photo friday: birds and the last meme of 2011

eyebird r - adelaide bad foot bird - adelaide
mr kookaburra is not amused - brisbane pigeon shine - port adelaide
peg leg duck - sydney slammer - sydney
A mixed bag of birds for the year's last Photo Friday... from three different states.

Since I haven't really done anything much this week, I figured that I'd round out the year with a real life, honest to goodness meme... it's been one that's been floating around in my drafts for a few years, but this year seemed a good time to drag it out.

And this pretty much sums up everything I would have mentioned about the ups and downs of the last 12 months anyway...

So here it is... The Last Meme of 2011:
  1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?
    Travelled to three different cities, two of them during the same trip. I had more money in the bank than I've ever had before in my whole life (although two interstate trips, eBay and Fringe tickets have kinda wiped a lot of that out).

    I also put some of my photography up for sale in a gallery. So far nothing has sold, but it could just be the wrong gallery for my work.

    Going to the gym first thing in the morning is a new one.

    Oh, and taking part in crowdfunding was something I hadn't even heard of before this year... but during 2011 I've helped to fund artists, musicians, travellers, tech accessories, urban collectives and books.

  2. Did anyone close to you give birth?
    Tink, Sugarmonkey, two of my cousins (not that I'm technically "close" to either of them).

  3. Did anyone close to you die?
    Thankfully no.

  4. Who was the best new person you met?
    Possibly The Banger at work... I really don't meet people.

  5. Who did you miss?
    Lownee, the same as always... but a little less so every year which is both good and disheartening. In July 2012 she'll have been gone from my life for 10 years. Which is longer than she was actually IN my life. But I still look for her face from time to time in a crowd of strangers.

  6. How many one night stands in this last year?
    Approximately 15, give or take a couple. Although are they technically one night stands if you've already had sex with the person more than 12 months beforehand?

  7. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
    Work permanency, regular sex (contrary to what it would seem like from the previous question), a larger bank balance, a smaller waistline... the usual.

  8. What dates/experiences from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory?
    Seeing Stephen Fry for the second time... visiting the emergency room followed by Shakespeare... Macbeth at the Fringe... the best sex of my life.

  9. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
    On my actual birthday, not a lot... but before then there was stuff... and 37.

  10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
    Ear infection, knee scrape, nothing serious.

  11. What was the best thing you bought?
    Either Gary Seaman's entry in the Dumpster Biennale or my Digital SLR.

  12. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
    I'm not sure I got "really x 3" excited about anything this year... although the Melbourne/Sydney trip, the whole of the Fringe and getting pretty much all the packages I got in the mail throughout the year made me pretty excited.

    Oh, wait... Burger Theory burgers... they got me really, really excited for a good chunk of the year... partly because I never quite knew when I would be able to have another one. They probably also count as one of the best things I bought.

  13. Compared to this time last year, are you:

    • Happier or sadder?
      Potentially happier, but more angry than sad overall.

    • Thinner or fatter?
      Technically thinner, but it's only by degrees, and disappointing since I've been going to the gym pretty much all year.

    • Richer or poorer?
    • Currently poorer, but that's due to the aforementioned trips, tickets and Christmas.

  14. What do you wish you'd done more of?
    I wish I'd eaten better. Or maybe just eaten less, I don't know.

  15. What do you wish you'd done less of?
    Complain, be disagreeable, be difficult. I often realise afterwards that I'm usually the one who complains about, well, everything... I don't really mean to be, but there's so much stuff that just seems stupid or ill-thought-out to me (especially in a work context) that I find myself complaining about it. A lot. Loudly.

  16. How will you be spending New Years?
    Watching movies, the same as usual... although since I didn't get a ton of DVDs for Christmas I may have to dip into the DVDs I haven't gotten around to watching during the year.

  17. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
    I have some different neighbours to this time last year, but I hate all my neighbours as a collective unit, so I'm not sure that counts. And various people at the gym shit me... but people pretty much everywhere shit me, so I think that's more about me than them.

  18. What was the best book/s you read?
    I really stopped reading during this year. I mean novels anyway... in fact, I've only read three books throughout this year, and only two of them are really novels. But I read stuff all the time... Twitter, blogs, articles, work things.

  19. What was your favourite TV program?
    Underbelly Razor

  20. What were your favourite films of this year?
    I'll be blogging my Top 10 list of movies for this year next week... But I also saw a LOT of older movies I'd never seen before during the year, so they'll probably get a mention in the same post.

  21. What did you want and get?
    Top of the list though is probably the iPhone 4S. But most things really. That's part of the "problem" with me working full time (if not on a permanent basis), then if I really want something (or even if I only think I want it, but I am getting better at resisting the urge to buy that kind of stuff), I buy it.

  22. What did you want and not get?
    This time last year I really wanted to replace my bookshelves, give myself more storage potentially. That still hasn't happened. The other thing I kinda wanted was a new microwave, not because I need one, but partly because it's the only piece of electronic equipment I haven't replaced during my time in this apartment. But I'm not sure what I really want in a new one, so I haven't found it yet.

  23. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
    Is it trite to say "more sex"... actually it should be "more great sex". I'll also add "a new apartment" or alternatively "new neighbours" (but more the former, since I'm kinda over living in this particular apartment), and "our unit having a higher profile" at work.

  24. What kept you sane?
    Laughter wherever the hell it came from, Twitter and my blog. Also working full time, although that potentially kept me equally sane and insane but for different reasons.
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