Prospero ano nuevo

those of you who know me know that i hate new year's eve. it's a set-up. no matter what you do, it's a given that someone else - someone you know - is at a better party, with better outfits, drinking fancier drinks, eating tastier food, with sweller swells and funner gossip.

on the other hand, there's nothing i love more than a list. and if the list can be somehow rule-bound and ceremonial, yet compellingly game-like, so much the better.

so, here, to mark the year's shift, are the questions we asked about 2009 (and my answers in parentheses):

• what's the best thing you did for yourself this year? (return to acupuncture)
• what's the best thing you did for someone else this year? (taking care of jo)
• what's the best thing someone else did for you this year? (jo-ann, july)
• what's the best gift you gave this year? (problematic answer, but: turning exposure over to jen)
• what's the best gift you received this year? (iPhone)
• what's the most stunning thing you saw? (bryce canyon)
  
• the most amazing thing you heard? (one of our students' edm soundscapes)
  
• most memorable sensory experience? (biking thunder mountain)
  
• biggest surprise, pleasant? (oct 24th)
• regret? (pass: too scary)
• best new person in your life? (deidre's baby, elena)
• best money spent? (hiring a housecleaner)
• best thing you read? (anthropology of turquoise)
  
• best new thing, complete or incomplete? (uh oh, no answer - unless empanadas count?)

well, it doesn't entirely deodorize 2009, but this list does remind me that the year wasn't all bad. there's always something new, something beautiful, right?

tell me your answers, or suggest more questions. for instance, i'd appreciate a question that allows me to say how grateful i am to have any readers, after being such a negligent blogger this year. but enough about me. what moves you, makes you feel alive? what makes your heart glad? what turns your senses on?

what made your year?