Frame of my Mind

Happy 2010, everyone! It’s not quite 2010 here yet, but I thought I should post an entry now before I forget. Also, a happy belated Christmas to everyone – and I hope that your holidays were great. :)

I had an amazing time visiting my family with Justin – we shared lots of presents and ate well (Justin even got me a giant lolly which I sucked on for a few days :D) and I now have lots of things that I can use to learn to cook in the new year – some pans, measuring spoons, a casserole dish and even a Dutch recipe book from Emma.

I also went out to dinner at London steakhouse, Goodman’s, as the company Christmas do and it was the best meal I’d eaten all year (sorry, mum!) of New York strip steak, mushroom sauce, beans, chips and extra mushrooms with creme brulee for dessert. I couldn’t help but laugh when Dan (my boss) ordered a bowl of tomato ketchup and two bowls of chips with his biggest steak (650g) after the waitress tried to persuade him that he wouldn’t be able to eat it all. He did eat it all. Then he ordered two more bowls of chips and another bowl of ketchup, and still had room for pudding.

I decided to copy a questionnaire from Darnielle, in celebration of the new year.

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before? Rented my very own apartment with my boyfriend instead of living in dormitories, shared households or with my parents.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don’t think I made any resolutions for 2009, and I don’t think I’ll make any resolutions per-se for 2010 – only that I hope to learn to cook. :)

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My boyfriend’s brother and sister in law had a baby girl named Imogen, and Jem gave birth to a baby girl named Isabel.

4. Did anyone close to you die? No.

5. What countries did you visit? Japan. :)

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? More savings in prepatation to buy a house.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? My 21st birthday (20th January) – kinda obvious.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Work related achivements at Christmas, and graduation from university.

9. What was your biggest failure? Deciding not to turn up to the Japanese exam after all, because I had nowhere near studied enough to even get half marks – so I decided to stay in bed.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I had a few colds, and possibly swine flu? Nothing that didn’t clear up in a few days. I also currently have a cut across my finger as part of a sewing related injury.

11. What was the best thing you bought? Did I ‘buy’ permission to live within this flat? :P If that doesn’t count, probably the Christmas presents I bought for my parents – they will be well loved forever.

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

14. Where did most of your money go? On renting this damn flat. Other than that and the essentials, probably on books. No wait, I spent a lot on the Japan trip. :)

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Visiting Japan. :D

16. What song will always remind you of 2009? Rage Against the Machine – Killing in the Name. (If you didn’t hear, they got Christmas #1 in the UK over X-Factor winner – the first download only #1, ever, all because of social networking.)

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: (a) happier or sadder? (b) thinner or fatter? (c) richer or poorer? a) Happier, by a mile. b) About the same? Maybe fatter. Not that it means much! c) Richer, but not rich. I mean, I earn more, but it gets spent quickly enough.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Travelling and studying.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Working!

20. How did you spend Christmas? I went to visit my parents in Dorset with Justin and we had amazing Christmas with lots of presents and food, and also went out for work Christmas dinner. It was the first time I had ever met my boss & colleagues but it was amazing. Gorgeous steak at a really nice steakhouse in London, I will never forget. :)

21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with? Until we moved in together, Justin. After that, my mum.

22. Did you fall in love in 2009? I fell in love at the end of 2008, and we are still in love.

23. How many one night stands this past year? None.

24. What was your favourite TV program? Peep Show.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? No.

26. What was the best book you read? A Thousand Splended Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I loved The Kite Runner, too. He is an amazing author.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Justice. :)

28. What did you want and get? New pans and a casserole dish, Wii Fit, and some jigsaw puzzles.

29. What did you want and not get? A sewing machine. :P (It is a little expensive!)

30. What was your favorite film of this year? Avatar, in 3D, at the cinema. I don’t think you could watch it in any other way. :)

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I had a party at my parents’ house with a few of my best friends, and played drinking games. It was pretty fun. I turned 21.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Saving more money to put towards a mortgage deposit.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009? Black, with a bit of pink or purple depending on my mood – so a lot more normal than usual. Occasionally goth. For the first time in years I let my hair turn back to its natural colour (strawberry blonde i.e. bordering on ginger).

34. What kept you sane? Justin, my family and my friends.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I don’t fancy celebrities, I fancy Justin. :P

36. What political issue stirred you the most? The fact that so-called supporters of a liberal democracy protested against the appearance of the British National Party on a show broadcast by the BBC – a company that have to remain impartial. What kind of democracy do we live in when we forbid certain people from having their say just because we don’t agree with them?

37. Who did you miss? My parents.

38. Who was the best new person you met? My boss, Dan. Amazing person – and we have a lot in common, and he’s quite funny. :)

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009. Don’t put off important decisions just because someone might get hurt.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. “Now it’s a good time for a tasty glass of wine, let’s not burden our minds with carbon dioxide.” Zero 7 – Waiting to Die

Today me and Justin took a trip to the Kyoto Garden in Holland Park, London. As if you couldn’t tell from it’s name, it’s a Japanese style garden created by gardeners from Kyoto – where the Japanese style garden is particularly abundant. It features neatly cut grass (which you weren’t allowed to walk on, though a few sunbathers decided not to abide by this rule) and a pathway surrounding a large pond housing various types of koi carp – very magnificent. Read more…

You may have noticed earlier that I posted a sarcastic remark here, and a link – Checks on children’s club drivers. This was because I was at work, and didn’t have time to write a proper entry about our government’s latest ’scheme’. I am of course referring to the new vetting and barring scheme. An attempt to prevent child abuse by requiring all adults who have ‘frequent’ or ‘intensive’ contact with children to be criminally record checked. Anyone who fails the check will be barred from working with children. Read more…