Farewell, 2007

( Review of the Year: OMG BAI, 2007 )

1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?
- Lived abroad for more than five minutes
- Visited Canada
- Danced salsa
- Learned Spanish
- Met avariecaita , saffronlie <333333333333  and zhonghua2000   .

Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I can't even remember if I made New Year's resolutions. If I did so, they would have been to move out of the NHS and to lose weight. Done both, to varying degrees of success. I was saying to saffronlie    before that I don't know what resolutions to make for 2008 because I don't very well know what I want right now, so I suppose my resolution shall be to be true to myself. And lose more weight. :p

Did anyone close to you give birth?
No, but my crazy friend Louise got pregnant. I know she'll be a good mum.

Did anyone close to you die?
No, and I thank God for that with all my heart.

Which countries did you visit?
Ireland, Canada, France, America, Spain, England (lulz)

What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
Financial stability.

Three Four Enduring Memories of 2007:

* I'm sitting in a Mexican restaurant with my friend Penny, idly eating a burrito. I glance past her head, to the street outside, and gasp in shock as a huge fleet of papier-mache giants saunter past.

* It's May. England is beautiful and the weather sublime (this is before those awful rains). I am in the garden with my parents, the dogs and Chris, enjoying the sun and the radio and just very content, very happy to be alive.

* March, and I'm in this little local breakfast place, dining with zhonghua2000    and her fricken' brilliant husband. It's just a really nice start to the morning, a gentle and relaxing time and I think I love them both because of their good-humoured rapport.

* Another Penny memory with Barcelona. I'm very ill -- I can barely stand up, but Travis are playing a free concert for the Merce festival and I am determined to go to it. We get off the metro and try and find the factory where the band are supposed to be playing. Perhaps we'll even manage to see them. There's no worry about that; they're on a stage right in the middle of the street and the atmosphere is awesome. It was worth getting up from my deathbed for that moment.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Moving to Spain with all of two weeks' notice and lasting it out even through the hard, haaard times and annoying people on my couch.

What was your biggest failure?
Getting my taxes sorted in a timely manner >:

Did you suffer illness or injury?
I was so ill at one point in September that I was convinced that I had West Nile Virus. I mean so ill that I couldn't even sit up. It was frightening as I was alone in the flat at the time and I just wanted some chicken soup and my mum, woes!

What was the best thing you bought?
My ipod Nano. I really couldn't afford it, but it IS SO SEXY.

Where did most of your money go?
Bills, rent

Which songs will always remind you of 2007?
La Gata, by Nicky Jam, Las de la Intuicion, by Shakira and Umbrella by Rihanna

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

(i) happier or sadder?
Happier in that I feel more that I am living up to what I am capable of, sadder because being away from those I love shall always be a wrench

(ii) thinner or fatter?
THINNER. Thank you, gym!

(iii) richer or poorer?
Poorer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Chilled on ze beach

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Flying. How can anyone enjoy that freakish, tiresome activity?

How did you spend Christmas?
With my family, and very grateful for it

Did you fall in love in 2007?
No. but I fell in lust several times.

How many one night stands?
Haha, no

What were your favourite TV programmes?
Juste Pour Rire, if only because it was one of the few programmes I could fully understand! :p

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't really believe in hating anyone, except maybe Miguel-of-the-Couch. Truthfully, some people just left me baffled rather than full of hate.I read this quote a few weeks ago and think it sums things up: We must never forget that human motives are generally far more complicated than we are apt to suppose, and that we can very rarely accurately describe the motives of another. It is much better for the writer, as a rule, to content himself with the bare statement of events. - Dostoevsky, The Idiot.

Book of the Year:
Slaughterhouse 5, by Kurt Vonnegut. I should definitely have read that sad, funny book sooner.

Musical Discovery of the Year:
Reggaeton. The lyrics are schiesse, but you can't help bopping along

Song of the Year:
Umbrella, by Rihanna

What did you want and get?
A job abroad

What did you want and not get?
My taxes completely sorted. Spain owes me a LOT of money. >:( The Inland Revenue have also written to me to say I owe England money. >:( >:(

Film of the Year:
Ratatouille. It was just so damned charming. I loved it.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I celebrated turning twenty-six by listening to a band play Seven Drunken Nights in my honour at my father's request. I then staggered out into the cold Irish night to be sick and pretend nothing had happened to my disapproving mother.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Money. I'm not money-focused, but by God, did I really need to re-live those lean student years?

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
OMG-it's-hot-what's-the-most-skimpy-thing-I-can-get-away-with-wearing-in-the-office

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
This is a lame question.

What political issue stirred you the most?
I wasn't so into politics this year, though I did attend one of the many, many, maaaany Freedom for Catalunya rallies and I was pretty damned annoyed with Poland's freakish obsession with the reintroduction of the death penalty.

Who did you miss?
Mes parents. Chris, Penny and Kelly. Amy and Jack. ;_;

Who was the best new person you met?
I met a lot of amazing people this year, people who have changed my life forever. I have also met a fair few t'internet friends, who are all special to me. Hannah, my friend and flatmate, is probably the best totally new person I have met this year. I respect and admire her.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
I'm stronger than I think, a hell of a lot stronger. There is no reason for me ever to feel emo about shizz again. However, my dad's parting message on Boxing Day, 'Don't be a hero. Don't fight all the time just because you can' is staying with me. I think it may influence me in 2008.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Away, I'd rather sail away
Like a swan that's here and gone
A man gets tied up to the ground
He gives the world its saddest sound

In short, I'm thankful for: 
The Big Issue convention on the beach. The fierce gypsy dances at the feria. Amy. Laughing at the Turner Prize with Chris and Kelly. Breakfast with Sheryl and Walter. Chavo. Jess. Standing atop the Collosera mountain range and being astounded by the sheer savage beauty of Catalonia. The friendliness in Montreal. Being allowed into Montreal after an hour’s interrogation. Gazpacho. Dublin. Jack. Scary giants. Free concerts. Firework displays. Winning the pub quiz after the hundredth try. Hanging out with my brother. Laying under the stars. Kissing Italians and Germans. The sea. Playing drunken games with Australians on the beach. Finding pie in Carrefour. Bohemian Rhapsody singalongs in the office. Celebrating my birthday with my dad. Receiving a red rose on St. George’s day. Crazy Argentinian barbecues. Hose-offs with the neighbours. Dressing up as a pirate at work. Feeling like ‘the Empress’ at a classical music recital. Baking on the terrace. Appreciating my family. Learning Spanish. Not getting gastroenteritis every five seconds.