I don't know if I'll explain it properly, but basically a "meme" is something that makes its way around the net, and one fills it in according to one's own responses to personalize it. I saw this end-of-the-year meme on Bleeding Espresso. Michelle always writes so thoughtfully, it's a bit daunting to take up something she tackled. One comes out poorly in comparison! But that's not the point, it's to reflect a bit before the new year starts up. Michelle has done the same meme for a few years now and finds the accumulation of answers provides food for thought. So here's to the start of a new tradition!
1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? Became an Italian godparent. Acquired a French residence card/work permit. Went on strike. Participated in a lawsuit (in France, not the "litigious US"!). Worked in a bookstore. Blogged. Enjoyed Lucia's homemade tamales.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't make resolutions. Perhaps I should! I want to set some goals, I'm bad at that too. Okay, so I should make it a goal to set some goals.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes - lots! Let's see - if I can remember (correctly) in chronological order of the year. Lauren gave birth to Rion Elizabeth in March; Lynn gave birth to LORENZO BENE in April; Bridget gave birth to Pyper Finnegan Ragland in May; Nicole gave birth to Julia Lucie in July; Julie gave birth to James Wesley in August - on his great-grandfather's birthday!; and Tracy gave birth to Isla Gabrielle in October.
4. Did anyone close to you die? Nope. However, my dear friend lost her mother in an awful shock in September.
5. What countries did you visit? From the US, I headed to France and Italy. Italy is the only one I 'visited,' though.
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? A job. A couch. A vacation.
7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Jan. 14, when I gave notice at my job. Jan. 17, when Marco got fired from his. Feb. 29, my last day at my job. March 3, the day I arrived back in Paris. September 14, our first wedding anniversary. September 20, when Emanuele and Tiziana got married and had Francesco baptized, and October 13, when Isla was born. And of course November 4 when the country voted for Barack Obama for president!
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Extricating myself from a job I hated (but which provided financial security) and putting all my stuff in storage to move to Europe to join my husband.
9. What was your biggest failure? Not finding a job. Not having a better plan.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? No, not really. A few too many bouts of gastro, though.
11. What was the best thing you bought? I guess the $200 of extra baggage I paid to bring with me on my flight. My ticket to come to France was free, on miles, so I can't say that!
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Lucia, who put me and Marco up with grace and cheer for seven months upon my arrival here during a very difficult time for the two of us. L-A, who housed me in DC when I moved out of my apartment and put up with my glasses left everywhere during my stay and too much of my stuff once I had left. Heidi and Roberto, who took care of my MINI when I had to leave her. Silvio and Elena, who put us up for a week, had us over numerous times, and treated us numerous times. Marco's friends and former colleagues who signed attestations on his behalf in our fight to get his former employer held accountable for illegally firing him. My parents, who have covered me financially the whole year and supported me emotionally as well, in part by coming to help me pack in January, and also by always being on the other end of the telephone line, and my brother and sister-in-law, who bought extra tickets to return to Oklahoma to see us when we're there in a few weeks. A lot of folks to celebrate! I am blessed.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Add "outraged" . . Marco's former employer - first for their own actions and then for the lengths they went to to try to intimidate people into testifying against him, and the dumb lady at the Embassy. And John McCain's decision to pick Sarah Palin as his running mate . . . coming from a guy I used to believe so much in, such a cynical political decision, and putting the country in the position of perhaps having this absoLUTEly unqualified woman a heartbeat from the presidency . . .THAT was appalling and depressing. Knowing that my old friend Mark Salter was intimately involved with the choice: that was appalling and depressing. Marco's current boss for refusing his leave request a month after it had supposedly been approved, and less than two weeks before departure.
14. Where did most of your money go? Groceries and laundry. Metro passes and phone recharges.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Taking the train to London and seeing friends in December.
16. What song will always remind you of 2008? Probably some French song that I don't recognize now as having come from this year because it's aurally omnipresent.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: (a) happier or sadder? (b) thinner or fatter? (c) richer or poorer? (A) happier, but still extremely stressed as usual; (b) probably a bit fatter; (c) definitely financially poorer.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Writing. Interviewing. Selling myself. I had a lot of job interviews earlier in the year but I've lost my confidence now after an excruciatingly painful interview in June.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Worrying/stressing. But I'd have to exchange my personality or have a brain transplant in order for that to happen.
20. How did you spend Christmas? We slept in late, then Marco cooked up a festive lunch - we started with blinis and 'caviar' and crab salad and moved on to sautéed scallops -- all served up with a 1995 Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Blancs champagne. I spent the better part of the day in bed, still recovering a bit from the previous week.
21. Did you fall in love in 2008? Not with anyone new!
22. What was your favorite TV program? The only television I watched this year was the Democratic National Convention, which I found electrifying.
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Yes, the nasty lady at the Embassy who made it her business to kick us out onto the street. Don't these people have real work to do improving Franco-American relations or something???
24. What was the best book you read? Well, I was glad I finally got down to Suite Française (in French, no less!). And I thoroughly enjoyed White Tiger and The Uncommon Reader. I discovered I loved Michael Dibdin's mystery series with Inspector Aurelio Zen. Geraldine Brooks's People of the Book was as delightful as I had imagined it would be, and with Orhan Pamuk's My Name is Red, I was on this weird path of reading books about Islamic miniaturists . . . Nonfictionwise, I liked the Story of French and kept going back to Colin Jones's Paris: Biography of a City, which I first read two or three years ago but which is chock full of great information and a great learning source on the broad themes of French history (by contrast, so far I'm finding Graham Robb's much-lauded The Discovery of France almost unreadable, which shocks me). As the year closes, I am absolutely smitten by Vaclav Havel's To the Castle and Back, a fabulous autobiography he's written in his own inimitable way - divided among a) reflections of a stay in Washington in the spring of 2005, b) excerpts from memos to his staff written while he was president, and c) a long-form interview with a Czech journalist. There were so many other books I enjoyed this year that it seems a shame to leave others out, but that's a little silly. In any event, I read more than I have in years, which is hardly surprising, given my current situation and place of employment.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery? I'm no musical discoverer, sadly.
26. What did you want and get? To live with my husband in our own apartment in Paris.
27. What did you want and not get? A job. To go home for Christmas. A vacation.
28. What was your favorite film of this year? As usual, I only saw a couple of movies in the theater. Perhaps the one I enjoyed the most was one I saw on DVD, Anchorman, because it amused Marco so when he initially hadn't wanted to watch it and did so only to humor me. The fact that he's still quoting it months later makes it funny.
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 38 (yikes), and on the actual day, L-A and Heidi took me to Spices for dinner. Workwise: to my chagrin, Kassie informed my boss it was my birthday, so work felt compelled to do a little something too, which I had really been trying to avoid, given how poisonous the atmosphere was and how sick people were of me already at that point (one week before I gave notice). A few days later, Mendi took me to Dino for dinner.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Finding a job and knowing that Marco and I would have some economic security.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Jeans and a t-shirt.
32. What kept you sane? Knowing my parents were there to back us up, and my medication.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Hmmm, I guess Obama. I mean, I "fancied" him in the White House!
34. What political issue stirred you the most? Torture and the abuse of our Constitution.
35. Who did you miss? Most everybody. I was away from most everybody! But who did I miss the most? Aidan, because she is little and growing so fast.
36. Who was the best new person you met? Hmmm, this is oddly phrased. I would say I met some very cool, very interesting people, but none of whom have yet been installed actually in the 'friends' category. I guess I was happiest about reconnecting with Millie, a friend of friends whom I met when I was living here from 2004 to 2006 and whom I've enjoyed getting to know better this time around. But she doesn't really apply since I didn't "meet" her this year! As for the most exciting person I met, that would have to be David McCullough (and his wife Rosalee). And I had already met them, but I really was happy to spend a few days getting to know Marco's longtime friend Steo, his wife Irene, and their two kids Francesco and Maria at their house in Torre Pellice in September. They were as delightful as I had supposed they would be.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. Would that I would learn something and then apply it.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. Again, I'm handicapped here. It's funny, though, these last few weeks I've been thinking of some Hooba lyrics (because I was actually able to listen to them on my iPod -- usually when I try to play their stuff, it bounces me out immediately, as if the five or six copies of the album I bought between iTunes, Amazon, and gifts for friends weren't enough to give me real 'ownership'.). Anyway, that day the digital gods were working for me, and I was gaily listening to some of their tunes. These words kept coming back to me. I need to take them to heart and MAKE them sum up my year to come.
Look Where We Are
I still remember the time,
When this all felt like a dream.
So completely out of reach,
Frustrating.
We kept our nose to the grind,
Make the days turn into weeks.
Hoping time will heal the pain,
Of waiting.
Now it seems so long ago.
Just look back on,
How far we've come.
We've made it somehow,
Look where we are now.
All we've done,
Our battles won.
We've made it somehow,
Look where we are now. . . . .
. . . . And the best is yet to come.
'cause our story isn't done.
Look Where we Are lyrics - copyright Hoobastank* from their 2006 album Every Man for Himself
*I presume these lyrics are really copyright Doug Robb, but my album liners are packed in a box in Maryland, and I can't find anything on the net to confirm that.
I love it! You've had quite a trying year but look at you--you're happier than last year! That, my dear, says so much about your character, and I'm sure 2009 will bring you exactly what you need. Buon anno nuovo :)
Posted by: Michelle | Bleeding Espresso | December 31, 2008 at 04:54 PM