To summarize

The end-of-the-year meme that I've been doing for a couple of years now. I warn you, this is a biggie. There were some 30-odd questions that I chose not to answer, plus a list of "check this if you did it" questions that I also eliminated, because this thing alone took up 4 pages in Word.

Enjoy!

1) Was 2007 a good year for you?
It is amazing, how much a person can change over the course of a year. One year in life, and my feelings have shifted so drastically. Go back two years, and I’m even more different at 21 from what I was at 19. I think that’s why I enjoy this once-a-year quizzes and letters (I write myself a letter at the end of every December, since 2005, and read it in the following December, via FutureMe) – it’s a great way to literally see how much I’ve changed.
Let’s see. I don’t want to sum up the entire year, month-by-month, ‘cause that’d probably bore most of you (and I probably already blogged it). Let’s say that it was… for the most part, positive. Even the negative events can be made positive – I’ll elaborate on this a little later. The point is, whether the incident itself was negative or not, the lasting impact it’s made thus far has served my life for the better.
I’m taking life with a grain of salt, and it’s working out pretty well.

2) What was your favorite moment of the year?
I dislike the word “favorite” – it implies… well, favoritism. I’ll just state that now, so that I won’t have to reiterate my point at every “favorite [blank]” question I run across.
There were many enjoyable moments this year. The latter half of my year as an RA wasn’t as… rewarding as the earlier parts, which I detailed in the End of 2006 meme, but the moments I shared with true friends and family were more than enough to make up for what lacked. My cousin Gus finally got married; KLo, Chris, and I made many memorable memories during Spring quarter (St. Patrick’s Day; the Cliffs; the emergency room – more in the next question); I worked at a Girl Scout camp and made new friends; I took fun (but challenging) courses; I became a History minor; I became Fourth Year Senator on Student Council – all good things.
I reacquainted myself with the #sdcolleges crew, even popping into the IRC channel on occasion, and while they haven’t changed much, it’s still an enjoyable and always friendly atmosphere. Sometimes I forget how wonderful it is, being loved just for being myself.

3) What was your least favorite moment of the year?
I cracked my shin during the early weeks of Spring quarter, and Chris and KLo dragged me to the emergency room. This wasn’t my least favorite moment because I had to go to the ER, however – I’m used to going to the ER (scarily enough). What made it one of my worst moments was the feeling of betrayal by one of my “close” RA buddies. The utter lack of sympathy I felt from him was just astonishing, and eye-opening. Chris and KLo, and many of the other RAs, were almost too worried, but him? Nothing. Not even an “are you okay?” did I receive from him. Shocking, considering what he had previously meant to me.
Earlier in the year, and also tied to him, was an all-out argument – raised voices, tears, anger, betrayal – between him and M, versus myself and J. I already outlined this fight, so I won’t rehash it all again, but it still stands as a rather horrible memory, especially since I still don’t know what exactly it was that I did to deserve that kind of treatment.
Heartbreak seems to be the key that links all of my years together; painful memories are certainly the easiest to recall. I didn’t fall in love, this year, but it’s been proved that friends are as capable – perhaps even more so – of breaking my heart as any man I’ve lost my heart to.
Other bad memories – breaking up a fight, in the rain, at around 2 or 3 am, at building 705 (I was the RA for building 706, mind you), and there was another one that I can’t remember at the moment (oh yes, my doctor's appointment in June).

4) Where were you when 2007 began?
Once again, I was at home. I did spend a part of the evening at my friend Jesper’s house, where friends were gathered for a party. But I rang in the New Year at home…

5) Who were you with?
… and I rang it in with family.

6) Where will you be when 2007 ends?
I’ll probably be at home.

7) Who will you be with when 2007 ends?
And I’ll probably be with family.

8) Did you keep your new year’s resolution of 2007?
All in all, I suppose. I was a better friend to the friends I felt were worth keeping. I’ve improved my health in some ways, sort of. Well. Okay, so maybe the health thing failed. But who’s perfect?

9) Do you have a new year’s resolution for 2008?
Not yet.

10) Did you fall in love in 2007?
No.

11) Did you breakup with anyone in 2007?
No.

12) Did you make any new friends in 2007?
Yes.

13) Who are your favorite new friends?
Again, I don’t choose favorites.

14) What was your favorite month of 2007?
Let’s see. My birth month is always enjoyable, but I think I actually liked the earlier months, such March, April, and May, the best. There were a lot of fun times packed into those months, and I relish warm weather.
15) Did you travel outside of the US in 2007?
YES, YES I DID! I finally went to Korea! It was a great experience, overall, and I’m so glad to have finally gotten off the American continent!

15) How many different states did you travel to?
Okay see, now this part is boring. I’m quite certain that I didn’t leave California.

16) Did you lose anyone close to you?
Not to Death, no, but I’ve parted ways with friends, mostly because they burned down their bridges to me a long time ago.

17) Did you miss anybody in the past year?
Yes, but they weren’t… well, I was going to write that they weren’t worth it, but that’s not quite true. They are all great people, but when they stopped valuing their relationship with me as highly as I valued mine with them, it got harder to continue putting in that kind of effort. I could have tried harder, yes, but couldn’t they have tried at all?
Now I see what being an “off-campus” friend is like.
18) What was your favorite movie that you saw in 2007?
I do believe that 300 takes first prize. I also greatly enjoyed the film adaptations of The Golden Compass, Stardust, and Hairspray. Pan’s Labyrinth was beautiful, and original. And there were a lot of other great films as well.

19) What was your favorite song from 2007?
Again, this category is stupid. I don’t ever pick just one favorite song – I’ve sung my heart out to a variety of artists, from Carrie Underwood to Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

20) What was your favorite album from 2007?
Same thing.

21) How many concerts did you see in 2007?
One – Sungod 2007, featuring T.I.

22) Did you have a favorite concert in 2007?
Sungod is Sungod – I don’t think I’d ever classify it as a favorite event (especially since I don’t do favorites), but the 2007 event was fun.

23) Did you drink a lot of alcohol?
Not really. I got drunk, finally, but that’s been all of… twice. So no, not a lot of alcohol (though it does take me quite a bit to get there).

24) Did you do a lot of drugs in 2007?
Doxycilin, erythromicin, Benadryl, Tylenol, Advil.

25) How many people did you sleep with in 2007?
48465497415156.

26) Did you do anything you are ashamed of this year?
I don’t recall anything particularly shameful. There are certain things that other people might think I ought to be ashamed of doing, but I’m not.

27) What was the worst lie someone told you in 2005?
It’s not so much that they lied; they just made promises that they weren’t able to keep.
I believe that when you declare yourself a friend to someone else, there are certain promises you automatically make, promises that you take for granted until they’re suddenly broken or left unfulfilled.

28) Did you treat somebody badly?
People certainly think so, but again, I don’t know exactly what it is about my behavior – choosing to see a movie with J, instead of waiting to see it with J as well as M and S – that violated all laws of friendship. Apparently, this all related to how J and I were changing in ways that weren’t agreeable to M and S.
I suppose it’s possible that I missed something, but I doubt it. My memory’s pretty damn good when it comes to those kind of things.

29) Did somebody treat you badly in 2005?
People are incredibly good at hurting one another. I’ll repeat myself this year – a truism that still holds from 2005 – that’s life.

30) How much money did you spend in 2005?
A lot, but on necessities, like rent and food.

31) What was your proudest moment of 2005?
I’ve realized who truly matters in my life; I’ve come to terms with the oftentimes hellish disaster that is my family; I wrote a damn good research paper; I’m wrapping up four years of college.

32) What was your most embarrassing moment of 2007?
See, “embarrassing’ moments are all now just either too inconseq uential (which MS doesn’t think is a word) to remember or just so damn funny that they’re no longer embarrassing, that I can’t actually place any particular moment.
Oh, and “most [blank]” can join the “favorite [blank]” in the elitist category.

33) If you could go back in time to any moment of 2005 and change something, what would it be?
I wouldn’t. I always ask the Eternal Sunshine question – who would you erase, if you had the opportunity? And my answer is always the same – no one.
No regrets, just lessons learned.

34) What are your plans for 2008?
Graduate; get a job in SD; take summer classes; intern; apply to grad school.