Year in review via Internet meme

This obscure comic is one of the top
results for Year In Review. Sorry!

Whenever I've done a sort of "year in review" piece in the past, whether it be for my college newspaper or my old personal journal or something that someone actually paid me for, I always seem to miss a couple of relevant details. Also in the past, I've somewhat resisted Internet memes.

I smell a combination!

Using a note from Facebook that one of my friends filled out, here is my official "Year in Review" post. I could have done this last night, but I was holding out in case something really cool happened that I could write about. Instead, it snowed most of the day, I felt sick to my stomach and I stayed home on New Year's Eve. Outside of that though, things were swell!

And in case you're sick of reading this review crap, since everyone seems to be doing it in the blogsphere... Well, I can't really offer any relief. I'll be reviewing my favorite songs from 2009 for Sunday, and Saturday will be a Tag Team blog with Bob and Kristin featuring the football picks for Sunday. I'm guessing Monday or Tuesday will be when I launch into my piece about Limp Bizkit. Without any further adieu...

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The Year In Review

1. What did you do this year that you've never done before?

Worked as a substitute teacher and collected unemployment! On the latter, it is strangely seductive. I basically stayed at home, sent out five to 10 job applications a week, played video games and collected a check. It was a weird experience. The first few weeks were a strange sort of relief - I had worked from my college graduation in May 2007 to September 2008 with a single scheduled day off, so it was nice to have a vacation of sorts.

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don't make any, therefore, I don't keep any.

3. Any new births this year?

Um, my good friend Becca's sister had a baby. Outside of that, nobody springs to mind.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Nope!

5. What countries did you visit this year?

Just the United States. I've only been to Canada, and nowhere overseas, which is kind of disappointing.

6. What would you like to have in the next year that you lacked this year?

Stealing my friend's answer - A stable job. There is so much uncertainty in the journalism industry, and while I'm in a good situation now, it's not one that could support me for, say, the next 40 years.

7. What date from this year will remain etched upon your memory - and why?

Hm, what a good question, Barbara Walters-meme! This is a bit of a sad answer, but June 25, the day Michael Jackson died. As I've previously stated, I'm not the biggest Jackson fan; he was obviously screwed up. (Oddly enough, I also posted about him less than two weeks before his death.) I don't really care so much about his bizarre behavior as much as I care about the screwed-up life he probably exposed his kids to, and that's overlooking the molestation canard that hangs over his head. Still, his death was such a bizarre, media-hyped thing that it sticks out to me as the biggest event of 2009, similar to past things like the O.J. Simpson verdict.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Getting a full-part-time job. It wasn't exactly a banner year for me in the achievement category. I would also put this blog in as a subhead, since I have for years wanted to have a sort of "area" to put writing that might somehow eventually make a profit, someway. (For those curious, my tally is up to $5.37. Woohoo! If you want to help, feel free to click an ad every once in a while.)

9. What was your biggest failure of the year?

Going for about six months without a full-time job. Eech. I'm also still living at my parent's house, which would be somewhat depressing if half my friends weren't also still living with their parents. I did read Strapped, a good book about the wealth gap between new college graduates and older ones, which made me feel better about my current situation. Well, a little bit.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nothing serious. Just some conjunctivitis and stomach bugs here and there.

11. What was the best thing you bought this year?

A Nintendo Wii! I have also, sadly, been indoctrinated into the Guitar Hero and Rock Band cults. A little bit after everyone else, but hey, no one is perfect.

12. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Lindsay Lohan. My admiration for Lohan is well-chronicled in my past posts and images postings of her. Unfortunately, Mean Girls seems to be her peak, both in terms of looks and artistic value, which is depressing because she was 18 at that point. I would prefer to remember that smart, attractive Lohan than the coked-up hazbeen she has become. Who would have thought that Paris Hilton would hold up better than Lohan? Now she's doing photo sheets and smoking and just looking openly strung-out in them. She's 23 now, and it would surprise me if she made it to 30.

13. Where did most of your money go this year?

Sadly, toward my credit card bill. Living in Warren for a year really sapped my finances, forcing me to rely on my card, and my apartment wasn't even nice. Since not everyone is familiar with this story, when I lived in Warren my apartment got hit by a tractor trailer full of mulch. It cracked the foundation, and I was forced out for a week... and they wouldn't let me break out of the lease! They never fixed the crack in the foundation, and although they refunded my rent for two weeks, I wasn't really comfortable living in an apartment with a cracked foundation. They also didn't give me back my full deposit when I moved out in July - They said the stove was broken, and didn't believe me when I attributed it to the GOD DAMN TRUCK HITTING THE APARTMENT. Sigh.

14. What did you get really, really, really excited about this year?

I got the opportunity to be a Rhode Island and Providence College basketball beat reporter for a while, which was a lot of fun. There is something different and neat about being able to watch games from press row. I'm doing it more part-time now, which includes this Saturday when the Rams host Oklahoma State. It should be one hell of a game, and I'll be watching it from court-side, essentially.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

- happier or sadder? Happier, because my employment situation is a little bit better. I have a steady job, as opposed to substitute teaching, which completely vanishes for several weeks and months a year.

- richer or poorer? About the same. Slightly richer, if I had to chose.

- thinner or fatter? Thinner, by about 15 pounds! Nobody can ever tell though, because I look the same heavy or at a "normal" weight. My goal this coming year is to lose another 15, which would put me around 165. That was my weight for most of high school, which I think would be a good goal for me to shoot for.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Basketball. I still haven't been able to find an option near me besides the YMCA, and that would be an investment of a couple hundred bucks. I'm not sure if I have enough free time anymore to use the membership well, especially since I can play outside regularly from late April, early May to mid-September. For a while, I was playing at an open gym night for guys 30+, but the town put a stop to that, unfortunately.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Fast food. Unfortunately, when you work bizarre hours like I do, you eat a lot of junky fast food, and it hits both the waistline and the wallet. I've been better in recent months with this. Generally, I try to steer toward Panera or Subway now, as opposed to one of the unholy trinity of Wendy's, Burger King and McDonald's. Once or twice a week is fine; I'm just trying to avoid going six or seven times a week, like I did at certain points. ugh.

20. How did you spend the holidays?

Uh, quite blandly. As I mentioned, I was sick this New Year's Eve. Last year, I don't even remember what I did... I'm guessing I was over Shaun's old house. I remember that I didn't spill wine on someone's white dress for New Year's, which was good of me. My birthday is Valentine's Day, and I went out a few days after it. Fourth of July, I had to work, and then went to a party that weekend, I believe. Same with a day-after-Thanksgiving bash.

21. Did you fall in love this year?

Nope! There is always next year, though.

22. How many one-night stands did you have this year?

None.


23. What was your favorite TV program for the year?

Oh my goodness, that would be like choosing a favorite child! Well, if we're going with completely new shows, then I'd have to pick Glee. For old show that I was just exposed to, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia narrowly edges Lost. Why is that, since I've written five posts on Lost? I just find Always Sunny to be a better re-watch show. I've seen every episode of Lost, and I've only had the urge to re-watch a few of them. It could just be the nature of drama vs. comedy, though. I've always found comedies to have more replay value.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

Not really. "Hate" is such a strong word.

25. What was the best book you read this year?

What a tough question. To be stereotypical, I really enjoyed The Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons, although it's less stereotypical than you would think. I'm a hardcore NBA fan, even more than the college game, which seems to be a dirty thing to admit to now. While Simmons' book isn't the groundbreaking work of Loose Balls by Terry Pluto, it's still a great tome on the NBA.

26. What was your favorite film of the year?

Inglorious Basterds. It's one of the few I saw in theaters, but there weren't many others that I really felt compelled to see. The Hangover would be a close second; definitely hilarious and raunchy, but it felt more formulaic. I'm definitely a Tarantino mark, and I've loved pretty much everything he has ever done.

27. How would you describe your personal fashion concept this year?

What is this "fashion" ye speak of?

28. Whom did you miss this year?

George Carlin.

29. Who was the best new person you met this year?

There aren't really a ton of options for this one, which is somewhat sad. I will say Becca's friend Julie, who played trivia with us every other week for the past year. Her sort of dry humor was a good complement to mine, which is more spastic at times. I'll also put my friend Natalie, even though I kind of knew her from the past (apparently). She edges out Amanda Meyer, who I also knew back in the day, although not nearly as well. However, I knew Amanda a lot better, hence the distinction. (I threw a book at Amanda, whereas I just didn't realize that I once Natalie.)

30. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned for this year.

That 30 questions is a lot to answer, and along with picking 13 to 16 football games per week, maybe I should be a bit less ambitious next year.