So, I am spending the morning of January 2nd working on a short story and watching the Hornets school the Wizards, recorded from Tuesday night. There is a huge pile of washing up waiting for me, and I have to spend this afternoon at a funeral for a man who was somewhere in that grey area between good friend and acquaintance - we didn't see each other often, but when we did it was a good day/night.

Seems as good a time as any to come on here and have a catch up.

We are nicely settled in the flat, it really feels like home - especially now we've had Christmas and New Years here - and I'm loving having my own space. I'm getting a lot of work done, and have a TV again, which might seem small but really makes me happy.
For those of you curious, here are some badly taken photos taken on moving in day:

Our corridor of many doors


Our bedroom


Our almost identical lounge


Our shiny kitchen


Our enormous bathroom


A boiler cupboard, that we have filled with junk now


It looks a lot nicer now we have filled it with our stuff, but the act of taking photos on my camera and then putting them on the computer to be uploaded here takes far too long, and I am lazy when it comes to photos - there are entire periods of my life that have no photos at all.

The festive period has gone well, apart from catching up with family and a couple of friends, we have just been staying in and enjoying the peace and quiet - I worry that I am getting old, then I remember that I like it this way and really can't be bothered to deal with too many people at once. My 'age' has also been confirmed by the fact that well over half of my presents this year were kitchen/cooking related.

Anyway, in an attempt to bring some order to this entry (and to help me have a good start to the year so I can try and keep this up to date this year) I thought I'd steal a set of questions from my favourite (adoptive) northern redhead.

1. Was 2008 a good year for you?

Yes - in fact, it goes down as one of my best. There was a lot of unneccesary roughness over the summer, but everything since then has been superb, and the first half was good too.

2. What was your favourite moment of the year?

There have been a couple, the first proper night in the flat was good, cooking dinner and settling down to a film. Sitting down with my course leader and having him talk to me about PhD options and what he expects out of me, even though I'm only in my second year, that was nice. It was also really good to get back into the studio with Justin (who produced the Phonic album) - I wasn't recording my own stuff, only doing vocals for a local band (www.myspace.com/thirdlaw), but just the act of going in there reminded my how much I love writing and recording. And it lead to me and Justin discussing getting started on my solo stuff this year, probably gonna put an EP together at Easter time.

3. What was your least favourite moment of the year?

Family holiday in a caravan in August. Should have been a great week, but hostilities with Mother lead to it just being a really uncomfortable week.

4. What are your plans for 2009?

Do really well with Uni - I averaged a B+ in my first year, but all 8 assignments were left till the last minute . . . The four in May I wrote in the 24 hours leading up to the hand in time. I'm aiming for straight As this year, and if I end up with less than that then I will feel like I've let myself down.
I also have a novel started, which I'm dipping in and out of, so I want to get the first draft done and dusted over the summer if not before.
Musically, I want to get an EP released (there are a couple of labels interested once I've actually recorded it), and start work on a complete album.

5. What countries did you visit?

None this year

6. What date in 2008 will remain etched in your memory?

October 6th was when I picked up the keys for the flat.

7. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Managing to pull out a clutch of Bs for the 24-hour assignments was quite an achievement, but I'm not proud as I shouldn't have left it all to the last minute.
I'm actually quite proud of myself for managing to get settled in the flat, it is a big step.

8. What was your biggest failure?
Time/work organisation. Keeping the peace between Nem and Mother. Getting something recorded with Inertia Falls (although, that is not my fault), being organised with money.

9. Did you suffer any illness or injury?

I had some major flu/stomach bug while I was in the studio with Third Law, and I got stabbed in the side by a rusty wall bracket over Christmas, prompting a trip to hospital to be patched up and have my tetanus shot done.
Other than that, been having a lot of trouble with my arthritis and some bronchitis, but that is standard.

10. What was the best thing you bought?

Christmas presents have involved a coffee maker and a DVD recorder, bot of which have dramatically improved my life, but I didn't buy them. Best thing I have bought has probably been a set of bookshelves/units. It's not exciting, but they turned the lounge into a lounge, as opposed to having stacks of stuff everywhere.

11. What was the best thing someone gave you?

The aforementioned coffee maker

12. Where did most of your money go?

Paying for the flat, helping Nem though her two jobless periods, and Amazon

13. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Going to see Eels, and Matchbox Twenty.

Meeting Meatloaf, who looks worrying like he is my dad


Actually getting to listen to Chinese Democracy, I don't care about the haters, it is an amazing album

14. What songs will always remind you of 2008? (good or bad)

Baby Paradise - Third law
Sometimes You Have To Roll A Hard Eight - Inertia Falls
Better - Guns n Roses
Soulcreek - Black Stone Cherry
All I Want Is You - Barry Louis Polisar
How Far We've Come - Matchbox Twenty

15. Compared to this time last year are you:
a) Fatter or thinner? Fatter, cannot shift weight no matter what I do
b) Happier or sadder? Happier, more content is a good way to put it
c) Richer or poorer? A lot poorer, but I can live with poor for now

16. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Writing, both fiction and music - I did a lot of both, but I wanted to do a lot more

17. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Whinging, moaning, and procrastinating

18. How will you be spending Christmas?

As with Jess, I have done this too late, but I stole it form her, so that is to be expected. Christmas involved a lot of lazing around and eating, watching My Fair Lady, 50 First Dates and drinking - so it was good.

19. Which LJ users did you meet for the first time?

None - the ones I have met I met before LJ, and the ones I haven't met live abroad - although Suppi was in England for a while.

20. Did you fall in love in 2008?

Probably even more than I was, we are very happy.
I also realised that I had fallen in love a little with Starbuck, and cried when I thought she was dead - but that is TV, so it doesn't count

22. What was your favourite TV show?

Battlestar is the best thing on TV, without a doubt - but this year also showed obsessions with IT Crowd, Big Bang Theory, House, Inbetweeners, Lost (finally).

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

Nah

24. What was/were the best books you read?

I'm halfway through The Name Of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, which is fantastic. Other highlights were re-reading Northern Lights, and Good Omens, and:
King Rat - China Meiville
Reality Disfunction - Peter F Hamilton
Halting State - Charles Stross
Just A Geek - Wil Wheaton

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

I've just discovered She&Him, Volume One is an astounding album.

26. What did you want and get?

A home

27. What did you want and not get?

An Inertia Falls EP

28. What was your favourite film this year?

Holy crap, there is a question. I'm gonna do a 2008 review of film in the next few days hopefully, which should answer this. But it's probably gonna be Dark Knight, bit hard to discount it really

29. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?

I turned 28, which makes me lots older than Jess (I hadn't realised). I had a couple of nice meals out, and caught up with some people.

30. What one thing would have made your year more satisfying?

Getting a short story published, not happened yet, but it will

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

Shorts, T-shirt and baseball cap. The same it has been for years really - I didn't move from shorts to jeans until well into December this year, which garnered some odd looks.

32. What kept you sane?

Nem, my headphones, and my laptop

33. Which celebrity did you fancy the most?

I still have a things about Scarlett, I still love Starbuck, and Jenna Fischer.
But the one who tickles me the most is Zooey Deschanel

34. Which political issue stirred you the most?

I would like to say the election, but my head was elsewhere when it was going on - so the thing that grabbed me the most was the writers strike. I know it doesn't involve politicians, but the effect it has had on all manner of different businesses is horrible.

35. Who did you miss?

Aaron, due to his intense flakiness I didn't actually see him in person all year. It would have been nice to see more of Rob too.

36. Did you treat somebody badly in 2008?

There are a couple of friends I haven't seen as much as I would like, and nowhere near as much as they would like - but no-one has been treated badly.

37. Did somebody treat you badly in 2008?

My Dad spent the summer ignoring every attempt I made to see him, but that is how he is, he drifts in and out. But I did need help at the time, so it was frustrating.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned this year?

While some people will surprise you with their generosity, in all honesty the only person you can rely on is yourself.

39. What would you like to have in 2009 that you didn't have in 2008?

Some published work, and an Xbox 360

40. How many one night stands?

I am a very taken man. Besides, I'm far too nervous a man to be any good at one night stands

41. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year...

my beloved monster and me
we go everywhere together
wearing a raincoat that has four sleeves
gets us through all kinds of weather

she will always be the only thing
that comes between me and the awful sting
that comes from living in a world that's so damn mean

my beloved monster is tough
if she wants she will disrobe you
but if you lay her down for a kiss
her little heart it could explode

she will always be the only thing
that comes between me and the awful sting
that comes from living in a world that's so damn
mean