2006 year summary survey

Ok, with one day left, I may as well post this. As always, it's more for my benefit than anybody else's, so don't feel obliged to read it. Feel free to comment though, if you feel the urge.


1. What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before?
Hidden from a bailiff. Written to my grandparents. Voluntarily ended a long term relationship. Went to (as opposed to through) the Peak District.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't make new year's resolutions, but I'm sure most of my plans for this year failed. I have plans for next year, but I'm not going to label them as resolutions.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.

5. What countries did you visit?
Just this one, and I didn't even see as much of this as I would have liked.

6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
Tangible: a band demo with vocals. Intangible: self-confidence. (Frivolous: the next Swallow The Sun album.)

7. What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
I don't think anything of singularly incredible significance took place. 2006 will largely be remembered as a return to normal subdued service after a quite bizarre 2005.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Escaping my job in Derby and getting to program games instead here in Nottingham.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Probably going another year with no practical progress on the musical front.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I had the flu at some point. I don't remember if that was this year or late last year. And I damaged a nerve in my arm. (Which is almost better now, but still definitely not quite right.)

11. What was the best thing you bought?
I couldn't pick just one thing. Depending on my mood it would either be the EWQL Symphonic Orchestra software, the 'Eclipse' album by Amorphis, or my new computer(s).

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Celebration? I can't think of anything, sorry.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
A couple of people are responsible for gossip which I've been quite annoyed about. It's amazing how phantom problems can appear out of nowhere when someone is determined to spread facts about you that aren't worthy of the name. More generally, pretty much every local or national decision maker has appalled me at some point, and most of my friends have made me depressed from time to time. Ace!

14. Where did most of your money go?
25% on income tax. 20% went on rent. 5% on food. 4% on train fares. 4% paying off my credit card bill. 4% on utility bills. 3% repaying my student loan. 3% on computer parts. 3% on evening entertainment. 2.5% on cds. 2% on festival attendance. 2% on new guitars. That only leaves a couple of thousand pounds missing, heh.

15. What events did you get really, really, really excited about?
I don't think I got too excited about any particular event. I did look forward to the Paradise Lost and Opeth gig, but that was tempered by the knowledge that it was going to be spoiled by the Opeth crowd.

16. What song will always remind you of 2006?
Songs do not remind me of years. They remind me of people, or places, or feelings. This year hasn't been notable in those regards, so neither will the music be.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder?
Sadder.
ii. thinner or fatter?
Fatter.
iii. richer or poorer?
Richer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Meeting people. Practising lyric-writing. Working on my various personal projects. Watching Chris play 'Thief: The Dark Project' and be scared of it. Discussing the finer aspects of sliced and fried potatoes with nostalgiaplatz before she migrated to experience a third winter in a row. This list could go on forever. My life is a litany of good paths I never walked.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Drinking. Being too patient when it wasn't beneficial to do so. Commuting to and from Derby, though that wasn't very avoidable.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
It was spent right here on the computer, doing my usual internet stuff.

21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
_arnamentia_ , followed by HSBC's credit card department. I don't use my phone for speaking to humans, generally. I have no idea what I'd say, if I did.

22. Did you fall in love in 2006?
No.

23. How many one-night stands?
None.

24. What was your favourite TV programme?
I haven't really watched TV.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I have no enemies, just friends that have let me down. A handful of people have done so this year. One or two were repentant, and one or two were not. C'est la vie.

26. What was the best book you read?
A Feast For Crows - George R. R. Martin.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery or rediscovery?
Mael Mordha. Gaelic doom metal for the proverbial 'win'.

28. What did you want and get?
A new job in Nottingham. Plus various material possessions of little note.

29. What did you want and not get?
A stable relationship. Questions answered. A vocalist for my 'band'. More friends than I had in 2005.

30. What were your favourite films of this year?
Of all the new films out this year, I think I've only seen Borat. I'm not one for cinema-going or tv-watching.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I went to work, then came home and failed to fix my computer. I was a day older than the day before.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
An apology and explanation from someone in particular.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
Whatever's black that I could lay my hands on.

34. What kept you sane?
Buying an average of more than one cd per week all year. And jen_whitewave's predictable support and encouragement, even if it is all utterly unrealistic. ;)

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most/least?
Umm, none come to mind. I'm out of touch with modern culture (a contradiction in terms if I ever saw one), and the type of music I listen to is not well known for its large quantities of pretty women.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
The multiculturalism vs. integration debate.

37. Who did you miss?
There are things I miss, connected with people, but that's not exactly the same as missing the people themselves.

38. Who was the best new people you met?
It was nice to finally meet l0stxstar in person, who never ceases to impress me, despite me having known her on Livejournal for years already. edenapocalypse seems like the decent sort too, even if she does say she hates me every couple of days or so. I'm also glad to have gotten to know rlucas666 as he makes me feel less old...

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006:
I learned several. One is: expecting to be trusted is all well and good, but eventually your word comes up against someone else who also expects to be trusted. So it's better to lower yourself to proving your point and let the doubter apologise for disbelieving you later.

40. Do you have any lost feelings of others.
Feelings come, feelings go, feelings change... I have no idea what this question is actually asking.