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20 Years Meme
Oct. 4th, 2006 10:40 pm20 years ago, I...
...had just begun first grade at Walt Whitman Elementary School in Littleton, Colorado. I hated it.
...threw a circus-themed birthday party, for which I dressed as a tightrope walker and did a routine on the backyard fence. Also in the backyard was a sandbox, which I mainly used for setting off colored smoke bombs and pretending they were magical.
...was obsessed with black-and-white television shows that aired on the Disney Channel - Swamp Fox, Davy Crockett, Zorro.
15 years ago, I...
...was in 6th grade at Rosemont Elementary School in Dallas, TX, having returned from England a year before, and still harboring traces of an upper-class English accent. My first friend upon my return was Kristina Semos, after whose father Rosemont Elementary's new expansion campus was recently named.
...once again failed to go to the Odyssey of the Mind competition, although my team had rehearsed, built sets, written scripts and music, etc.. As usual, nobody but me remembered to get their paperwork signed. Our play that year hinged on the fact that teammate Amanda and I were the same height and had the same haircut and coloring, and so could double for each other during complex special effects sequences.
...had already been playing classical piano for four years, and was told at competitions that my technique was excellent, but that my music expressed no feeling and that I should perhaps stick to the Baroque.
10 years ago, I...
...was a junior in high school at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, the most unique school in Dallas. ("Most unique" - I heard it every day during the morning announcements.) I had just switched from majoring in piano to majoring in music synthesis, and took the only creative writing class I've ever had.
...was trying to figure out who to eat lunch with now that Chris Blacker had moved to Venezuela.
...adopted Pippin the cat, against the wishes of my father, who was by then already in Boston. As anyone today can tell you, my dad and that cat now love each other, and the cat attacks me whenever it gets the chance. (Useful tip: You can fool Pippin into thinking you're Dad if your shoes smell like shoe polish.)
5 years ago, I...
...was beginning my senior year of college at UNT, deeply depressed and frightened by the effects of 9/11 on the government and on the economy, unsure of what I wanted to do when I graduated.
...was living with Val, recently returned from Spain, also depressed, also uncertain what she wanted to do when she graduated.
...was gamemastering the HPSRPG. Represent.
...still refused adamantly to date Patrick, and was angry with him for pretending otherwise. We held a meeting in a pillow fort built by me (using the folding table and a blue blanket) in which I demanded he date other people, and also introduce me to his friends.
(closest lj entry to 5 years ago, about taking the GRE)
3 years ago, I...
...was married to Patrick, and horribly depressed. Val had just returned from Japan, also horribly depressed, and we'd driven her to Michigan, where she was horribly depressed. Ciro had just returned from California, where he'd been horribly depressed, and was now back in Dallas, and, most likely, horribly depressed.
...was working on a musical about Marilyn Monroe, James Monroe, and the Kennedies, which I never finished.
...wrote the poem "America."
(closest lj entry to 3 years ago, about food)
1 year ago, I...
...was fairly certain Patrick and I would get divorced; he'd given up theater for a corporate lifestyle, and I spent most days stranded at home and so depressed I can't remember most of that year.
...had given up most creative projects; both film club and the theater company had collapsed, and various writing collaborations had fallen through. I'm not actually sure how I filled my time; I think I read a lot, and slept a lot.
...was no longer able to ignore or suppress the sexual tension that existed between Ciro and me, and was terrified it would destroy our ability to work together, or even remain friends. This independent of the question of love. I did not see any possible happy ending to my life, nor (perhaps more frightening) to his.
(lj entry from one year ago, very nihilist)
So far this year, I...
...have divorced Patrick, but remained friends with him and his family.
...have moved to London for film school.
...have discovered that I can, after all, be happy, understood, loved, and in love.
Yesterday, I...
...realized that since I left Dallas, I've been living like someone on the run. I've taken care of myself, but only in a mechanical sense: Eat this food. Exercise. Shower. Walk forward. Speak when spoken to. As a side effect, I frequently wash my hands.
...took a day off.
...received word from Ciro that he mailed necessary passport documents, and should be in London two weeks from Friday.
Today, I...
...watched a micro-budget think-piece film that gave me a headache.
...found out an art installation I want to see will be up for most of this month.
...said "happy birthday" to Gareth.
Tomorrow I will...
...spend all day working on an editing exercise about a woman who throws carnations in a canal and then dances with a clown who turns into her dead husband.
...repack my suticases in preparation for moving into my new flat (or rather, Emma's new flat, from which I am renting a room) this weekend. It's pretty.
...finally set up a British bank account.
[Interestingly, the way that this meme slices data makes it look like I was depressed for the entirety of the last five years, when the Octobers six, four, and two years ago were some of my best times.]
...had just begun first grade at Walt Whitman Elementary School in Littleton, Colorado. I hated it.
...threw a circus-themed birthday party, for which I dressed as a tightrope walker and did a routine on the backyard fence. Also in the backyard was a sandbox, which I mainly used for setting off colored smoke bombs and pretending they were magical.
...was obsessed with black-and-white television shows that aired on the Disney Channel - Swamp Fox, Davy Crockett, Zorro.
15 years ago, I...
...was in 6th grade at Rosemont Elementary School in Dallas, TX, having returned from England a year before, and still harboring traces of an upper-class English accent. My first friend upon my return was Kristina Semos, after whose father Rosemont Elementary's new expansion campus was recently named.
...once again failed to go to the Odyssey of the Mind competition, although my team had rehearsed, built sets, written scripts and music, etc.. As usual, nobody but me remembered to get their paperwork signed. Our play that year hinged on the fact that teammate Amanda and I were the same height and had the same haircut and coloring, and so could double for each other during complex special effects sequences.
...had already been playing classical piano for four years, and was told at competitions that my technique was excellent, but that my music expressed no feeling and that I should perhaps stick to the Baroque.
10 years ago, I...
...was a junior in high school at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, the most unique school in Dallas. ("Most unique" - I heard it every day during the morning announcements.) I had just switched from majoring in piano to majoring in music synthesis, and took the only creative writing class I've ever had.
...was trying to figure out who to eat lunch with now that Chris Blacker had moved to Venezuela.
...adopted Pippin the cat, against the wishes of my father, who was by then already in Boston. As anyone today can tell you, my dad and that cat now love each other, and the cat attacks me whenever it gets the chance. (Useful tip: You can fool Pippin into thinking you're Dad if your shoes smell like shoe polish.)
5 years ago, I...
...was beginning my senior year of college at UNT, deeply depressed and frightened by the effects of 9/11 on the government and on the economy, unsure of what I wanted to do when I graduated.
...was living with Val, recently returned from Spain, also depressed, also uncertain what she wanted to do when she graduated.
...was gamemastering the HPSRPG. Represent.
...still refused adamantly to date Patrick, and was angry with him for pretending otherwise. We held a meeting in a pillow fort built by me (using the folding table and a blue blanket) in which I demanded he date other people, and also introduce me to his friends.
(closest lj entry to 5 years ago, about taking the GRE)
3 years ago, I...
...was married to Patrick, and horribly depressed. Val had just returned from Japan, also horribly depressed, and we'd driven her to Michigan, where she was horribly depressed. Ciro had just returned from California, where he'd been horribly depressed, and was now back in Dallas, and, most likely, horribly depressed.
...was working on a musical about Marilyn Monroe, James Monroe, and the Kennedies, which I never finished.
...wrote the poem "America."
(closest lj entry to 3 years ago, about food)
1 year ago, I...
...was fairly certain Patrick and I would get divorced; he'd given up theater for a corporate lifestyle, and I spent most days stranded at home and so depressed I can't remember most of that year.
...had given up most creative projects; both film club and the theater company had collapsed, and various writing collaborations had fallen through. I'm not actually sure how I filled my time; I think I read a lot, and slept a lot.
...was no longer able to ignore or suppress the sexual tension that existed between Ciro and me, and was terrified it would destroy our ability to work together, or even remain friends. This independent of the question of love. I did not see any possible happy ending to my life, nor (perhaps more frightening) to his.
(lj entry from one year ago, very nihilist)
So far this year, I...
...have divorced Patrick, but remained friends with him and his family.
...have moved to London for film school.
...have discovered that I can, after all, be happy, understood, loved, and in love.
Yesterday, I...
...realized that since I left Dallas, I've been living like someone on the run. I've taken care of myself, but only in a mechanical sense: Eat this food. Exercise. Shower. Walk forward. Speak when spoken to. As a side effect, I frequently wash my hands.
...took a day off.
...received word from Ciro that he mailed necessary passport documents, and should be in London two weeks from Friday.
Today, I...
...watched a micro-budget think-piece film that gave me a headache.
...found out an art installation I want to see will be up for most of this month.
...said "happy birthday" to Gareth.
Tomorrow I will...
...spend all day working on an editing exercise about a woman who throws carnations in a canal and then dances with a clown who turns into her dead husband.
...repack my suticases in preparation for moving into my new flat (or rather, Emma's new flat, from which I am renting a room) this weekend. It's pretty.
...finally set up a British bank account.
[Interestingly, the way that this meme slices data makes it look like I was depressed for the entirety of the last five years, when the Octobers six, four, and two years ago were some of my best times.]
