The End of Days

[izmeina]

1. What did you do in 2014 that you'd never done before?

Went on a grand overseas adventure without plotting and planning.


2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don’t do New Year’s resolutions but I do have a little green book for plotting and planning with deadlines for 3 months, 1 year and 5 years. Of course the map is not the territory and the grand plans are more honoured in the breach than in the observance, but the simple act of doing this ritual between 6 and 8 times a year does result in some items being almost inadvertently getting completed and draws attention to those that keep rolling over again and again.


3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No. Not even the neighbour’s cats. They seem to have found greener pastures or maybe got eaten by some rotweiler


4. Did anyone close to you die?
Winnie who was one of my favourite Fairy Godmothers and Ken who ran the most gorgeous Bed and Breakfast in Eden Vale.


5. What countries did you visit?


Cyberia, the Emirates for 2 hours in transit and the Netherlands.


6. What would you like to have in 2015 that you lacked in 2014?

Some grand plan and purpose for existence.



7. What dates from 2014 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

The freaky fringe, pretty much most of February and a little bit of January
18 July the hypothetical from hell MH17
24 August the reincarnation of Hilde, a creepy crawly blonde blue eyed revolting relative
22 November- the return of the inner serpent
24 December. Landing in Amsterdam for the first visit in 8 years.


8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Snaffling more than 70% in a very nasty online course science fiction and fantasy literature course. It was a ridiculous amount of work but well worth the effort. There were other courses where I got well over 90% with a reasonable amount of effort but they just did not require an extraordinary amount of work
Winning Camp Nano in April and July and the main event Nanowrimo in November
A late addition to the list, getting a new passport and plane tickets arranged and completed in eight days.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Doing nothing whatsoever with all those first drafts and all that stuff learnt in those online courses


10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Just the usual serpent insanity

11. What was the best thing you bought?

The usual bunch of books.

12. Where did most of your money go?

The biggest expense for the year was the annual rates and sewage charges most likely followed by bus fares and lots of pots of tea. Being mortgage free means there’s more left over for the important things in life such as last minute plane tickets to visit relatives


13. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

The freaky fringe festival
It was absolutely fabulous

Coursera

This is an online arena for folks addicted to learning all sorts of strange and peculiar things and long may they be of no use to anyone

Nanowrimo
An ounce of achievement beats a tone of entertainment. It’s fun to go unleash the inner beast on a crazy squiggling fest.

14. What song will always remind you of 2014?

Happy by Pharrell Williams.
Charon by Keaton Hensen

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:

Older or wiser?

Obviously older and hopefully wiser too


Thinner or fatter?

Fatter. Ask Petunia - that's the only bit of Izzie that she is capable of noticing.

Richer or poorer?

Pretty much the same. I’ve got everything I need and most of what I want so that makes me much better off than most folks


16. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Gardening and growing things
Writing in the little green book. So many interesting things happened and due to assorted distractions, there is no record of most of them


17. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Being greedy with online courses and taking on too many at one time.


18. How did you spend Christmas?

Originally it would have been at Petunia’s place with the Grinch in the house. The territory turned out to be very different from that original map. Spent it instead with my sisters family and had cheese fondue for dinner.


19. Did you fall in love in 2014?

What is love?


20. What was your favorite TV program?

Since the analog signal got nuked I no longer have a television.

21. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

Hate is too strong a word. Loathe is more appropriate but since this creepy crawly has been on the serpent radar for a good six years then he just does not count. But some of his minions like the minister for immigration, the terminator and Poncy Poodle Pyne have made it onto the hit list


22. What was the best book you read?

How can I be expected to pick only one?

Non Fiction - The 5 elements of effective thinking
Fiction
The Hangman’s Replacement
The Ring
Haunted
The Firm
(Not possible at present to give any more details since I am tweeking this post using a crappy tablet and two fingers which is very frustrating especially trying to navigate on the page)

23. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Jen Cloher
Keaton Hensen
Spooked

24. What did you want and get?

A puple winners ribbon in Nanoland. Three if one counts Camp Nano as well.


25. What did you want and not get?

20 hours per week of paid work.

26. What was your favorite film of this year?

Calvary
Mockingjay

27. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

Pleading the 5th amendment on this one

28. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Enough paid work to escape the clutches of the government goblins.



29. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2014?


Fashion is an alien concept to this slobbish serpent. But we are rather partial to green hats and baggy blouses to hide all the blubber


30. What kept you sane?

Sane - Izzie sane? Never ever?

31. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I am almost tempted to say Vladimir Putin ;)

32. What political issue stirred you the most?

All of them but especially watching the insidious influence that power has on people and the elaborate justifications conjured to explain the complete trashing of a whole bunch of election promises.
Watching how the mad monk is working his way through the ten commandments of keeping power




33. Who did you miss?
Ickle Winnie from the days at the mad house. Never even got to say goodbye and she died this year

34. Who was the best new person you met?

Sure there's lots but presently too brain dead to think of any.


35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2014:

Always keep a stash saved for a rainy day.

36. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

Back later with this one