On 2004 In Review

I saw this on David Henderson‘s LiveJournal, questions aimed at summarizing 2004. What was last year like for me?

Let’s run down the list.

  1. What did you do in 2004 that you’d never done before?
    Visit Florida. I’d always wanted to go, and this year the company’s annual managers’ conference was held in Orlando.
  2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
    As a child I never made New Year’s Resolutions. I’m not planning on starting now.
  3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
    No.
  4. Did anyone close to you die?
    No.
  5. What countries did you visit?
    person, nowhere.
  6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004?
    Friendship.
  7. What date from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
    July 9th, because that was the first day of Shore Leave, and my first book-signing.
  8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
    The World of WarCraft midnight opening at work–I planned on twenty people showing up, and instead had several times that number.
  9. What was your biggest failure?My inability to finish a novel outline–it grew, and it grew, and it grew some more, and it was depressing as hell.
  10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
    No, another healthy year.
  11. What was the best thing you bought?
    My new car–a 2005 Volkswagen Beetle.
  12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
    Sometimes, my staff’s.
  13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
    Sometimes, my staff’s.
  14. Where did most of your money go?
    My student loans.
  15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
    Hellboy, the movie.
  16. What song will always remind you of 2004?
    “Run,” by Snow Patrol.
  17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
          i. happier or sadder? About the same.
         ii. thinner or fatter? Thinner.
        iii. richer or poorer? Poorer.
  18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
    Actual writing, as opposed to research, plotting, and character building that my writing days usually turned into.
  19. What do you wish you’d done less of?Work. I was notorious for not going home, spending fifty-plus hours at the store each week. I’m not sure that it gained me anything.
  20. How will you be spending Christmas?
    I spent Christmas with my parents, brother, and sisters.
  21. Did you fall in love in 2004?
    Tragically, yes.
  22. How many one-night stands?
    None.
  23. What was your favorite TV program?
    I watched very little television in 2004, probably less than I did in 2003. I never missed The Practice, though, and I thought its final season was, in many ways, a return to the show’s glory years. I really like the spin-off, Boston Legal, but it’s also just not the same.
  24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
    Other than the people running the country, no.
  25. What was the best book you read?
    Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.
  26. What was your greatest musical (re)discovery?
    Snow Patrol. I wasn’t too hot on the two bands others thought I would like, Franz Ferdinand and Modest Mouse.
  27. What did you want and get?
    I don’t know that I wanted anything last year.
  28. What did you want and not get?
    I wanted Van Helsing to be a good, fun film, a real tribute to the Universal Monsters, and instead the loud, crass film disappointed and upset me at every turn.
  29. What was your favorite film of this year?
    King Arthur.
  30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
    I have no idea what I did on my birthday–I probably worked. I turned thirty-one.
  31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
    Friends.
  32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004?
    Comfortable.
  33. What kept you sane?
    Someone had to stay sane.
  34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
    Keira Knightley.
  35. What political issue stirred you the most?
    The Presidential election.
  36. Who did you miss?
    I would have loved to talk about the election with some of my friends from college.
  37. Who was the best new person you met?
    The staff I hired between June and December.
  38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004:
    Push the envelope.
  39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
    “Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown.”
    “Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown,” The Rolling Stones

Published by Allyn

A writer, editor, journalist, sometimes coder, occasional historian, and all-around scholar, Allyn Gibson is the writer for Diamond Comic Distributors' monthly PREVIEWS catalog, used by comic book shops and throughout the comics industry, and the editor for its monthly order forms. In his over ten years in the industry, Allyn has interviewed comics creators and pop culture celebrities, covered conventions, analyzed industry revenue trends, and written copy for comics, toys, and other pop culture merchandise. Allyn is also known for his short fiction (including the Star Trek story "Make-Believe,"the Doctor Who short story "The Spindle of Necessity," and the ReDeus story "The Ginger Kid"). Allyn has been blogging regularly with WordPress since 2004.

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