New Year's Meme

(Latest in a series. See also New Year's 2008, 2009, and 2010.)

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?
*Sent my book manuscript to a publisher
*Taught M.A. students
*Got engaged

2. Did you keep your 2010 resolutions, and will you make more this year?
I don't think I made any. I'm a great resolver, but not a great new years resolver.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Duh. I'm in my mid-30s, so these are the birthing years. But most significant are my elder cousin, who had her first, and two college friends, who each just had their second.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.

5. What countries did you visit?
Just Canada, twice.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
A home to share with my partner. A book contract. (And more trivially, I need some new damn clothes!)

7. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I achieved a lot this year, but what feels like the biggest achievement is being able to look ahead to a personal and professional future that I'm happy with.

8. What was your biggest failure?
I feel that I was exhausted all the time, especially this past semester. I'm not sure that's a "failure," exactly, but it means I often had a pretty short fuse. I'm looking to be more centered in 2011.

9. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No. Though I'm getting creaky in the joints, already, at age 35.

10. What was the best thing you bought?
I didn't make any big or significant purchases last year. But I suppose the money that went to several short vacations with Cosimo (Maine, Portland OR, the Stratford Festival, and twice to NYC) was especially well spent.

11. Whose behavior merited celebration?
I have several friends who have been coping with ill, injured, or depressed family members, and whose behavior has been more inspiring than they'd ever believe.

12. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
The problem student to end all problem students. I'll say no more--but anything you can imagine a student doing that doesn't involve physical menace, this student did.

13. Where did most of your money go?
Where it always goes: to rent, to my student loans, to car payments (& insurance & upkeep). The rest just disappears.

14. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
Probably happier (though I was happy last year). I weigh a few pounds more, but am in better shape. On the other hand, I make more money, but am no richer.

15. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Visited/called/written my many long-distance friends.

16. What do you wish you'd done less of?
I don't know. Complained? But complaining is who Flavia is.

17. Did you fall in love in 2010?
Already there.

18. What was the best new book you read?
I didn't read much new fiction. But the best non-fiction I read outside of my own field was Robert Alter's Art of Biblical Narrative.

19. What was your favorite film of the year?
Winter's Bone

20. What kept you sane?
I'll go with last year's answer: all the people in my life.

21. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
It's so good to be a grown-up.

Happy 2011 to you and yours~~