1. What did you do in 2003 that you’d never done before?
Move outside the UK.
2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Yes, well, I made some progress on them anyway, and there will be some more next year, but I haven’t really figured out what they should be yet.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No. But there is a scary spate of friends of friends dying at the moment, I hope that stops soon.
5. What countries did you visit?
France, Japan, Finland.
6. What would you like to have in 2004 that you lacked in 2003?
Friends in Tokyo…I’m finding a few now.
7. What date from 2003 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
22nd June – the day I flew to Japan, and conveniently the summer solstice too.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Still being alive after six months in Japan, and not running away back to England.
9. What was your biggest failure?
I don’t fail. There are some things that didn’t work out as I had originally intended, quite a lot of those I suppose, but they’re not failures. The thing that probably has upset me most is losing touch with someone I shouldn’t have lost touch with.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
My shoulder stopped working. But the nice doctor injected some steroids and it started working again.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
An mp3 player – its a great excuse to not be paying attention to anyone else while wandering the streets of Tokyo.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Not sure.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
My own, as always, and that of Presidents Bush and Blair.
14. Where did most of your money go?
I don’t know, since my currently financial situation is a little, obscured. Until moving out here the breakdown was roughly this order – tax, rent, car, electronics, CDs, other entertainment, food, bills. Now its more likely – tax, rent, CDs, electronics, food, other entertainment, bills.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Being back in the UK for a couple of weeks for Whitby.
16. What song will always remind you of 2003?
Dunno, Luke Haines “Discomania”, for no real reason other than being a fine song.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. Happier or sadder?
Lonelier. Which leads to sad days sometimes. But theres probably still about the same amount of happy and sad.
ii. Thinner or fatter?
Fatter.
iii. richer or poorer?
Richer, in so many ways.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Learning Japanese.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Dreaming, I should be doing instead.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Working, then coming home to cook a chicken stew, which I think is the closest I’m going to be able to get to a christmas dinner with a single hob and a microwave.
22. Did you fall in love in 2003?
No.
23. How many one-night stands?
None. I don’t do that sort of thing, since the incident with the heroin.
24. What was your favorite TV program?
I don’t watch TV.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I have lower opinions of a couple of people, but its not hatred, more a kind of lack of caring.
26. What was the best book you read?
The Trusted Advisor, but I don’t remember who its by. The first couple of chapters of London Orbital by Iain Sinclair suggest it is going to be up in the top ten books I’ve ever read, but I’ll reserve judgement until its finished.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Anti-folk. Or J-Psychobilly. I can’t decide.
28. What did you want and get?
I got what I wanted, then figured out that wasn’t what I wanted after all. Same old, same old.
30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Dunno, not really been paying attention to films, Taxi 2 has a brilliant intro but I’ve not seen the rest of the film yet – the intro stands alone as a beautiful piece of filmmaking and I will buy the DVD just for that.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I went for a lovely meal at the Pink Giraffe with Anna. And I had a party at my house on the saturday before it, since it was the big 0x20.
32.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Being able to talk to all the cute Japanese girls.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2003?
I don’t have one.
34. What kept you sane?
I’m not sure that anything did, its like catching cabin fever in the busiest city in the world.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Erm, no idea, Wynona Ryder is normally the answer to this, but I’m not sure shes done anything this year.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
How come people like Bush manage to wield that much power?
37. Who did you miss?
Everyone.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
Not sure.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2003:
There were many, I guess the main one I can think of right now is that I need read Machiavelli again, with hindsight this time.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
“How many failed, or missed their calling,
through time spent stalling
over what they could have been.”
Richest seam – Mad Dogs and Englishmen
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