Is new year just so last week? I'm a little turned around... but I forgot to post this.

I heard a woman wish someone 'a happy and peaceful new year' and i thought that was lovely.

so: best wishes for happiness and peace in 2005.

2004 in a nutshell/questionnaire thing:
1. What did you do in 2004 that you'd never done before?
rode a camel in the desert.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
An uncle. Skin cancer diagnosed in June, palliative care by September. He died the night of his son's wedding... he couldn't move or communicate, but somehow he just managed to hold on until the reception was over.

5. What countries did you visit?
Thailand, India, Canada, England, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland.

6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004?
sex. no, really.

7. What date from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
the date we achieved the following... except i can't remember the date. Typical.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Securing $2.5 million in funding for our project to reduce infant mortality in the slums in mumbai. WOO! That will never cease to exhilarate me.

9. What was your biggest failure?
I don't really feel like I did enough in India. I know that sounds strange in light of the previous answer... but I know I could have done more. Also, maybe a failure to stay in touch with friends. Last year I managed, but this year it was just too difficult.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing serious... but I had nearly 12 months straight of gastrointestinal something from the water in India. And maybe I have worms or something. That place is kind of scary that way.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My plane ticket. Obviously.

12. Any brushes with fame?
I met Marisa Tomei and Jane Fonda, if that counts.

13. What did you do for money?
I have no idea how it worked.... there was a stipend through the project, and i lived really really simply. The last month will have to be paid back, but it was worth it.

14. Where did most of your money go?
food. accomodation.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
those camels. really! they are SO cool! The project going through. Seeing my mother. Meeting my sister in London. Every time I caught a good friend on MSN.

16. What song will always remind you of 2004?
Outkast: Hey Ya.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
I. happier or sadder? i'm generally pretty happy. more composed. more certain.
ii. thinner or fatter? the same.
iii. richer or poorer? waaaaaaaay poorer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
running. trekking. climbing. dancing. feeling exuberant.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
sleeping. feeling ill after eating street food. oh! SWEATING. For sure... that is one thing i will not miss at all.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
in Torino, Italy with my cousins, my sister, and four kids under the age of four (ask me how many kids I'm going to have... day 1, the answer was four, day 3, the answer was zero)

22. Did you fall in love in 2004?
nope.

23. How many one-night stands?
none. go me. okay maybe one, but i dont really think of it that way. Wow, that feels like a long time ago.

24. Best place you had sex?
india = celibacy. For me, anyway. tragic, but that's how it is.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't hate anyone.

26. What was the best book you read?
Love in the time of Cholera. Again.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Bollywood. But i am not sure if it was a discovery, or just resignation

28. What did you want and get?
A chance to live and work in India. A trek in the himalayas. To try a relationship with a woman. A fresh pain au chocolat on the street in Paris.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Harry Potter. But I only saw that and Spiderman 2.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 25 last week. I had pasta with my cousins in italy, walked through the rain in Milan, then went to the Swiss Alps and got drunk on very expensive drinks in the kitschy-est bar on the face of this planet.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I really can't think of anything immeasurable. It was an immeasurably satisfying year. I wish that my close friends could have visited me in India. It would have been nice to share that part of my life with them.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004?
Pretty much the 'i'm living in a country where I don't know anyone so i don't make any effort, when i look too good I get hassled on the street, when it rains my clothes don't dry and get moldy, and half the time I'm living out of a backpack' look. Loose cotton; maximum coolness (the wrong kind of cool) and minimum shape. It is not a look i care to repeat.

34. What kept you sane?
I may be less sane than before.

35. Out of 10 - how would you rate 2004?
A nine, I believe. I doubt I will ever have a year this extraordinary.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004:
follow your instincts. Except sometimes they can be wrong.

10:17 p.m. - 2005-01-09