All Over But the Shouting (Part 1/2)

When I was doing my year-ender Q&A for 2010 around this time last year, I was quite lukewarm about the 12 months that had passed. Little did I know that, moments later, I would embark on such a spectacular year. I was telling a friend that no month passed by this 2011 without something eventful (be it good or bad) happening.

I’ve been doing this year-ender Q&A for maybe six years now and no year has been quite like 2011. It is right up there among the best years of my life. So here’s to twelve months of awesome — we end not with a fizzle, but with a bang!

* * *

What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?

  • Drive
  • Park (this calls for a long-overdue entry)
  • Travel alone
  • Wade into a pond (of the Leyte Landing Memorial, no less)
  • Be in two places at once (à la A Walk to Remember haha); there’s this spot on the San Juanico Bridge, that supposedly straddles Leyte and Samar
  • Finance my travels
  • Go out on a “date”
  • Spend my birthday alone and away from home
  • NOT graduate on time
  • Book a motel room
  • Go helmet diving
  • Go skimboarding
  • Go zorbing
  • Make pesto
  • Handle a large class
  • Watch a concert
  • Meet (and shake hands with) my favorite artist
  • Get my head shaved
  • Jog around the circumference of Freedom Park + Baker Field (can’t believe only this year)
  • “Dance” on stage
  • Enter a casino
  • Literally RUN to the airport, with minutes to spare before the boarding gates close (I felt like I was in Home Alone)
  • Watch a train zoom past me, across the national highway

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

  • Unfortunately, no. I planned to blog more regularly, which I did over the summer but (yet again) found little time to do for the rest of the year. I planned to watch 100 movies; I think I managed only 50. Aside from books/papers for my research, I never really got around to reading for leisure. I did take a picture 364 of the 365 days this year (I missed one day because I was editing theses nonstop) but I documented the year very poorly in my daily planner. Yes, I will resolve to do these things better this 2012.

Did anyone close to you give birth?

  • No

Did anyone close to you die?

  • Thankfully, no. Because, looking back, there were too many deaths this 2011.

What countries did you visit?

  • Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau

What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?

  • All I want is an MS degree.
  • Oh, and a powerful point-and-shoot camera.

What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory?

  • February 1-5
  • February 14
  • March 2
  • April 17-21
  • April 26
  • May 11-17
  • May 28-29
  • June 3-6
  • June 10
  • June 15
  • July 27-August 1
  • August 26
  • September 24
  • October 27-November  1
  • November 2-6
  • November 30
  • December 9-11
  • December 17-22

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

  • Seeing more of the world; traveling alone

What was your biggest failure?

  • Same with last year: losing slight focus of my school requirements as a graduate student

Did you suffer illness or injury?

  • Yes, the worst was a throat infection

What was the best thing you bought?

Whose behavior merited celebration?

  • Same with last year: my three closest friends at work

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

  • Someone I thought was a friend but ended up lying to me several times

To be continued…