uberreiniger | End of Year survey stolen from ayashi

1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?
Got shirtless and covered with shaving cream and donuts onstage, took up freelance work. No, these two things are not related.

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I resolved to read as many books as I did last year. I fell short of this but in a way I didn't because as a whole the books I read this year wear much longer than the ones I read last year, typically 600 - 900 pages each. I also resolved to publish more fiction, which I did with From The Bedside Diary of Brisins De Mar.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Nobody comes to mind.

shadowfell still has a couple of days to pull it off though as of this writing.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No one close to me, thankfully, although a few I knew in passing did.

5. What countries did you visit?
No countries! I stayed in the US this year.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
The equipment to fully realize and record my music; a band with people who aren't bigoted conspiracy theorist libertarians.

7. What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
December 15th. Message me privately if you want to know why.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting out of my parents' house, getting into freelance work.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Let's just say my life is never going to improve until I learn to become truly assertive about a few key things.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Had a bad flare-up of plantar fasciitis during the summer but that was about it.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
A replacement for my mp3 player. I did not realize how much I appreciated that thing until it was gone.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

adele87 and

dungeonwriter are just two who come to mind.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I work in retail so pretty much everyone and their elderly mothers. Especially their elderly mothers.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Why would you ask a question like this when only one percent of the American population has an answer that isn't depressing.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Getting to see three different concerts by bands I love earlier this year, those bands being Motorhead, Eluveite, and Amon Amarth.

16. What song will always remind you of 2011?

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder?
ii. thinner or fatter?
iii. richer or poorer?

Um... same, fatter, remains to be seen?

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Made money

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Wasted time on people who ultimately didn't care about me.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
We visited my parents, then took a nice long nap, then went and looked at Christmas lights down on the Plaza. It turned out to be a pretty fun day.

21. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?
Don't know. It's a holiday I'm pretty indifferent about and I'm usually content to do whatever.

22. Did you fall in love in 2011?
With the musical stylings of a few artists and with a few musical instruments crafted by B.C. Rich.

23. How many one-night stands?
I didn't have those when I was single. Why would I have them now?

24. What was your favorite TV program?
Game of Thrones and Once Upon A Time.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I'm gonna let Overkill field this one...

26. What was the best book you read?
Oh wow, always a tough one. I think it was The Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie: an earth-shattering conclusion to one of the most brutal and uncompromising literary series I have ever read.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Florence + The Machine

28. What did you want and get?
A second source of income that doesn't involve killing myself with overwork.

29. What did you want and not get?
New guitars, but I'm closing in on that goal, I hope.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
That came out this year? Transformers: Dark of the Moon which managed to be awesome despite Shia Lebouf and the death of Ironhide (again).

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Went to Dairy Queen and ate ice cream cake with a couple of close friends. After the drama of my previous birthday I wanted to keep it low key and we succeeded.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
The movie I was acting in not getting scrapped.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
Long hair is coming back into style.

34. What kept you sane?
Metal music, books, and the characters in my head. And I'm aware how controversial that last one is in this context.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Esme Bianco is some fine eye candy on Game of Thrones, I'm not gonna lie, and I like Florence Welch for more than just her immense musical talent. Ginnifer Goodwin from Once Upon A Time is a fine lass as well. Honorable mention goes to Connie Britton of American Horror Story: total MILF.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Gay marriage and Occupy Wall Street.

37. Who did you miss?
The friends I lost. And I had quite a few friends turn their backs on me this year.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
I feel like I've met a lot of good people through my work and online. I feel very fortunate that way and they are too many to name here.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011:
Most people when talking politics don't want a dialogue or to resolve things. They want to fight and beat people up.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
"You want a revelation,
You want to get it right
But, it's a conversation,
I just can't have tonight "
-Florence + The Machine, "No Light, No Light"