Review of the year

I did this review of the year in 2004, and now that I’ve finished what’s probably been the busiest semester so far in the two and a half years I’ve been at uni, I thought it was about time for an update. So here goes… (yes I know it’s not strictly the end of the year yet, but I don’t envisage any life changing events occuring over the next couple of weeks).

Review of 2005

Best local bands seen:
Haven’t been to see any, and I’m on a par with Ian Hislop when it comes to keeping up with the music scene.

Worst local bands:
As above. 🙂

Exotic towns/cities visited:
Not really travelled much, and I doubt that Colchester/Essex counts as exotic – though Oxford was quite interesting.

Girls I fancied but failed to get anywhere with:
Like I’d post that sort of stuff in public!

Girls I fancied and did get with:
None. 🙁

Great gigs this year:
Never been to any…

Mad Stuff done in 2005 that if you’d told me I was going to do last year I’d have laughed at you:

• Joined Friends of the Earth (and been an active member too!).
• Taking up Aikido / joining a gym.
• Switched from drinking Carling to bitter and real ale (I can’t even taste the former now without feeling sick).

What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005?
I honestly don’t know, there isn’t much that I want that I have much chance of getting my hands on. I’d like a proper house of my own, but that isn’t going to happen. In some ways it would be nice to have someone special in my life, but a) that’s not going to happen and; b) I’m ridiculously busy as it is.

What dates/events from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory?

• Coming out of the cinema to see the big screen in Exchange Square broadcasting news of the second lot of Tube bombings – the day before I was due to go down to London. 🙁
• Arriving at UA Meet 14 and having Trav say that I looked like a crime lord with my henchmen standing behind me. 🙂
• Winning £200 in a pub quiz.
• Leading the Warped pub crawl in my Jon Pertwee costume.
• Going back to my sixth form college and have several people mistake me for a teacher(!)
• Finding out that one of my friends from college had been killed in a motorcycle accident. 🙁

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
No one single thing springs to mind, probably more that I managed to somehow keep going even when things seemed really tough.

What was your biggest failure?
Not being able to say “no” to so many things when perhaps it would have been sensible to do so.

Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Tony Blair with his moronic anti terrorism legislation and the Conservative party for making a pig’s breakfast of the leadership contest.

Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? a hundred times happier (although still stressed)
ii. thinner or fatter? about the same, lightweight as always (I couldn’t really get any thinner without being ill)
iii. richer or poorer? richer

What do you wish you’d done more of?
I wish I’d started Aikido a bit sooner and perhaps spent a bit more time on my third year project.

What do you wish you’d done less of?
Nothing in particular, but I wish I hadn’t taken on quite as much as I did at the start of the year.

Did you fall in love in 2005?
I don’t think there’s anyone for me to fall in love with. 🙂

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

What were your favourite TV programmes?
I don’t really watch television very much, mostly because there’s nothing on and also because I don’t have the time. I try to catch Have I Got News For You and QI though.

What were the best books you read?
I’ve got a pile of stuff to read that I think will be interesting, from No Logo to The Republic, Friends, Voters, Countrymen and 1984. I haven’t really had time to sit down and read many fiction books though.

What were your favourite films of this year?
Madagascar had me in stiches when I went to see it at the cinema and Singin’ in the Rain was great too.

What did you do on your birthday?
Nothing really, although once again it happened to coincide with a Megs event so I ended up watching Wallace and Gromit at the cinema – not very exciting I know but I couldn’t really think of anything special to do and my birthday usually coincides with the busiest time of the year for me.

Who were the best new people you met?
I don’t think I’ve met that many new people, although part of the problem is that I forget these things – for example I feel like I’ve known everyone in Warped/Megs for a lot more than a couple of years. I’ve met the two Daves in Aikido and a few freshers at various events but I don’t really know any of them well enough to say they’re the “best” new people I’ve met this year.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005?
If you take on too much, eventually the workload will crush you.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
“So no one told you life was gonna be this way
Your job’s a joke, you’re broke, your love life’s D.O.A.
It’s like you’re always stuck in second gear
When it hasn’t been your day, your week, your month, or even your year”
(first four lines of I’ll Be There For You by The Rembrandts)

General thoughts on 2005:
It’s definitely been the craziest year so far, with great times to heart wrenching moments and everything in between. If I could live it all again there’s so many things I would have said and done that I didn’t (and regret not doing so), and probably a number of times I’ve said something when, with hindsight, it would have been better to keep my mouth shut.

Overall I guess 2005 has been reasonably kind to me, and hopefully 2006 will be even better! 🙂