Wednesday, 31 December 2008

Happy New Year!!!

quote [ Woot... almost done! ]

So SE, I just wanted to wish you lot a Happy New Year. Let us know your highlights and lowlights of 2008, your resolutions for 2009 and your plans for tonight.

I'll start: Highlights: Moving to New Zealand for 3 years, my son doing really well in school, coming home for the holidays, the Montreal Festival season (wooo Francopholie)

Lowlights: Moving to New Zealand (the reality of a really small job market where you know almost no one is tough), missing home, being served with a cease and desist letter by my former employers for having posted work I did there on my portfolio site, realizing that my ludite father is going to be a ludite till he dies (no skype... grrr)...

Resolutions: weight, per usual. I'm fitter than I've been in ages, but I still need to lose weight, job (I need one), learn to drive (I'll be 40 this year, it seems to be time)...

Tonight I'm going to hang with my wife and son, and later on my oldest buddy is coming by with his kid, they're going to sleep over at our nearly empty house and then in the morning we're going to hit Bagels Etc for brunch (LOX! GLORIOUS LOX!)

Happy New Years to you and yours.

[by Ronin.ca@10:14pmGMT] [+10 Good]

Comments

Betty said @ 10:16pm GMT on 31st Dec
Happy New Years Y'all

jock said @ 10:16pm GMT on 31st Dec
yay, after 15 days away from the internets being greeted like this will surely make my new year better. Well.... better go party :D

Grunden Daster said @ 10:21pm GMT on 31st Dec
I'll be drinking more red wine in 2009.

Cheers!!

spite48 said @ 10:23pm GMT on 31st Dec [Score:1 Underrated]
Thanks for asking.

Highlights:

Moving to a new town, Birth of my second son. My first son is thriving and at just over two years old, is a really very nice guy. Started up my own law practice, and made more money than I have ever made in my life. Made tons of new friends and work contacts.

Lowlights:

Working way too many hours and being spread way too thin between family, work and friends. Gout.

Resolutions:

I will make my annual, self-defeating resolution never to ever make a resolution.

Tonight:

Kids in bed by 7:30. Friends over for steamed crab and other tasty morsels. Surprise group sex. Stealing your idea for breakfast.

Betty said @ 11:08pm GMT on 31st Dec
Surprise group sex

pixplsthx

spite48 said @ 12:45am GMT on 2nd Jan
Oh, I totally chickened out, or was joking. ;)

Resplendent_Elk said @ 1:28am GMT on 1st Jan
I've lost count of how many times me and my bi friends end up in the same bed or couch without any surprise groupsex happening. What's the secret?

leezurd said @ 6:49am GMT on 1st Jan [Score:1 Funny]
tasty morsels

Naruki said @ 1:09am GMT on 2nd Jan
Rape dollars.

dominion236 said @ 8:53am GMT on 1st Jan
Just curious, how are you getting gout at the age when you have a 2 year old and just got done impregnating your wife(?).

conception said @ 4:02pm GMT on 1st Jan
You can get gout just about any time. It's just more likely when you get old.

Naruki said @ 1:09am GMT on 2nd Jan
Yeah, I got it in high school.

spite48 said @ 12:44am GMT on 2nd Jan
fantastic luck and excellent planning.

Allanon said @ 11:44am GMT on 1st Jan
Anyone else here ever heard of surprise sex used as a euphemism for rape?

Baxter_UK said @ 1:17pm GMT on 1st Jan
Hi, welcome to SE.

insanemonkey said @ 4:17pm GMT on 1st Jan [Score:2]
it's not rape if you shout "surprise!"

DarkShadowRavenDragonGrrl69 said @ 10:25pm GMT on 31st Dec
Lowlight 08: Yesterday.
Highlights 08: None I can think of. Has been pretty evenly good.

Resolutions: Better paying job, lose weight, gain social skills, apologize to a bunch of people, stop drinking, spend less money on weed, find an interesting girlfriend

Happy New Years!

flat_michael said @ 11:40pm GMT on 31st Dec
I want to buy one of those air garden thingies and a packet of lowryder seeds.

DarkShadowRavenDragonGrrl69 said @ 11:48pm GMT on 31st Dec
Yeah, I thought about growing some myself. Being a stoner I just can't be fucked to actually do it.

I'd probably go with B-52 seeds. Grows fast, giant buds, strong high.

Allanon said @ 11:36am GMT on 1st Jan
These?
http://www.aerogrow.com/aerogardens/aerogarden-classic.php

Asscheeks Akimbo said @ 2:38am GMT on 1st Jan
Truckstop men's rooms are a good place to meet interesting women.

DarkShadowRavenDragonGrrl69 said @ 12:29pm GMT on 1st Jan
Possibly, but not girlfriends.

ian_pollock said @ 10:26pm GMT on 31st Dec
Almost re-posted this... good thing I refreshed my browser :P

Highlights: My Bro's Wedding in Jamaica, Getting Home For Xmas, Getting Back in time for NYE, got a new (used) car, camping/hiking in the mountains, my shower.

Lowlights: my grandfather passed away, got my heart broken a couple of times, tried to fix my addiction to pr0n, worked part time most of the year.

Resolutions... to lose 40 pounds (310, 6"4 now) to start up martial arts again, to get a better job

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! (except you crazy chinese... you get your own new years)

devolutionary said @ 10:28pm GMT on 31st Dec
Fuck New Years.

ian_pollock said @ 10:30pm GMT on 31st Dec
do we have time?

Dalej said @ 10:42pm GMT on 31st Dec
JERK A JAR, LADDIE!! :)

J-Loser said @ 5:04pm GMT on 1st Jan
the whole jar?

krimz said @ 10:32pm GMT on 31st Dec
Happy New Years!

(2008 never happened.)

sensibleb said @ 10:33pm GMT on 31st Dec
Happy New Year, SE!

And I'd like to remind you all that the holiday season is now officially over, so please take down your fucking Christmas lights. Thanks!

MEEJA HOR said @ 10:44pm GMT on 31st Dec
I might leave mine up to piss people off

f00m@nB@r said @ 10:38pm GMT on 31st Dec
had plans, then a bitch of a woman i know got my friend drunk so he's feeling too crappy to go out. he's a pushover, and she takes advantage of the fact.

f00m@nB@r said @ 8:35am GMT on 1st Jan
turned out to be a great evening: artsy loft party with butoh performance, and electronic noise. met lots of out-there artist types. interesting conversations.

no sex, but i did have a full 8 oz. of glenlivet 12. :D

kishi said @ 10:48pm GMT on 31st Dec
I'm absofuckinglutely ready for this year to be over. Given that I spent most of it unemployed, it sucked. Next year should be better, I hope- I'm going back to school, and I've got some projects that should, hopefully, work out.

kishi said @ 7:12am GMT on 1st Jan
Man. That club I went to sucked. It's pretty sad, but I actually miss the club I went to in Utah- most of the state may suck, but that place kicked ass.

I need the ability to teleport people and things through space, and then I'd be happy.

MEEJA HOR said @ 10:55pm GMT on 31st Dec
Cool idea...

Highlights;

Finding out who my real friends were this year, when I really needed them.
Cheap budget holidays that were short but sweet.

Lowlights;

Being so broke it wasn't funny anymore, pointless arguments, dealing with a boss who hates me.

Resolutions;

I tend not make them, they get broken too easily and no one really sticks to them.
Maybe more exercise, new job.
We'll see.

JOECAM said @ 11:07pm GMT on 31st Dec

.........DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE

"http://www.youtube.com/v/CGgOedVC3RY&hl=en&fs=1"

..........

Naruki said @ 1:12am GMT on 2nd Jan
Is... is he jerking his invisible penis so hard that it's bleeding?

Tirade said @ 11:09pm GMT on 31st Dec
Highlights... ummmm...

let's see...

Lowlights... damn. I've been busy all fucking year. How have I gotten so little done in the good or bad department?

bluemonkey said @ 11:11pm GMT on 31st Dec
Happy new year peeps!

Highlights: I'm back in college and im still alive. Got to spend christmas with my family in LA.

Lowlights: Just about everything else

Resolutions: Quit drinking soda, read more, get back into photography.

JOECAM said @ 11:11pm GMT on 31st Dec

......

PontifexPrimus said @ 11:21pm GMT on 31st Dec
Frohes Neues!

Well, my plans for tonight already worked out; I got a lot of fireworks to set off and some pyrotechnic ammunition to shoot. Now that my inner pyromaniac is sated I can start the new year happy and content...

Gipoun said @ 11:22pm GMT on 31st Dec
Highlights: Moving to a new town for a job, and then finding the person I never want to be apart from.

Buying my first vehicle: 1988 Ford Ranger, Woo!

Adding two new pets to the family: A second ferret, and an African Grey Parrot.

Lowlights: While I enjoy the job I moved to the new town for, the new boss is lousy.

JOECAM said @ 11:23pm GMT on 31st Dec
It is never, ever a good idea to ask a police officer to scratch certain parts of your anatomy.

flat_michael said @ 11:44pm GMT on 31st Dec
I'm not seeing the New Years relevance here.

Tirade said @ 1:40am GMT on 1st Jan
... when was the last time you've been to a New Year's party?

moriati said @ 11:30pm GMT on 31st Dec
happy new year to one and all

flat_michael said @ 11:46pm GMT on 31st Dec
lowlight: losing job

highlight: finding new job

resolution: find better job

'08 was neither great nor terrible. I'm hoping for good things before the decade ends.

JOECAM said @ 11:49pm GMT on 31st Dec

Protect Your Eyes When Popping the Cork

http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/news/20081231/new-years-champagne-corks-can-hurt-eyes?ecd=wnl_day_123108

-_- said @ 11:52pm GMT on 31st Dec

Tang said @ 12:40am GMT on 1st Jan
you know that commercial really did have everything i wanted to see in it
silly name... a product that looks neat... if it actually works
it had a mortal kombat type fatality + rednecks
and the line "my wife would like that"
and all in a cheesy tv ad this sadly made my year!

JOECAM said @ 12:24am GMT on 1st Jan [Score:1 Underrated]

Teen Booty Shake

"http://www.youtube.com/v/Pe34gc355DE&hl=en&fs=1"

assbastard said @ 1:37am GMT on 1st Jan
I'm going to prison. I hope you're happy.

teknokracy said @ 6:12pm GMT on 1st Jan
Why the hell does every girl who shakes her ass have to squat so much... it's not hot...

PlaysNotSoGood said @ 1:07am GMT on 1st Jan
Happy New Year Everybody!

Getting a good stable job would be the highlight of this year.
Losing that job, along with 100s of others due to budget cuts, would be the low point.

All the standard resolutions apply.

Peoples are coming over to my place to drink up a storm. And then tomorrow we go and eat eggs and bacon at a friends place.

Resplendent_Elk said @ 1:27am GMT on 1st Jan
2008 has been very lonely for me, love-wise. I've managed to turn things around though and maybe, just maybe, I can at least try and become less of an emotional mess 2009. I need to get out of here, either by going on a long vacation or by moving or by both, and then things will start being better.

assbastard said @ 1:43am GMT on 1st Jan
Highlights were coming up with a feasible 5-year plan for my life, and re-igniting my social life with long lost friends. Also, discovering Netflix.

Lowlights were losing my grandma (Thus not having my dad or his parents anymore) and having no love life to speak of.

Plans for next year: spread myself thin so I can fail in many areas, fuck a certain SE member in March (*winks at Graham*), start losing this goddamn weight, get out of the house more.

EPT said @ 6:22am GMT on 1st Jan
I'm still waiting for your namechange to absbastard. Get cracking.

absbastard said @ 5:48pm GMT on 1st Jan
Easier said than done, as it were.

monkeytooth said @ 2:11am GMT on 1st Jan
HAPPY NEW YEARS YOU GUYS

dugfin said @ 2:13am GMT on 1st Jan
Highlights: met some really cool people. tons of hiking and skiing. spent too much time with my friends and family. kept my new years resolution to get in and stay in shape (ran 4+ times every week for an entire year :) ). got a promotion

Lowlights: lost a really good friend when i tried for more

Plans for next year: Make this year like last year :) and find an awesome girl to spend the year with (or however long)

Going out tonight to a music / bar thingy. Woo!

Excited Corpse said @ 2:17am GMT on 1st Jan [Score:1 Underrated]
I am home alone with the flu and I feel bad

badgerbaiter said @ 7:53am GMT on 1st Jan
Me too. The sweating has eased now and the fever is breaking....

spite48 said @ 4:12am GMT on 2nd Jan
I just got it you bastards.

wilusa said @ 2:18am GMT on 1st Jan
Highlights: sex with way more women than I've had in all the rest of my life. Having a stable job and getting hip glasses and a nice haircut and a few decent shirts really does go a long way. Not that it's particularly fulfilling, but I'll take it over not having any.

Lowlights: still not finishing the dissertation, but I've been a little distracted.

Can't believe I've been around here (albeit with a low profile) for six years - best of luck to all you SE'ers out there for 2009!

Asscheeks Akimbo said @ 2:39am GMT on 1st Jan
I hope you all raise a glass with me in spirit.
Here's to another, e'erybody.
Cheers.

zentrix said @ 2:44am GMT on 1st Jan
Highlights: Danced with a pretty girl.

Lowlights: Twisted my knee dancing with a pretty girl.

Viking_Biochemist said @ 3:26am GMT on 1st Jan
Highlights: Got married, had big party.

Lowlights: Realised I'd take 6 months longer to finish this fucking PhD than I'd hoped

Resolutions: Get this fucking PhD submitted sometime in 2009.

krimz said @ 6:02am GMT on 1st Jan
With a subject matter like that I'd imagine there'd be a lot of "research" to cover. :-\

swiggy said @ 3:53am GMT on 1st Jan

Tang said @ 4:48am GMT on 1st Jan

leswilkerson said @ 4:34am GMT on 1st Jan [Score:1 Insightful]

SEE YOU ALL IN HELL.

TheFurnace said @ 5:21am GMT on 1st Jan
Highlights: Not many, I guess making management (but at a job I don't even want and I'm trying to go back to grad school anyway)

Lowlights: Someone at work stabbing me in the back and almost costing me my job almost immediately followed by one of my oldest friends ruining my relationship

Resolutions: Better shape, grad school, find a decent woman

EPT said @ 6:25am GMT on 1st Jan
Highlights: realising I had 6+ weeks of leave accrued and deciding to start spending some of it

Lowlights: last night - too much alcohol, depressive episode coming on, the 'special' ex being around. Night started well, though. I guess the problems really only started in 2009, come to think of it.

damn.

mattfish said @ 7:22am GMT on 1st Jan
This'll be the year I get my degree and get on with my life! I resolve to run more and work on all those hobbies and skills at which I wish I were better.

Love you guys

Jewbacchus said @ 8:37am GMT on 1st Jan [Score:1 Underrated]
alldrenched flew to NY on the 30th and I turned 21 at 12:10am this morning. She just fell asleep and I'm watching monty python. I bought a lot of prosecco with mybirthday money and it tasted good.

taiga said @ 9:02pm GMT on 1st Jan
Happy Birthday!

anger_die said @ 8:47am GMT on 1st Jan
I'm tired of being involved in affairs, of being the male version of the concubine (language fails me tonight as does most humanly functions). I want a real relationship. Fuck you world, and everyone you ever knew!

Which brings me to my new years resolution: a real relationship. Happy new year, god damnit! Die!

anger_die said @ 8:49am GMT on 1st Jan
Also, my other resolution is to never drunk post again. Fuck.

Jewbacchus said @ 8:53am GMT on 1st Jan
There's the anger, how about the die?

anger_die said @ 8:59am GMT on 1st Jan
I'd kill all of you if it'd make me feel better. But, it wouldn't. Still, I hate everyone just the same.

anger_die said @ 6:21pm GMT on 1st Jan
Yep, no more drunken posting for me.

arnonymous said @ 9:22am GMT on 1st Jan
same.

stereophonicbreadsticks said @ 9:56am GMT on 1st Jan
Highlights of '08: Spent a month in Mexico, moved to Korea.

Lowlights: Being more or less unemployed, broke and in a really shitty relationship between getting back from Mexico and getting hired in Korea.

Things ended well though with the biggest party I've ever seen for New Years in Seoul.

Allanon said @ 11:43am GMT on 1st Jan
Highlights - Got married, Went from IT lackey to IT Manager.

Lowlights - Probably the worst month of work in December I've ever had - 16 hour days, some 24 hour all nighters to catch up and NO FUCKING OVERTIME. Having to deal with bipolar / maniac relationship issues. Which I'm sure some people here have experienced personally and know how bad that can be.

Resolution - Go get some of those expensive little pieces of paper that will certify my on the job experience and knowledge from working in IT for the last 8 years. Help my woman start her bakery. Start a pot habit, but only in moderation.

nik said @ 4:48pm GMT on 1st Jan
I complained, a little, to my common law partner about how I now end up making dinner five nights a week. In the past, she has said about this, "You're spoiling me!" and would brag to her friends about how awesome I was. It's convenient for me to stop at the grocery store on the way home, and she gets off work two hours after I do.

But apparently my complaining about it was too much for her to handle.

So, to teach me a lesson, she stopped talking to me, without telling me why. She slept on the couch the past two nights. I thought she left early for work one morning -- turned out she went to the grocery store and bought herself some frozen dinners. All of this happened without me knowing WHY she was mad at me. I had to figure it out based on clues.

In case you're wondering, I've learned in the past not to even ask what's wrong. It doesn't work.

When I say, "Do you want to talk about?" she always answers, "Not now."

When I ask, "Are you feeling okay?" she always answers, "I'm just tired."

New Years Eve, she's still barely talking to me. I ask her if she wants to do anything -- we could call some friends of ours and hang out. She mutters something non-committal, but seems up for it. I call the friends, they have no plans, we go over and watch a movie.

She is fairly miserable and non-communicative the entire time. But pleasant enough. When we leave, she starts walking as fast as she can, away from me. I struggle to keep up.

She sleeps on the couch. I offer to take the couch, and she can have the bed. "I'm all set up here now!" she says, as though I've suggested she give me one of her kidneys.

This morning she tells me she clearly stated she wasn't feeling well and didn't want to do anything on New Years Eve. (She did no such thing.) She went along with me to ours friends' place because she thought it would "look bad" if I went alone.

She is still not talking to me, complains that she is tired, and has been sitting on her ass in front of her laptop since she woke up this morning. I've spent the day working on a portrait and cleaning the bathroom.

Other things she has said to me today include, "I don't like you right now," and "You don't listen." Oh the irony of someone who is giving me the silent treatment telling me that.

I say all this as a preamble. Now that I have said all of the above, I can say the following freely:

PMS IS GOING TO TOTALLY RUIN MY 2009.

Postscript: When I told her that maybe she was overreacting and that possibly this all might have to do with PMS, she smirked at me like I was a total moron.

EPT said @ 11:20pm GMT on 1st Jan
It's very situational, but sometimes one tactic to use when someone's doing this is to start taking things on face value. If she says she's fine, behave as if she actually is. Be clear and honest about it, though, don't do it passive aggressively. Avoiding getting drawn into the emotional miasma can sometimes stop feeding it. But yeah, it's not for all occasions.

-_- said @ 1:35am GMT on 2nd Jan [Score:1 Insightful]
This strategy is likely for the best.
It can be followed by ignoring her drama and simply focus on making the day nice for yourself.
If she isn't joining you for dinner anymore (now that she has her frozen food) perhaps a single flower would give you something to look at while you eat.
Cooking for one means you can either make the food more to your own taste, or you can experiment with creations you wouldn't feel comfortable feeding to a love one until you are sure you've got it right ... but you have to try to eat your mistakes.
If she's sleeping on the couch perhaps there is something you could get her to make it more enjoyable for her ... is there a lamp positioned so that she can read there comfortably without having to get up to turn it off?
Perhaps a little picnic basket or decorative box that blends with the rooms decor but which contains bedside stuff like a small water bottle and a dream journal.
Enjoy having the bed to yourself, spread out, put your pillow in the middle instead of to one side.

Basically happily adapt to the situation and do what you can to help her be happy/comfortable too. Don't treat it as any kind of recrimination of you since she's basically said it isn't one right?
So she likes to sleep on the couch, that's fine, there's people who enjoy sleeping in hammocks aren't there ... who are we to judge.

Oh, but you might want to quietly inventory your life and be ready to get a bachelor pad, she sounds like she's taking stuff out on you instead of up with you and that never works in the long run.

Good luck nik.

nik said @ 12:05pm GMT on 4th Jan
That was actually my goal at one point.

"Oh, you're having an emotional freak out and refuse to talk about it? Well, then, there's nothing I can do. So I'm going to carry on with my life as best I can, and be happy."

It reminded me of a woman I knew who was manic-depressive. She said it was tough being with someone when she was depressed, because typically they wanted to blame themselves or make her happy.

"Why are you crying? Did I do this? Can I do something? STOP CRYING!!!!"

Naruki said @ 1:18am GMT on 2nd Jan
If this lasts longer than PMS could account for, it's probably not PMS. Sounds like it is something else.

And, dude, if it _is_ PMS, you never suggest that. Didn't you see that Everybody Loves Raymond episode?

nik said @ 12:03pm GMT on 4th Jan
Typically, she's insane before her period, and then it slowly fades into sanity. And she once was aware of this enough to take anti-depressants and other meds for a while. So it's almost certainly PMS.

If she acted like this all the time, I wouldn't be with her. All the same, I plan on having a talk with her in a few days. I'm letting the situation mellow, and then I plan on saying something like:

"Your two day sulk fest? Don't do that again please. Would you consider getting back on your PMS medication? Thanks."

shiney things said @ 5:13pm GMT on 1st Jan
Highlights: New kitty who is very sweet, made friends wih people in my major, got a better idea of what i want to do with my life, turned 21.

Lowlights: fell out with my best friend, got sick alot this year, and first proper hangover.

Resolutions: Lose wieght, focus on school more, actually use my bicycle.

And now, I am off to hunt for bagels in hopes it will help my mom and my boyfriend with thier hangovers

Ronin.ca said @ 6:41pm GMT on 1st Jan
I fully endorse any and all hunts for bagels....

Ronin.ca said @ 6:44pm GMT on 1st Jan
I wound up having beers with my wife and my buddy, we went to bed around 1, our kids woke us up (he came over with his daughter) around 8, we walked through the -30C beautiful morning and were teh first clients of the breakfast place for 2009... we had a nice breakfast and walk home.

Now I'm at my mother in laws for dinner... I'm likeing this year so far...

juju said @ 6:54pm GMT on 1st Jan
Ah, I'm such a sucker for these posts....

Highlights: got my Master's, and first "big girl" job (as in, career oriented, not just something to pay the bills,) getting a check that actually left me money to do fun things after paying bills, made more friends.

Lowlights: 4 months of little employment post graduation, getting dicked over by car repair people, and of course the continuation of the seriously horrid dry spell.

Resolutions: get laid more often than in 08 (not a hard mark to pass,) pay off my credit card, learn to cook at least one thing well. Best case aspirational goal is find a decent lasting relationship, but I'm not putting the bar too high at the moment.

As for what I did last night, a coworker invited us all to her sister's party, where she proved to be a bad influence, reminding me how I could crash on the couch as she brought me drink after drink. Another coworker whipped her boob out to show her nipple piercing, but that's all the nudity that occurred. At least as far as I know.

assbastard said @ 1:29am GMT on 2nd Jan
I can help with that first resolution...

I have a few people I can call, I mean.

assbastard said @ 2:53am GMT on 2nd Jan
I can also help with that third one. PM me.

radioelectric said @ 8:33pm GMT on 1st Jan
Highlights:
- My Dad has recovered from a kidney problem that had made him really seriously ill. He was in and out of hospital for months.
- I made a significant discovery in my research.
- Playing lots of live music events solo and with friends.
- Making my lap steel guitar.

Lowlights:
- Realising that my time as an undergraduate is almost over.
- Realising that I need to sort out what I'm doing once I've graduated.
- I also came to a pretty crappy conclusion about the nature of love.

Resolutions:
- Sorting out what I'm doing once I graduate.
- Performing more music and doing so at some different venues.

Aidentas said @ 9:03pm GMT on 1st Jan
Highlights:

I have shoulders.

Sister entered college, survived her first semester without dying.

Lowlights:

I sent out 412 resumes last year. Five phone interviews, one in-person interview.

Oy.

Resolutions:

Already broken.

cardinal said @ 9:48pm GMT on 1st Jan
I'm late to the party but I'm drunk on wine.

Highlights: working overseas, selling everything I own to get there and abandoning nearly everyone I know and my relationship in the process.

Lowlights: see above.

Resolution: to stop smoking for good. Sorry, I started again. Getting really used to not having a permanent address. Working on crazy, personal things.

lonewolf said @ 10:57pm GMT on 1st Jan
Highlights: Traveled all over Canada, went home for the first time in six years, sailed in the Arctic Ocean, learned to make sushi, lost 30 pounds, became a happier person, figured out what I want to do with my life.

Lowlights: Working an unfulfilling job, being overqualified and underexperienced for any other job, kidney stone, getting black-out drunk all those times.

Resolution: Move to British Columbia and become a way better artist.

lonewolf said @ 10:59pm GMT on 1st Jan
Oh, and for New Years I partied with friends and hooked up with an intelligent, attractive woman.

k0k0peli said @ 12:13am GMT on 2nd Jan
"Hooked up" means oral sex, right?

lonewolf said @ 1:08am GMT on 2nd Jan
No. Full-on sex, a few times.

EPT said @ 11:14pm GMT on 1st Jan
overqualified and underexperienced for any other job

Been in academia, eh?

I remember dropping into my old uni to help out a student there with her PhD. It was quite depressing - after over half a year's work, she couldn't even tell me what she was doing and I had to fill in a lot of blanks with suggestions. But the relevant part of the story is that I ran into an old friend who was still there doing his PhD (12 years later) and some of the questions he was asking me were basic, basic questions you'd know with only a couple of months working in industry. Scary.

lonewolf said @ 1:12am GMT on 2nd Jan
It is freaky stuff. I really don't like how there is a lesser and lesser emphasis on "on the job" training. I'm sure I could do a lot of things, but I don't have the necessary diploma/degree/trade level to even begin in any field. What ever happened to "yeah, this kid looks like he has the right stuff. I'll hire him and teach him how to do a job."?

Dioxin said @ 1:50am GMT on 2nd Jan [Score:1 WTF]
I'm a by no means stellar English undergrad, but a while back I got a job "editing" the manuscript of a masters student. This somehow ended up ballooning into finding research articles for the author, helping her understand said articles, and rewriting with her entire pages of her abysmal output into something passably coherent. And here's the kicker. She had been working on her degree for the last 7 years, her field of study was adult education, and she was already working as a nursing instructor at the college level.

Why is she earning so much money goddamnit?!

k0k0peli said @ 12:12am GMT on 2nd Jan
2008: Knee surgery, convalesce; only drive around Mexico for a month; stay home, buy way too many camera lenses; insult relatives. For New Years, stay inside and listen to the snow melt, watch deer & foxes run by, etc.

2009: I should be a grandpa in a few days; then I'll go drive around Mexico and beyond for maybe 6 months, and camp around the USA for a few months more. So you won't see much more of me this year. Enjoy.

2012: End of the world. What, me worry?

k0k0peli said @ 12:18am GMT on 2nd Jan
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention resolutions. Resolutions suck, and they don't work. Resolving, promising, swearing to do something, or not -- about as useful as virginity oaths or donation pledges or other guilt trips. So, for 2009, I resolve to... promise NOTHING, not a damn thing. Whatever I do, happens.

drd69 said @ 12:31am GMT on 2nd Jan [Score:1 WTF]
lowlight: heart attack
lowerlight:surviving it
even lowerlight: realising your family doesn't give to shiats about you because 8 days after having the "stemi" I am out cutting the lawn on a 32C day because no else in my family would do it.

highlight: None

resolution: try to find a way to have myself declared dead and dissapear to some country where the sun always shines and the wimmin are easy.

-_- said @ 1:40am GMT on 2nd Jan
Ouch
Ouch
Ouchier

Ouch

Do it before you're dead or too old to enjoy it.(I just figured I'd be that guy this time)

JOECAM said @ 1:27am GMT on 2nd Jan

.....

arrowhen said @ 3:40am GMT on 2nd Jan
Highlights: we moved out of the crappy apartment into a cute duplex with enough room for all the cats and a yard for the dog to run around in. Got a job, got a promotion, saved up enough cash to buy my first ever laptop.

Lowlights: As nice as the new place is, it's still in Baton fucking Rouge. Job has erratic hours and days off and, especially since the promotion, is mind-numbingly boring. Managed to go an entire year without playing so much as a single session of any RPG. Haven't made a single friend since moving to this cultureless shit-hole.

Resolutions: Fuck 'em.

Vague, half-formed notions of things to try to accomplish over the next year: Only smoke when I want a cigarette, instead of just out of habit. Brew more beer. Never again let the guitar go unplayed for so long that it gets dusty. Actually finish a song once in a while. Keep writing even if the writing project I'm in goes tits up.

Ifrit said @ 6:48am GMT on 2nd Jan
I've only had highlights.

For 2008, I wanted to get in shape. For the past year, I've been taking up kickboxing and hot yoga and there's some improvement there.

I wanted to get a better job- I went from being unemployed to making 60k/yr. I worked damn hard, studied and wrote more exams than I thought possible to get to do what I'm doing, but I help aboriginals build their independence. It's going okay so far...

My girlfriend moved in with me and finally escaped her crazy, controlling family. They have become less controlling and I can actually have a conversation with them now.

My best friend had a new baby come into his life and I could not be happier for him for all the crazy things that's happened to him in the last few years.

There are so many other great things that happened in 2008. So here's to another great year for 2009.

Lowlights: Out of sight, out of mind. Who cares, it's over and done with.