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[Jan. 1st, 2010|02:25 am]
Scott
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In accordance with the prophecy, the end of year new years meme rides again!
1)Was 2009 a good year for you?
Yes. I finally started feeling confident, whatever that means.
2) What was your favourite moment of the year?
Kleine Scheidegg in Switzerland, having winter break completely free, feeling like some of this medicine stuff is starting to come together.
3) What was your least favourite moment of the year?
I was certain I failed my term 2 final and went completely crazy for a few days thinking I'd have to drop out of medical school and all that; I ended up having done rather well on it.
4) Where were you when 2009 began?
In Irvine.
5) Who were you with?
My parents, my brother, two aunts, two uncles, three cousins, and a grandmother.
6) Where will you be when 2009 ends?
Cork.
7) Who will you be with when 2009 ends?
Eoin and Ardashir are in town for the week, though they're both off at a party now.
8) Did you keep your new years resolution of 2009?
I deliberately decided not to make one, and I'm happy with how that turned out.
9) Do you have a new years resolution for 2009?
It's more of "something I hope to do anyway" than a New Years Resolution, but I want to ace the USMLE, the big medical licensing exam I've got to take this year.
10) Did you fall in love in 2009?
Love is such a strong word. I had the usual assortment of minor crushes followed by disappointment followed by disinterest.
[skip 11-15]
16) Did you make any new friends in 2009?
Hm. Well, the Peters family, who I just met this December, all seem really neat. Other than that, I've been my usual self and stuck with the people I've known for years and years.
[skip 17, see above]
18) What was your favourite month of 2009?
Tie between July and December.
19) Did you travel outside of the US in 2009?
I've been to Ireland, Switzerland, and France.
20) How many different states did you travel to in 2009?
California for home, Utah for Nana, Rhode Island and Massachussetts for Uncle Mark's family, and a few plane changes for good measure.
21) Did you lose anybody close to you in 2009?
Carol "Hypatia's Mom" Reavis passed away a few weeks ago. I didn't know her as well as some other people, but she was a wonderful woman and left us all too soon.
22) Did you miss anybody in the past year?
Although I really like being able to stay here over the winter, I wish I'd gotten to see my parents and grandparents. And although I'm not really the sort of person to obsess over family and babies, I do hope I get a chance to see my cousin's new baby Audrey soon.
23) What was your favourite movie that you saw in 2009?
I'd have to go with Watchmen. Emma from class took a bunch of us out to see it. I'd never read the comics before, and I loved both the story and the way the film was done.
24) What was your favourite song from 2009?
Again using the criteria of songs *I* first heard in 2009, I liked
In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel
King of Morning, Queen of Day and other cool Horslips stuff
And I only recently found Be Human by Scott Matthew
25) What was your favourite new album from 2009?
Night Castle by Trans-Siberian Orchestra, especially Epiphany
[skip 26 through 30]
31) Did you do anything you are ashamed of this year?
A few times, when I've had to spend too much time around people, I've blown up at them. Definitely happened when I was vacationing in Ireland with my family. I need to stop doing that.
32) What was the biggest lie you told in 2009?
I can't think of any beyond the normal social lubricating type. Excessive lying is not among my many flaws.
33) What was the worst lie someone told you in 2009?
Eh, long story, but I went to a class party where everyone was bringing something to eat, and the person in charge told me it'd be okay if I just helped set up instead. Then she decided she didn't want me to help setting up after all, and I was left as the only person in the party who hadn't helped. Not an intentional lie, but still got me really upset. I suppose this being the worst I can think of is one advantage to having a life that's not a huge web of deceit or whatever.
34) Did you treat somebody badly in 2009?
A blog I read discusses "Umeshisms", the classic example of which is "If you never miss your plane, you're spending too much time at airports." My Umeshism for the night is that if you can't think of anyone you've treated badly, you're not having enough social interaction. I think I'm not having enough social interaction.
35) Did somebody treat you badly in 2009?
The school administration, in a low-grade and impersonal way, but no one's really out to get me. Sometimes I get sad when I think  saikar is being needlessly hostile and insulting, but I'm getting used to it. There was a bit of drama over me inviting someone to a school ball, but I had the good sense to keep it off LiveJournal and intend to continue that policy.
36) How much money did you spend in 2009?
My Swiss vacation probably cost up to 2000 euro all together. The rest of the year was basically just my 45 euro/week food budget, my 250/month rent and very little else.
38) What was your most embarrassing moment of 2009?
Can't think of any.
39) If you could go back in time to any moment of 2009 and change it, what would it be?
I wish I had called Carol and gotten a chance to talk with her a bit before she passed away.
40) What are your plans for 2010?
I'll be taking the USMLE in the summer, and studying a lot for it before then. I want to take advantage of my studying and the cool QBanks I have access to, to get good at medicine. I want to keep fencing and maybe enter a tournament or two if our gym ever gets unflooded. My low-grade quest to get a girlfriend continues as usual. I plan to go to ShireCon X in April and to join my family in southern Spain right afterwards. I'd like to do more with the_eoin, maybe meet  sir_ophiucus if he's in the area. And I want to complete my quest to be Duke of every Duchy in Shireroth once.
41) What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Shadowed doctors in a hospital.
42)Did anyone close to you give birth?
My cousin Julia gave birth to my whatever-you-call-your-cousin's-daughter Audrey.
43)What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
A good idea what medical specialty I want to go into, a girlfriend, and the Dutchy of Kildare.
44)What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
December 8th was my OSCE, which I was completely dreading, but I did okay on it.
45)What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I started blogging on Less Wrong under my Yvain pseudonym and a lot of really smart people really liked what I had to say. It brings me one step closer to being a real blogger with the red cape and hot air balloon and everything.
46)What was your biggest failure?
My failures were more what I didn't do than any specific thing. I didn't do much this year except sit around and study and occasionally blog.
47)What was the best thing you bought?
Kaplan QBank USMLE practice. I'm learning so much from it so quickly, and for some reason the format circumvents my usual motivation problems with studying.
48)Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Well, I can never say enough how happy I am to have the parents and family I do. But if I have to choose something specific to this year, I nominate Kael from CivFanatics.com. His free Fall From Heaven modpack, which he and his team worked thousands of hours on, is an outstanding work of art and helped me truly enjoy wasting dozens of hours.
49)Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
The health insurance lobby. The tea party people may be morons, but their hearts are in the right places and they're just a bit deceived. The insurance lobby knows exactly what they're doing, they're very good at it, and it's not pretty.
50)What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Fencing tournaments, Switzerland, having the house to myself for winter break, the Shirerithian annexation of Hurmu.
51)Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Happier.
ii. thinner or fatter? Fatter.
iii. richer or poorer? Undefined, still living off parental money/loans
52)What do you wish you'd done more of?
I wish I'd spent more time developing Hyperborean culture.
53)What do you wish you'd done less of?
Global health class and everything relating to it.
54)How did you spend Christmas?
At home studying - and I loved it!
[skip 55]
56)What was your favourite TV program?
I watched all 8 seasons of Scrubs, then moved on to Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. All good. Earlier in the year I was pretty into House, and even learned a bit from it.
57)Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
That would be depressing, and my feelings are too complicated for anything like unbridled hatred.
58)What was the best book you read?
The entire Dies The Fire series by S.M. Stirling. Honorable mention to Peter Watts and his archaeobacteria infested technomessiahs.
59)What was your greatest musical discovery?
I was very lucky to discover the Horslips' Book of Invasions, and perhaps the Electric Light Orchestra.
60)What did you want and get?
A better house.
61)What did you want and not get?
Silence.
62)What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 25. I was doing first aid for a fencing tournament all day, which was not at all unpleasant.
63)What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A better medical school curriculum.
64)How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
I like my answer from last year: "whatever I could scrounge up, while secretly wishing I could wear Mongolian clothing." I did get my first buzz cut, and intend to continue with the really short hair look.
65)What kept you sane?
Micronations is both my de-stresser and one of my major sources of stress.
66)Which celebrity figure did you admire the most?
Norman Borlaug, who died last year, was a great man. Hal Finney isn't a celebrity except in a very very specific subculture, but he wrote an essay that left me feeling "wow".
67)What political issue stirred you the most?
Health care got my attention, but I had the good sense not to become emotionally involved.
68)Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
That a whole lot of akrasia and mental dilly-dallying can be easily avoided by setting precise, time-limited, and highly quantified goals and then executing them with fanatical committment.
69)Quote a song lyric.
With your face to the wind
You're beginning to think of a new life,
And you pull tight your cloak 'round your throat
And the wind seems to sing... </i></blockquote> |
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