an annual recap

 Both Roger and Kelly did this, so I guess I will, too:

Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? 

I don't do resolutions, really, and this year less than ever before: because the hard lesson the past 2 years is you never know what's going to happen, so, for example, a resolution to "have more fun" might become impossible to fulfill given some horrific new variant or whatever. Also, as I said on Twitter, general conditions need to be better - I am tired of grinding away at "being better" while the outside world seems to be allowed to get worse.

Did anyone close to you give birth? 

Unless my colleague had a very early surprise delivery (I hope she did not; I hope she goes full-term and the baby is healthy), no.

Did anyone close to you die? 

 

Several people at church - D., and M. and a couple other people I was less close to. None were of COVID, though I suspect that D.'s lack of getting fast treatment for his cancer because of COVID filling up hospitals was a contributing factor. Also my family friend Jo, died of old age. 

 

What countries did you visit? 

 

Heh, I barely left my own state last year.

 

What would you like to have in 2021 that you lacked in 2020?  (I guess this was the 2021 version I'm working off of? Well, change the years)

What would I like in 2022? An end to the pandemic, of course, but I don't see that happening. Maybe an easing of it for people like me as Omicron burns through the unvaccinated and we maybe finally approach the unicorn of herd immunity? Would have preferred we got there through a virtually-100% vaccination rate, but this is the society we have. I would also like  to regain some of my trust and liking of other people that I lost during the pandemic. And more motivation to DO stuff - not just work stuff (I have data sitting on my desk I need to start analyzing) but also fun stuff, though I am still unclear what form "fun" takes right now.

 

What was your biggest achievement of the year? 

 

I got a journal article accepted. I managed to avoid the 'rona. I got vaccinated against it and most recently got a booster over Thanksgiving week. Other than that....it was kind of a nothing year, I don't think I taught particularly well, I didn't have a lot of fun, I didn't do anything unusual.

 

What was your biggest failure? 

 

I didn't teach better than I did, but I think that's not entirely my fault (but the fault of circumstances)

 

What was the best thing you bought? 

Geez, I don't know. I didn't really buy anything big last year. I still like the weighted blanket I bought in 2020? Does that count?

Whose behavior merited celebration? 

 

The people who kept on keeping on (doing jobs that are important like nursing or keeping store shelves stocked) during a continuing pandemic, especially one where people in really public facing jobs were facing continued risk. 

 

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

 

The people who spread doubt about the vaccines or masking, despite being vaccinated on the sly themselves. The people who continued to sow division in our society. And folks who took any crisis as an opportunity to profit, whether it was fake covid testing sites (there was a news story about that in Illinois) or buying up all of some item just to resell it for inflated prices (I saw shelf tags limiting pasta purchases and bottled water purchases when I was in Illinois - it was in just one store or I'd have felt more like "we're going backwards and soon it's going to be April 2020 again"). Generally the people who further weaken my failing trust in humanity.

 

 Where did most of your money go? 

 

Living expenses, though I did also buy books and yarn (much of which I am now having to box up and store to make room for eventual renovations)

 

What did you get really excited about? 

 

Being able to be vaccinated, finally, and feel some degree of safety. Early summer 2021 felt REALLY good and I traveled to see my mom again after more than a year of not having been able to.

 

Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?

Like, you mean, on January 6, 2022, am I happier than I was on January 6, 2021? (Falls down laughing.....I mean, YEAH).  In general I am sadder than I was before the pandemic, this thing has really affected my personality and the scary thing is I don't know if I can ever go back to what was carefree-for-me before all this stuff happened.

Thinner or fatter? 

Fatter. It's been a bad time for emotional eating. I'm trying to be more careful right now.

Richer or poorer? 

Richer, though sadly, it's because I've inherited money (from my dad and from a friend who passed) and not because I got a raise. Those temporary riches are going to be plowed into renovating my house.

What do you wish you’d done more of? 

Updating my classes, working on and planning research. I feel like I've had one of those parking-enforcement "boots" on my brain recently, though. Also would have liked to have done more knitting and more quilting.

What do you wish you’d done less of? 

 

Worrying, washing my hands, staying home, wasting time online

 

How did you spend Christmas?

 

I was at my mom's, unlike in 2020. Unfortunately I was worried about the state of my house when I returned here (the day I left here was the day I discovered some bad rodent damage) so I didn't enjoy it as much as I might. Then again: I find I never seem to enjoy Christmas as much as I would like to.

 

Did you fall in love in 2021? 

 

I barely met any new people in 2021. I don't think "Falling in love" is going to happen for me, to be honest.

 

How many one-night stands? 

 

As a friend on Twitter jokes: "nice try, fed." But I would not be inclined to such a thing even if I were of an age and in a social milieu where it was an option for me.

 

What was your favorite TV program? 

 

I kind of got into "Ghosts," despite missing a lot of the episodes for various reasons. I'm not really a big "favorite program" person, there's stuff I like and will watch if I want to watch TV but there are very few things I would specifically set aside time to watch.

 

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? 

 

Not specifically, no, though there are some human behaviors I hate more now - one of them being the "good vibes only!" attitude where you are EXPECTED to stuff down any bad feelings you have in the name of positivity.

 

What was the best book you read? 

Three-way tie between Gaudy Night, Piranesi, and A Psalm for the Wild-Built. I guess 2021 was a pretty good year for reading for me.

What was your greatest musical discovery? 

 

Learning more about Florence Price's work. She's really good and until recently, her compositions were unjustly overlooked - there's a whole American Romantic music movement out there (I guess she falls into the Romantic school) in the late 1800s and early 1900s that's interesting but not so widely known.

 

What did you want and get? 

 

The vaccine against COVID.

 

What did you want and not get? 

 

A genuine end to the pandemic, a feeling of being at home in society once again, a regaining of my trust in people

 

What were your favorite films of this year? 

Geez, I don't know. I'm not a big movie watcher. I guess I enjoyed "Home Alone," which I had never really seen before?

What did you do on your birthday? 

 

I think I went to the bookstore and to the JoAnn Fabrics? I know I didn't do what I did in the before-times, where I would go out for a nice lunch somewhere and spend the day antiquing. I had had the first vaccine dose a couple weeks before my birthday but my trips out were still mostly quick dashes done in such a way I could return home before I needed a meal.

 

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2021? 

 

Knit dresses - easy to wear, easy to move in, not uncomfortable

 

What kept you sane?

 

my internet friends, work....that's mostly it

 

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

 

I don't.....this is not really a thing for me, if by "fancy," you mean it in the British sense.

 

What political issue stirred you the most? 

 

I am so freaking burned out on politics. I'm becoming a political nihilist and tend to feel like most "politicians" are in it for themselves and their cronies' benefit, and we're just being dragged along for the ride. I'd like to have seen more attention given to upgrading ventilation in classrooms, both K-12 and university, because we're going to have to live with COVID forever, and it seems like ventilation goes a long way to  slow its spread. But of course that costs money and it's easier to exhort people to wear masks and wash their hands (at least now they've largely dropped the useless "spray probably hazardous chemicals on every surface as a show of hygiene theater" thing, especially the version where teachers were told to do so at the end of each class)

 

Who did you miss?

Lots of people. I miss feeling like I have much of a "tribe." I don't really have anyone local with similar hobbies to mine. More and more I wonder if I should move away after I retire to try to FIND more people like me.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2021: 

Not sure how valuable but I trust other people a whole lot less, and I feel like I can only really rely on myself.

If you take selfies, post your six favorite ones:

 

I'm skipping this this year; I don't think my selfies are very interesting

 

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

 

I don't know. Maybe some of Peggy Lee's "Is this all there is":

 

"Is that all there is, is that all there is?

If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is"

 

Except I've not felt much like dancing, and I haven't that many friends to break out the "booze" with....