never done this before

1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
spend time in LA, stand at the front of a rock concert (hello okgo!!!!), drive a car in new york city, pay rent

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
if i had any i don't remember them, but i plan to make ones for 2010

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
cousins! we're not especially close, but they (and their babies!) are family :)

4. Did anyone close to you die?
yes

5. What countries did you visit?
egypt, italy, and all corners of the USA (florida, massachusetts, indiana, minnesota, nevada, utah, arizona, california, new york, and new jersey)

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
a budget

7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
no dates stick out, but there are several days that i will remember forever

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
living by the advice i heard from jenny: "you'll have the money later but you won't have the time."

9. What was your biggest failure?
not keeping up with new friends after moving away, not keeping up with old friends even when they make an effort to stay in touch

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
nothing beyond the normal scrapes and bruises. 18 months of work with zero sick days!

11. What was the best thing you bought?
S+G concert tickets for sure :) :) :) :) second place: magic lamp from egyptian market

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
amy for working hard to be valedictorian, getting into awesome colleges, being brave going so far away all alone, and having an amazing first quarter at dartmouth
nikki -- i love how nikki prioritizes people and experiences over comfort and convenience. i hope my whole life can be like this summer.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
every new infidelity scandal. people and politicians that refuse to respect the other side.

14. Where did most of your money go?
travel and a car

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
living in boston again, living in southern california again, seeing rome and visiting muriel, amazing trips to new york city, simon and garfunkel concert

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
every paul simon song, especially the boxer, late in the evening, 59th street bridge, scarborough fair, and the obvious child

Compared to this time last year, are you:
17. Thinner or fatter?
fatter?

18. Richer or poorer?
about the same -- the car cost all the money i made

19. What do you wish you'd done more of?
making the most of the places i actually lived (salem, fulllerton, minneapolis)

20. What do you wish you'd done less of?
wasting time at work

21. How will you be spending Christmas?
spent it at home and playing bananagrams! wonderful

22. Did you fall in love in 2009?
no

24. What was your favorite TV program?
the office was the only show i made an effort to watch. but thanks to reruns and dvds i discovered how i met your mother, dr. who, house, and arrested development season 2

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
of course not

26. What was the best book you read?
i really liked the time traveler's wife! and world war z, although it creeped me out.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
simon and garfunkel -- you can trace it from early january when i bought the concert in central park from newbury comics for $5 to late october when i flew across the country to see them live (and all the different CDs on endless repeat in between)

28. What did you want and get?
a chance to wean myself from harvard life, a wonderful long-term living situation, to see my sister's graduation

29. What did you want and not get?
a job in california

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
so many super great movies + venues to choose from! discovering the $3 theater with star trek, my first made-for-3D movie with up, sitting on top of the camry with time traveler's wife, crazy awesome retro theater with 500 days of summer, subtitled italian movie theater with harry potter, hollywood cemetery "theater" with some like it hot, avatar (at krikorian hey!!!), but i think the best day by far was SUPER AMAZING CHINESE THEATER with astro boy!!!

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
23! marching band casino night fundraiser. the whole house sang to me.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
becoming a great cook

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
default pants have finally graduated from sweats to jeans

34. What kept you sane?
neha's jpmm!

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
? ...paul simon?

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
the inauguration

37. Who did you miss?
ifp friends, blockmates, harvard mormons, new friends in fullerton, and family, as i moved away from each of them in turn

38. Who was the best new person you met?
the harvard ldssa freshmen and my friends in the fullerton 10th ward!

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:
double-check your departure time, tell someone else what time you're leaving, then check it again

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
life is an adventure!