And we're off....
January 05, 2006
I woke up this morning with a positive feeling about 2006, even though I�m not a big fan of even-numbered years (whatever, ok?)
I rang in the New Year with Di and friends. We started off the evening at a downtown restaurant, and then made our way to a Mohammed Mounir concert where we rang in the New Year. Going into the concert venue we almost got trampled by the stampeding males, but once inside things were a little more orderly, and once Mohammed Mounir�one of my favorite Egyptian singers�came on stage everyone was too into the music to worry about anything else.
We popped the cork on the champagne bottle just as a police officer was walking by�five girls + alcohol + late night = no good in the eyes of the Egyptian law. Luckily, he either didn�t notice or was nice enough to leave us alone. We toasted one another and then got down to the music. Mounir opened with one of my favorite songs, and the last song he played before I left was another favorite�roughly translated into English it means, �My heart is a government housing project�, but it�s a really good song. So I was pretty satisfied with the set. Even though we could hardly see him, seeing as we had chosen (well, I had encouraged) to stand in front of the video screen instead of try and make our way through the maybe 2,000-strong crowd to get closer to the stage, I could still tell he was having a great time. The show, and my NYE, was a lot of fun.
.
Anyway, it was kind of fun to do this post-New Year�s survey last year, so I�ll do it again. Feel free to use in your own blog, or I dunno, complete in the comments.
What did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before? Go to Ireland
Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I didn�t make any resolutions to keep. See this entry for the ones I made for this year.
Did anyone close to you give birth? Erm�my mom�s best friend�s daughter, who I essentially grew up with but am not very close to, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and named her after my mother (sort of). Awww.
Did anyone close to you die? Close to my family. Last year was a year for weddings and funerals.
What countries did you visit? Tunisia, England, Ireland. (Coulda been India too. DOH! What a well-traveled year it would have been.)
What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005? A plan.
What date from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Well, shit, this is going to get repetitive, but September 15, 2005. The day I first set eyes on the Emerald Isle.
What was your biggest achievement of the year? Um, getting to Ireland. Hahaha. This is boring. Ok, what else did I achieve? Peace of mind, maybe? Domestic tranquility. Oh! I climbed a mountain!
What was your biggest failure? Thinking about an answer to this question specifically goes against my resolution not to dwell on things. There were some failures, which were mostly minor, and not permanently damaging.
Did you suffer illness or injury? Does the plague on my face count as illness or injury? Both?
What was the best thing you bought? Say it with me now�my plane ticket to Ireland. Also, my MP3 player, and the birthday present I bought just for my mother a couple days ago. She was pretty happy with that, which makes me think it was a pretty great purchase.
Whose behavior merited celebration? No one. Haha. Seriously, I�m thinking hard, and can�t think of anyone on a personal and/or political level whose behavior should be celebrated this year. Someone, please, offer an answer to this one. Actually, wait, I think this guy did some pretty fantastic things this year.
Whose behavior made you appalled and distressed? More people than I care to think about.
Where did most of your money go? Same as last year, but in a different order. Travel, loan repayment, food, and add to that clothing.
What did you get really, really, really excited about? Surprisingly, there was nothing I would say I was really, really excited about in 2005, not even Ireland. Actually, that�s a lie. While it was good, I was really, really excited about things with JIM.
What song will always remind you of 2005? Green Day �Boulevard of Broken Dreams�, Gwen Stefani �Hollaback Girl�
Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder? Happier for sure. As my Friendster profile says (quoting Pride& Prejudice), "Perhaps other people have said so before, but not one with such justice. I am happier even than Jane; she only smiles, I laugh."
Older or wiser? Wiser.
Thinner or fatter? Much thinner.
Richer or poorer? About even
What do you wish you'd done more of? I wish I�d taken more time for myself. Other than that, 2005 was a steadily improving year.
What do you wish you'd done less of? Mourned.
How did you spend Christmas? I spent Christmas at work.
How did you spend New Year's Eve? See beginning of entry.
Did you fall in love in 2004? No, and I decided that while falling in love, really falling, actually sounds nice to me now, I have no need for it right now, at this point in time, and that makes me feel great.
How many one-night stands? One.
What was your favorite TV program? Desperate Housewives.
Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? I�m no hater.
What was the best book you read? Malcolm Gladwell�s Blink
What was your greatest musical discovery? Mmm�rediscovering Green Day? And rediscovering soul. I was all about wanting to be an old, black man this year.
What did you want and get? A trip to Ireland.
What was your favorite film of this year? It�s a tie between Batman Begins and Crash.
What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was 25, and I had a low-key night with friends, at a rooftop restaurant.
What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Less drama, death, and insecurity.
How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004? Look what I can fit into! Haha. Also, the less ironing required, the better. How�s that for fashion?
What kept you sane? My siblings and my friends. Work and working out.
Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? This year was relatively free of celebrity crushes. I�m really thinking about this one�hmm. Well, my crush on Hilary Duff increased in magnitude? She�s so sweet and cute! And can�t sing worth a dime, but who cares? [EDIT: Yo, Yibba totally reminded me of a celebrity crush I had this year...sorry Yibs, but I'm gonna have to steal your answer and say that, while I've vaguely liked Terrence Howard for a while, I definitely found myself fantasizing about meeting him on a Philly street (think he lives there now with his family?) a few times.]
What political issue stirred you the most? Oh, too many. All of them. How about that?
Who did you miss? Hmm�my brother while he was away at school. And, yeah, JIM while he was away on his bike trip, except how messed up is it to miss someone you�d never even met?
Who was the best new person you met? Ugh�I guess I�d have to say Neville, especially since he was heavily featured in a dream I had last night. (Not that kind of dream!)
Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005: You can�t make everybody happy. Also, even though it�s been a lifelong credo of mine, this year really drove it home�you can�t really trust anyone.
Quote a song lyric that sums up your year It�s a bit of an old song, but from Tracy Chapman�s �At this point in my life�: You see I've conquered hills but I still have mountains to climb and right now, right now, I'm doing the best I can/ At this point in my life