Everyone else seems to have done it, so...

1.What did you do in 2004 that you'd never done before?
- Got a proper job.
- Passed two job interviews without being offered a consolation prize job instead of the one I went for.
- Built a proper wargames board (although I've yet to use the damn thing).

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
- I didn't make any (I think). I've not made any this year. If I were to do so, though, it'd probably be to stop looking for the best in everyone's motivations, all the goddamn time. It's one thing to try and view something from someone else's point of view (a good thing, as well), but sometimes it's just devil's advocacy and people act like shit because they're morally fucked up, or selfish, or ignorant, or just evil. (No, my job hasn't made me jaded, not at all...)

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
- No.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
- My cats, Topsy and Carrie, although I think Carrie was actually last year.

5. What countries did you visit?
- Scotland, specifically the Glasgow area with Wrong Mike and Anny to pick up Git.

6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004?
- A permanent job, rather than a temporary contract.
- A girlfriend would be nice as well.

7. What date from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
- 26th December, because 140,000 people deserve it.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
- Getting my jobs.
- Being asked to write for Cthulhu Dark Ages.

9. What was your biggest failure?
- Not getting into St. Martin's.

10. Were you seriously ill during 2004?
- Not seriously.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
- Half-Life 2
- Cthulhu Dark Ages

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
- The world, for its response to the tsunami.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
- (Depressed) A portion of the Pulsar exec, but only when online. Professional differences, but hey, that's in the past.
- (Appalled) Git, the Luxembourger bastard. This one's in the present. The self-centred, manipulative scumfuck.
- (Depressed) Those who tried to use the tsunami as a way of scoring points against governments who didn't immediately hand over their nation's GNP in aid. I raise my hand here, against Bush's paltry first offer, but let's face it, no one knew how many people had actually died for days afterwards, and it isn't just a case of writing a cheque and saying, "Spend it." The money has to be found somewhere. That takes time. A nation can chuck a quid or two into a bucket and raise a phenomenal amount in just a few days. Governments have to see where they can get the money from.

(Not a particularly well phrased question, this one, since appalled and depressed are two separate emotions, and either of them can exist completely independently.)

14. Where did most of your money go?
- Necessary stuff, like rent and so on, first.
- Then DVDs, books and computer/video games.

15. What did you get excited about?
- My bedroom. (So big, so cool!)
- Being asked to write something for Cthulhu Dark Ages. (Woot!)
- Half-Life 2, plus the processor upgrade I needed to run it(!).
- The sheer size of the Writers' Guild (less excited when I realised that every female there was either in a relationship, gay or both - this isn't what I founded the society for, dammit!).

16. What song will always remind you of 2004?
- What Do You Do With A BA In English, from the musical, Avenue Q. It could almost have been written about me in the first half of the year.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Happier.
ii. thinner or fatter? Fatter, if that's the right word. Less thin's probably better.
iii. richer or poorer? Richer. I am now less in debt than I was a year ago.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
- Writing. I just haven't done enough this year. Even when I was unemployed, I didn't knuckle down and produce much. The stuff I have written has been good, though.
- Romantic stuff.
- And sex. That would have been nice as well.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
- Signing on.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
- No idea. I quite like the idea of spending it in Lancaster, but not if there's no one else in the house on Christmas Day. I spent Millennium Eve alone and miserable, and I'm not doing it again (although I still say the only way of truly experiencing such a unifying, global event was to stay at home and watch it on TV).

21. How many one night stands?
- None. (Kind of depressing)

22. Did you fall in love in 2004?
- No. (More depressing)

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
- No. I don't do hatred. It's not worth it. Hatred is an active emotion that requires constant attention. It wastes too many hours and causes too much stress. Hell, I've even stopped hating Dharmesh Mistry, my flatmate from the first year. I still think he's a childish little shit, and I dislike him for that and for the crap he put me through in Grizedale, but it's not worth the effort to actively hate someone I've not spoken to for the best part of four years.

24. What was your favorite TV programme?
- Firefly, no contest.
- Well, somewhere close behind is Alias, followed by the West Wing.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
- It's been a pretty good year. At the top, I'd probably say, Hans Zimmer. Fucking amazing, some of his film soundtracks, particularly Black Hawk Down. Other than that, the Smiths, Tori Amos, Richard Cheese and Leonard Cohen (spot the odd one out in that list...).

26. What was the best book you read?
- Transmetropolitan.

27. Are you happy with your lot?
- Yes, overall. A little lonely from time to time.

28. What did you want and get?
- An upgrade that bumps my computer back into the mine's-bigger-than-yours stakes.

29. What did you want and NOT get?
- A flat-screen monitor.
- A new power pack, also for the computer.
- Kirsten Dunst.

30. What was your favourite film of this year?
- The Return of the King Extended Edition, although I still haven't seen it. How fanboyish is that?
- Okay, if it's films I have actually watched, that'd have to be Shaun of the Dead. Superb script, acting, direction. I'm not exagerrating when I say I consider that film to be a work of art, rather than just entertainment. And it genuinely is a romantic comedy. With zombies.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
- Had Anny and Emilie over for dinner at Lentworth House. That was good. I was 23.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
- Hmm, just falling into a relationship, preferably (but not compulsarily) one that didn't fit into The Beg, Borrow or Steal Theory (Williamson, 2004), which seems to apply to most of the relationships in the extended LURPS/Pulsar/etc. circle of friends. We're an incestuous lot, aren't we?

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004?
- Casual, apart from when I was at work. At work, my fashion concept became, anything but white, cos that's fucking soul-destroying and vilely boring.

34. What kept you sane?
- Being psychologically sound helped, something which occasionally makes me look odd amongst my circle of friends.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
- Kirsten Dunst. It's amazing what a killer smile and a rain-sodden dress can do for me. *rolls eyes*

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
- The US elections.
- The "aftermath" of the Iraq war (although I notice the BBC occasionally refer to the "ongoing" war in Iraq).
- The hypocrisy of the media. (Not a political thing in itself, but politics often finds itself embroiled in this kind of bollocks.)
- Anything where someone's personal life has been used as a weapon in political feuding. (Come on, who's more of a role model? A politician or a Premiership footballer? Who's more likely to resign, nay, expected to, because of an affair?)

37. Who did you miss?
- Claire and Liz, two friends I've almot lost touch with and haven't seen for ages.
- Emilie as well - I barely saw her last term, damn her MA.

38. Who were the best new people you met?
- Mandy, Danielle, Cath.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004:
- How to change a light fitting. (Did it this evening. Piece of piss.)
- Make sure, rather than just being good at something practical, make sure you have a bit of paper that says so (CLAIT Plus, in my case, although it later turned out I need to resit the Access module, oops).


40. Quote a song lyric that sums up (the first half of) your year:
”What do you do with a BA in English,
What is my life going to be?
Four years of college,
And plenty of knowledge,
Have earned me this useless degree.
I can't pay the bills yet,
Cos I have no skills yet.
The world is a big scary place.
But somehow I can't shake,
The feeling I might make,
A difference to the human race.”