Year in Review

1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?

I ran in and finished a half-marathon without stopping to walk. I barely ran (in terms of speed), but I ran. I remain very proud of myself for this.

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

Here's what my new year's resolutions were: "In 2007, I'd like to run the half-marathon. And try to make the world better since I didn't really do that this year. And figure out more of what I believe and what I don't. And find more ways to be creative and create things." I did the half-marathon. I'm not sure I did the rest. Although I did just buy a new video camera and look forward to using it creatively. This year I would like to do some improvements on my house and re-embrace exercise.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes! I watched my friend's second daughter being born, and my lifelong friend also had her second daughter, my godchild.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No, thankfully.

5. What countries did you visit?

I traveled out of the country in 2004, 2005, and 2006, but not in 2007. I try not to be sad about that, but I am, a little.

6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?

A regular series of full nights of sleep. (Same as every year.)

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Not to be a broken record, but the half-marathon was a great day.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

See #7.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Utterly failing to maintain my newfound fitness regimen and outgrowing all of my clothes by the year's end. This truly depresses me on a deep level, and I'm trying to rise out of it.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Not really, thankfully.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

I think maybe my new video camera. Otherwise, not sure. Right now there are ten brighly colored gerber daisies scattered throughout the house, and I'm feeling very glad that I bought them.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

I'm going to go with my three favorite women: my sister, who graduated from law school, passed one of the hardest bar exams, moved to Bolivia, and is preparing to begin the rest of her life; my best friend, who changed her life on a leap of faith; my other best friend, who has been a warrior mama.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, George W. Bush. (It's the same answer every year; I can't help it.)

14. Where did most of your money go?

I probably spent the largest sum of money on my damn busted pipe.

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

Seeing Spring Awakening.

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?

Hm. I think my favorite song from this year was Tomorrow Is a Long Time by Nickel Creek. I have no idea if their version is actually from this year, but I sure listened to it a lot once I discovered it, and I love it a whole lot. I also love Mark Erelli's version of Shawn Colvin's "I Don't Know Why." (You can hear it here, #9.) I just learned a new song called "Have You Ever" by Brandi Carlile on a CD that B. made me, and I love it so much that the love is spreading backwards into all of 2007 and forward into 2008. I knew nothing of Brandi Carlile but a recollection that she is beloved by Al Lowe, and I wish I had paid attention to her before. (Enjoyable Brandi Carlile clip [singing a Beatles song]: here. Singing "Have You Ever": here.)

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

a) happier or sadder? I don't know. I remain sort of chronically sad that I have fallen off the fitness wagon, but apparently not sad enough to climb back on it. More like paralyzed fitnessly, I guess. Weird.

b) thinner or fatter? GOD -- fatter. By a large margin.

c) richer or poorer? Richer, but not exceedingly more so.

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

Exercising, post-spring. (I did take an hour-long walk this afternoon on a beautiful sunny day around the lakes, which was a nice way to spend an hour on the last day of the year.)

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

Inexplicably crying. Lying awake in the middle of the night fretting about things that happened in other lifetimes.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

Going to mass with my parents and siblings where we once again marveled at the weird out-of-tuneness of the "Gloria" song, sitting around a large table of food with my family, re-watching the game against Auburn, and overall having a pretty fun and functional Christmas.

21. Did you fall in love in 2007?

I continued to be in love with the same person.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Friday Night Lights, though it caused me some discomfort with the shift from the perfection of last year; Ugly Betty remains fantastic; Pushing Daisies is basically a joy; Dirty Sexy Money is deliciously fun; The Office somehow seems to get better each season; Brothers and Sisters=still really good, though I still can't really buy this supposed great romance between Flockhart and Lowe. Battlestar Galactica ended awesomely, and I'm excited for the next season, whenever that is. I enjoyed Big Love season two on DVD.

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

I can't think of anyone. I pretty much reserve all of my hatred for the president. (Still.)

24. What was the best book you read?

Best novels: The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak was the best book I read this year, but I was lucky to love or really like several others as well, including The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass, The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, Long May She Reign by Ellen Emerson White, and Love Is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield. Currently, I'm loving What Gets Into Us by Moira Crone, and next up is How Sassy Changed My Life, which it most certainly did.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Hmmmm...I mostly just listened to music I already loved this year, though I did spend countless hours listening to the soundtracks of Once, Hairspray, and Across the Universe. Once's music has definitely been especially special to me.

26. What did you want and get?

An A in both of my graduate classes.

27. What did you want and not get?

Rid of my under-eye circles.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

I saw a lot of movies I loved or really liked this year (not all of which were actually released this year). Loved: Waitress, The Heart of the Game, The Lives of Others, Once, Hairspray, Juno. Really liked: Pan's Labyrinth, Grey Gardens, Shut Up and Sing, Diggers. Liked parts of / hated parts of / still think about often: Across the Universe.

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

I turned 32 and had dinner with my family.

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

I hate to sound like a broken record, but more sleep.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?

Um. Jeans? T-shirts? The usual. Busting out of said jeans by December. Ugh!

32. What kept you sane?

Love: of boyfriend, family, friends, dogs, cats.

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

Hm. I don't know that fancy is the right word, but I was so impressed and enchanted by Keri Russell in Waitress and very glad the world finally got to see her talent in a big way.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

The upcoming presidential election has me alternately excited and scared.

35. Whom did you miss? I miss Madeleine L'Engle, even though I obviously did not know her. I just miss knowing that she exists, basically.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

My godchild. Ned, Olive, Emerson, and Chuck. And I also enjoyed meeting my classmates.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.

But I know
There’s so much more to find
Just in looking through myself, and not at them
Still, I know
To trust my own true mind
And to say there’s a way through this
On I go
To wonder and to learning

-- "All That's Known," Spring Awakening

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

I tried to listen to "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" on the way to work more mornings than not, and it never failed to put me in a better mood and make me feel more happy to be alive. So I'm going to go with the last verse of this song, as dorky as that might be.

All the sounds of the earth are like music,
All the sounds of the earth are like music,
The breeze is so busy it don't miss a tree,
And an ol' Weepin' Willer is laughin' at me.

--Rodgers & Hammerstein

(The same survey: 2006, 2005, and 2004.) (First found via Linda.)

Blessed

Feeling at peace this Christmas Eve evening. Spent a few days in beautiful Maryland with B. and his family. Came home, kissed my godchild, ate chocolate-covered Ritz cracker peanut butter sandwiches, had my friend wish me Merry Christmas in Hawaiian, and spent the evening with my family over turkey and sausage gumbo, my dad reading the Christmas story from the book of Luke, telling stories and laughing. My pets are healthy and seem happy. The heater in my car is broken. It looks like Santa is bringing me a ticket to the national championship. I have the whole week off from work. All seems pretty good.

I read three books, Welcome to Vietnam and Hill 568 by Ellen Emerson White, both good, and Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, which I am torn between liking and hating.

I got to see the beautiful beach, which always makes my soul happy.

B.'s mom knitted me a scarf made out of bamboo thread. It pleased me.

They have a very nice orange cat, who let me squeeze his purry self for a quick cat nap.

I saw amazing paintings by Edward Hopper and an exhibit I loved that showed how people have taken pictures over the decades. I stood in front of the Capitol during an impromptu stop before the airport in the mist like a dork with semi-crazy eyes.

And I think that is enough pictures of me for tonight. Mostly I just want to say that I love my family, I love my boyfriend, and I love my friends. I do not need any presents. Even though there are totally rats in my backyard and I have no idea what to do about them, I am blessed to a disgusting degree, and I never want to forget it.

You call, you call, and I'll come running

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for Once. It is an odd feeling, loving something so much that so many people you love have never experienced. My sister & her Irishman saw it (and sent me the soundtrack without even knowing I wanted it, in a moment of destiny), and of course B. and I saw it. But not my brothers, and none of my friends. I feel like I have been talking about it since the afternoon we walked out of the theater. The other night over Vietnamese food with my classmates I announced that the best movie of 2007 was coming out on DVD the next day and they all needed to give it to themselves for Christmas. They looked at me. "What? Once?" They resumed slurping their pho. I made a copy of the CD for my co-worker who loves music and good movies. I basically forced it upon him. I have been forcing this movie and this music on everyone, but no one has been able to see it, because it's tiny and hasn't been out everywhere like God knows it should be. Sometimes I wonder if I am overhyping it, but then I remember that's not possible.

But now it's out, and everyone can see it, and everyone should. Tonight I brought it over to my little brother's house. We ate pizza and watched it. He laughed out loud. I cried out loud.

(Spoiler) I love how the reaction of the guy in the studio beautifully mirrors the reaction of the audience. That moment of realizing that you are watching and hearing something fucking amazing. (End of spoiler.)

He asked me as they sang "When Your Mind's Made Up" in the studio if all the songs were on the soundtrack, and I said yes. When the movie ended, I said, "God, don't you just wish we had the soundtrack to listen to right now?" He said, "YES." I pulled it, gift-wrapped, out of my purse, and said, "Happy Birthday!"

He laughed some more. He hugged me when I left and said, "I loved the movie, Eliza. It made me really happy."

I know every step, I know every song

It's Sunday morning. It's cold and windy. (For us.) I'm watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on ABC Family.

I finished classes. Last week, I had two finals and a pretty busy week at work, so it's kind of a blur. I still don't know how I did in the classes, but deep in my heart I am hoping for As. It was a given in one class, but not so much in another. We'll see. I'm not really ready to reflect upon the experience yet, but overall, I think I'm glad I did it. I really liked most of the people I met, and I was really looking forward to a party with them last night, but my sister was in town, and I decided it was more important to sit on the couch in my pajamas and eat Thai food and watch Friday Night Lights reruns with her.

I baked about a bazillion cookies yesterday for coworkers and for a gift wrapping party we're having at work for the adopt-a-family project we do every year. I just ate a sugar cookie with a toffee Hershey's kiss on it for breakfast. I am a little surly that I am out of coffee. I'd go to the coffee shop but it might as well be a Nor'easter for how well I cope with a little nip in the air.

I've watched the first six episodes of Big Love season two. I think I like it better than season one because the audience is subjected to way fewer Paxton butt shots, Paxton's overall likeablility notwithstanding. I reread Mine for Keeps and continued my lifelong bow at the feet of Jean Little. I ordered two used old Ellen Emerson White books I've never read (the first two in her Vietnam series, as Zack Emerson). I have a date with my little brother to watch Once, which actually comes out on Tuesday, for real.

I've been playing with my new Flip video camera, which Rosie O'Donnell raved so much about that I could no longer resist it. There was a time in my life, years really, when I went nowhere without a video camera. It was something I used to love, and I am glad to have one again, even though it's kind of silly. My main problem is that the quality is actually pretty good for such a wee little contraption when I'm watching the video on my computer, but once I compress it with iMovie into a format (a Quicktime video uploaded online) where I can actually share it with people, it both looks and sounds like ass. I would like to figure out a way around this, but I'm not sure how. When I figured out how to split the audio and video clips and really manipulate them, oh, that was a happy day. I've only made a couple of videos, but they amuse me. Now I just have to figure out how to not make my pithy captions go by so fast that people have to pause the video to read them. Once I get a better hang of the whole thing, I'll try to post one here. I can't believe how easy it is to edit a little digital video now when back in the day I was using giant VTR tapes and some crazy editing equipment with giant toggle knobs. Weird.

Here are a few songs new to me that I really like: "Have You Ever" by Brandi Carlile, "Always Something New" by Matty Charles and the Valentines, "Eyes" by Rogue Wave, "Soul Meets Body" by Death Cab for Cutie, and "Broken Heart" by Motion City Soundtrack. If my boyfriend knows anything, it's songs I will like. The last one is one I wish I could go running to, that is if I remembered how to run.

Soon I need to get ready to go hear my dad give a teaching about Advent and a family brunch. But I have a few hours to kill, and I wish I had the Hairspray DVD with me because I'd watch it right now.

Monday

My sister brought me some amazing handmade gifts from Bolivia - a dress, a skirt, a purse, and a wall hanging with little pockets. I love them! Before wearing the clothes, however, I will need to invest in some spanx.

We spent a little time driving around on Saturday listening to Mary Chapin Carpenter. My sister said that every song brings her right back to specific time and place in her life. I agreed. One reminds her of being in her friend's car learning to drive a stick shift. One reminds me of sitting at a red light thinking about forgiveness. The entire album we were listening to reminds us of the summer of 2004 because we both had it on our iPods when we were in Europe. There are a few artists like that, I guess, for everyone. Those whose work has followed you for years through the entire human emotional spectrum. Adventure, romance, heartache, healing. I said, "Mary Chapin Carpenter is important." She said, "She really is so, so important." Then we just went ahead and agreed that Mary Chapin Carpenter is one of the most important people who has ever lived.

I've been coming around to the idea of thinking maybe I should start running again. Not following any program or time requirements or mileage requirements. Just doing it a little at a time if only to be able to fit into my winter pants and feel like a worthwhile person again. Is it insane to tie in one's sense of self worth to whether or not one commits herself to exercising? Because I totally do.

What else? Waitress really holds up upon third viewing. Once will be out on DVD before we know it. My little brother, of all people -- OF ALL PEOPLE -- has never seen it or even heard of it. I told him, "I don't mean to go overboard and say it will make your life complete or anything, but it totally will." School remains a mystery. I like the people I've met (most of them), though, and I'll miss having classes with them next semester. I am really enjoying the Across the Universe soundtrack these days and some old, live Ray LaMontagne. I'm excited to see Juno and The Golden Compass. In completing my unplanned but somehow neverending theme of war film and literature this year, I just finished The Things They Carried, which was beautiful. I'd like to close out the year with a really excellent book or two, but I can't decide what to read next.

And now, random pictures from the past few weeks.

Aw, yeah.

Wow! What a weekend.

Let me think back. I have no memory of Friday night. Oh yeah! I went to a white elephant work party with my girlfriend and watched Friday Night Lights. (Sigh.)

Saturday, we woke up pretty early ... B. hit the books, and I headed to pick up my sister from the airport after her 27-hour trek from Bolivia. We had a joyous reunion over Reese's Christmas trees and iced coffee. We stopped in the airport to buy her coffee, and we struck up a little casual coffee counter conversation with the barista, who, after hearing why she was in Bolivia, declared, "Those people who come over here and don't even try to speak English? I don't like them." We had a good chuckle over the irony of the first person she spoke to besides me upon her return to the U.S. being someone who doesn't like the very people she left U.S. to learn how to speak to when they come here. God bless America!

We spent the afternoon eating pizza and watching LSU win the SEC championship, which was of course great. It is always very amusing to me to see my parents get so worked up over a football game when they get to watch it at home together. There was a lot of cursing from my dad and my mom screaming things like, "He's totally FREAKING open!" and "MORON!"

Also yesterday, my sister bought an iPhone, which is really fantastic and I drooled over it. After the game, we headed to Target so my sister could pick up some essentials and played with her phone a whole lot. We also watched the #1 and #2 teams in the nation lose and thought, "Huh." But not really because what were the odds?

Well, the odds were better than we thought as we discussed over grits this morning. Hello? Wow! The polls came out throughout the day and soon enough it became clear that we are the luckiest team in the world because we are going to the national championship again even though we lost two games. It is a beautiful, beautiful thing, and I am so glad my sister is home for it. I can't wait to do four years ago all over again.

Surprise

My front flower bed has become pretty overgrown. What started out as tiny ferns, irises, and witchhazel shrubs are now gargantuan monsters. I noticed this morning when I went out to get the paper a tiny bloom peeking out from behind a mammoth witchhazel and fern. So I grabbed the clippers, cut them back, and was reacquainted with my azalea. It was blooming even though it was totally shielded from the morning sun, which my plants usually like the most. So I'm really glad to see it again. It's a little puny and misshapen from being crushed by its neighbors, but it's still fighting for life. And I like to think of it as a nice omen for the coming winter -- life and brightness and beauty are always there even when it's too dark to see them. Sometimes you just have to dig them out, getting your hands dirty and your slippers wet in the morning grass, to remember they're there.