Note to self

Pictures are for capturing moments, and words are for committing them to memory, but memes are for times when both are insufficient. It'll take too many hours and too many words to describe the awesomeness of 2008; hopefully what the general idea of this year was, this post can chronicle, all in the span of 40 questions.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

Hm, lots. Commuted alone; went home as late as 10 pm; walked 4.4 kms in 43 minutes (:|); talked to completely random strangers, roughly one per week; got sloshed in muddy puddles; snail-mailed a package(!); saw the moon make a smiley; watched naked men running in the corridor...

Grew up, mostly.

2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I never make any, cause I usually can't remember. Oftentimes it'll go something like, "I shall remember all of my relatives' names and faces correctly this time around," or "I shall grow a plant and feed it and pet it and hug it and name it Bunny," or "I shall read the Bible as a piece of literature for this year," or even, "I shall make a shiny ball of mud just because I want to", but yeah, it never happens.

They aren't really resolutions. Mostly it's because I want to remind myself to do one cool thing per year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Does our dog count?

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Lolo. Well he hasn't really, but in any case, he's been wanting to since September. :| Nope, it didn't happen this year, maybe it won't happen in the coming year. Poor lolo.

5. What countries did you visit?

Meh, none. Boo.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

Complete training hours. HAHAHAHAHA. And more money and love to go around. :)

7. What date from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory?

Hmm... dates of my period. HAHA. It comes pretty regularly. Er, not so good with dates. :))

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Graduating, probably. Whew. Finally out of the clutches of my high school, which means we can now do PMs, right Shai? =)) Hahahahahahaha.

And also, passing Math 17. Glad that's over.

9. What was your biggest failure?

To be honest, the whole first semester had one moment of failure too many. I suppose it was my fault, as I was naive enough to think that I can handle crap standing up. Ah well. Got knocked off my socks pretty often, but the important thing is, it was very educational. I guess I'm a little wiser now.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Aside from the occasional bouts of hyperacidity and abdominal cramps, none.

Oh no, wait. Right. Ozzy bit me two weeks ago. :|

11. What was the best thing you bought?

My blue automatic foldable umbrella, which cost me dearly. :| And my fan.

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

Zarah, for her "rebel day" episode three weeks ago. =)) =)) HAHAHA.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

That vile politician. :|

(Googling "vicissitude" and "decidido" together yields 17,500 results-- and about 10 pages of the search results are about the blog post, before it all peters out to less relevant pages. Kudos to Bambee de la Paz and the internet!)

14. Where did most of your money go?

Commuting. Food. Drinks. Debsoc fees. =))

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

When David Cook won over Archuleta in AI. I watched the results show x number of times, to the point that I nearly memorized the program sequence. :| It made me very very happy. And yes, I still feel rather smug about it all. :P

16. What song/album will always remind you of 2008?

Womanizer (Britney Spears). Crush (David Archuleta). Viva La Vida (Coldplay). With You (Chris Brown). Disturbia (Rihanna). Hmm... and there's definitely a Jonas Brothers song there somewhere...

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

1. happier or sadder? happier
2. thinner or fatter? thinner (although the holidays negated much of that :|)
3. richer or poorer? richer, in many ways :)

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

Hanging out with friends more, both old and new.

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

Being late for my 10 AM classes. Eep.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?

Same as always every year: a trip to Pampanga to visit my dad's side for lunch, and then dinner with grandparents on my mom's side later.

21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?

I realize that I've never used the phone since God-knows-when, so for this question I'll refer to people I usually talk to on Yahoo messenger.

Yup, it's you. You know that, right? :))

22. Did you fall in love in 2008?

Haha.

23. How many one night stands in this last year?

None, but let me quote Nica on this:

Always practice! Kahit hindi safe basta sex lang! (Endaluz, 2008)

Go Nica! =)) =))

24. What was your favourite TV programme?

American Idol. The Amazing Race. Pushing Daisies. Mythbusters!!!

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Hating people is just an unnecessarily tiring thing, you know? Which is why I don't do it. Not for long periods of time anyway. It usually fizzes out by the next day.

26. What was the best book(s) you read?

Meh, this year was not a good book year. For me at least.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

The X-box Song, by Tripod. Thanks Kuya Luis.

28. What did you want and get?

An uno for Socio 10, 1st sem. And Stardust for this Christmas. :D

29. What did you want and not get?

If I can't remember, it probably means that it doesn't really matter anyway.

30. What were your favourite films of this year?

Prince Caspian, because Ben Barnes is yummy. =)) =)) Kung Fu Panda. HSM 3. A Very Special Love (<3 John Lloyd!).

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

On my birthday, I woke up to a screaming gale battering against my window. Hours later, the electricity went out. Gah. Not the stress-free 18th birthday I was hoping for. :|

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Getting higher grades? Or being smart enough to work for it in the first place. Oh well.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

I like being comfortable. Flats and sneakers are pretty much a staple with me.

34. What kept you sane?

My imaginary friend who's sitting next to me.

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

Charlize Theron, Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, among others. And the Mythbusters crew. They're awesome.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

The RH Bill, among others, and how my old school is handling the situation (read: it's pushing the anti-RH Bill notion down its students' throats without letting them think for themselves! :|). It's the same with my parents too, so I'm pretty much a closet pro-RH Bill freak. :| Gaaaah.

37. Who did you miss?

Old frieeeeeeends!!! And high school humor. :(

38. Who was the best new person you met?

I like everyone I meet, really. As for the best...

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.

As Bear Grylls always says, "Always keep going." (I'm sorry it's not more profound or poetic. Maybe next year.)

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year?

Just because everything's changing
Doesn't mean it's never been this way before
All you can do is try to know who your friends are
As you head off to the war

Pick a star on the dark horizon
And follow the light
You'll come back when it's over
No need to say goodbye

--from Regina Spektor's The Call