of last year in my case, so I won't answer that.

28. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Still Viggo. Imagine that. *snort*

29. What political issue stirred you the most?
Oh, I don't know. There's just too much crazy shit going on in American (and global) politics of late. Way too much to even try to wrap your head around on a good day. *massages aching temples*

30. Who did you miss?
As usual - some old friends who got swept away by the relentless tide of their busy lives...

31. Who was the best new person you met?
Michelle.:)

32. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2014.
Not all that glitters is gold. In other words, sometimes the people who make the most sweeping "good impression" upon first encounter are precisely the ones I should be staying away from. Or can only handle at a very casual level of acquaintance. On the other hand, sometimes those who seem dull and uninspiring at first end up being the true pillars of loyalty and support years later. Only time will tell. And so, I have learned to postpone any judgments as to the value of new friendships until they have been proven true by the passage of time. Which ties in nicely with my resolution to pay more attention to the ones who have, instead of neglecting them for the sake of some fresh new face who may be gone before I have a chance to find out who she really is.

33. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I tried to find some other quote, but this is the only one that comes to mind right now: "I'm gonna suffer for you no longer, I'm gonna suffer for you no more, I'm gonna write you out of my life and shut the door" (Suffer by The Waterboys).


I do realize there seems to be a dominant theme to these answers... It wasn't a deliberate choice - but neither am I going to change them now that I have taken the time to write down what came to mind first. This is my journal, and I have always been honest in it, for better or worse. Actually, if anything "kept me sane" (see question 27) at all this past year, it was that.