noctiluca: (faces in the window)
When I was growing up, we didn't really have any consistent holiday traditions, especially after my parents divorced, other than meeting up with extended family for Seolnal (New Year). So by default, my favorite trad is eating ddeokguk and getting sebeh money and playing yut (a game where you toss marked sticks to determine how many places you can move your piece around a board).

But I'ma go more in-depth with a brand new holiday tradition!

This year marked my first grownup Hallowe'en living in a place accessible to kids, so Joe and I bought an assload of candy to distribute, and I put up my FIRST EVER outdoor decorations!



We wound up seeing something like 64 kids! I threw on some grimy/"blood"-stained rags and a giant eyeball mask and growlhissed at the trick-or-treaters, which actually really disturbed some of the tinier sprats. WHICH PLEASETH ME MUCHLY. BECAUSE WHAT'S THE POINT OF HALLOWE'EN IF NOT TO EXPERIENCE FEAR. (Some of these kids were like, WAY LITTLE. As in, unable to walk without being held up by their parents, one of whom singsonged, "Okay, time to pick a can~dy, even though I won't let you ~eat it~!" And then, with a hurried glance at me, "Not because of you! But because he's a ba~by." LADY, PLEASE, I SEE YOUR PLOY TO USE YOUR OFFSPRING TO GET FREE TREATS. JUST PUT ON A COSTUME, THERE'S NO SHAME IN IT.)



I made like a billion soul cakes and boxty potato pancakes for dinner, which we nommed with apple cider as we watched a decent horror movie (Oculus) before heading out to the cinema to see a really crappy one (Ouija). Joe spent a good amount of time striving valiantly to keep our jack-o'-lanterns lit (it fucking SNOWED, and the wind kept blowing out our tea lights)--and was ultimately unsuccessful, but maybe his attempts appeased the ghosties, because we weren't horrifically punished for letting the candles go out. Then we made a witch bottle before calling it a night.

The decorating, jack-o'-lanterns, boxty potato pancakes, horror flicks, and bit o' magic will probably work their way into our Hallowe'en tradition. My life goal is to find/make The Perfect Hallowe'en Tree (I've been keeping an eye out for yeeears) and start putting it up annually, resplendent with spooky ornaments.
noctiluca: (making friends)
1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?
Moved in with my partner, lived in a sorority house, got a matching tattoo with six other people, knitted things, gave a public reading, got (and gave up) an apartment in a different state, played in the snow in summer, had an IUD (Mirena) implanted, first HPV outbreak x.x, went a week without eating meat.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Yes/no, and yes. "Never, never, never, never give up!"

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not really.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My old housemate, Jeff, whom I also met this year but wasn't very close to.

5. What countries did you visit?
Moved back to the United States from Korea in March, if that counts. Also visited Canada (Vancouver) in June with Joe.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
Not sure that I lacked very much in 2011 :)

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
March 1st, when--jetlagged and dreamy, I received word that I'd been accepted to Clarion West.

8. What was your biggest achievement of this year?
Everything. Everything.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Still no more pro pubs :T

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Just constant, minor illness. There's a reason we call our place The Plague House.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Ragnar and Escha (dwarf hamsters)!

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Joe, for graduating, and my mum, for going back to school!

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and/or depressed?
The House of Reps and the Senate. Guys. C'mon now. UPDATED TO INCLUDE: MY PRESIDENT. WHY.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Travel and rent, and that apartment I got in Pittsburgh that I wound up having to break the lease on.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Moving back to America, WisCon, Vancouver, Clarion West, moving back to Iowa City, and having a semi-permanent mailing address for the first time all year in September!

16. What song will always remind you of 2011?
No idea.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? I think the same. It's been a rocking couple of years.
b) thinner or fatter? Fatter. AMERICAAAA.
c) richer or poorer? Poorer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
I wish I'd kept up with taekkyeon exercises and yoga.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Doing nothing and being stupidly depressed (at least some of which was probably on account of my body adjusting to the Mirena).

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
I spent Christmas with Joe's folks and Aperture Science. Eating. Eating everything. And playing dominoes.

21. Did you fall in love in 2011?
This is a thing that happens with distressing frequency around writers.

22. How many one-night stands?
None.

23. What was your favourite TV program?
Dexter, True Blood, and Game of Thrones.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't care enough to hate.

25. What was the best book you read?
I finally fucking finished The Invisibles, after a two-year saga of being foiled in that regard, so I'm counting that. It was an utter mindfuck, and I haven't quite reconciled myself with the final volume, but it was a wild ride.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Eluveitie!

27. What did you want and get?
Acceptance to Clarion West, chances to see old friends and make new ones, another fun international experience, a valid library card, a job that lets me utilize my degree, dwarf hamsters!

28. What did you want and not get?
A semi-permanent address in a new region of the U.S.

29. What was your favourite film of this year?
Hmmn. Probably the final Harry Potter film. The end of an era, again.

30. What did you do on your birthday?
Had dinner at the much loved India Cafe with friends, piggybacked on Anna and Sam's Masquerade for a yet grander and more costumed party, kindasorta picked a fight with a stranger on the street in defense of a friend's honor. The usual. ;)

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
BEING LESS HORMONAL JAYSUS.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
Black black black ALL THE COLORS black black.

33. What kept you sane?
Foma.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
China MiƩville.

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
Police brutality re: Occupiers, NDAA, SOPA.

36. Who did you miss?
All my far-flung friends. :*3

37. Who was the best new person you met?
The 16+ phenomenal folks with whom I lived and partied in Seattle.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011?
It's not the end of the world (yet).

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
"I can get by with a little help from my friends."

Profile

noctiluca: (Default)
Jei

December 2024

S M T W T F S
1234567
891011121314
151617181920 21
22232425262728
293031    

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 27th, 2025 12:30 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios