1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?
Walked through a volcano. Used the phrase "my boyfriend" in reference to someone other than David Wright. Went whitewater rafting. Walked across the Golden Gate Bridge. Voted in a real voting booth.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Let's see! Last year, my new year's resolutions were:
1. Cook more of my own food, and eat more balanced meals. (If by "cook" I meant "defrost," then yes, I kept this one.)
2. Volunteer my time, maybe as a Big Sister. (I did volunteer at the New York City Marathon in November. Baby steps!)
3. Take some sort of class for my own edification, maybe besides ballet. (Nope. No time.)
4. Run a marathon in a state other than Massachusetts, because if I start this year, I can run a marathon in each of the 50 states by the time I'm 73. (Darn it! Oh well, I'm definitely running New York next year.)
5. Be more social; be more spontaneous; and be more socially spontaneous. (Hmmm.)

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No, but my cousin is due in July 2008.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, I wasn't that close to Anna Nicole Smith.

5. What countries did you visit?
Several states in the good old U S of A, including California, Hawaii and South Carolina.

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
Last year, I said "my own apartment," and what do you know, here I am! If I say "a million dollars" this year, do you think it'll happen? (I did get a subscription to the lottery for Hanukkah.)

7. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
September 4, 2007 -- the first day of doom. Er, I mean school, the first day of school.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
That time I got second grader Sebastian to stop throwing a kicking, screaming tantrum on the carpet? That one was pretty good.

9. What was your biggest failure?
RIP, Project 365.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nonstop since the start of the school year, thanks to those darn kids and their germs.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
DVR! Particularly since I can't stay up past 10 pm anymore, the DVR does all the heavy lifting of taping Project Runway and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Also: plane tickets.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Ann Taylor Loft. Work clothes are pricey.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Any promise of a reunion with assorted members of S2P, including but not limited to my trip to San Francisco to see Dianne, my trip to Hawaii to see Carrie, my road trip to South Carolina with Carrie and Caitlin, and planning a trip to California in February.

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
Rihanna's "Umbrella," Matt Nathanson's "Car Crash," Matchbox Twenty's "How Far We've Come" and Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" (those last two were frequently playing on the radio in my office. Usually while I was in there crying!).

17. Compared to this time last year, are you
happier or sadder? My personal life is happier. My professional life is sadder.
older or wiser? Just older. Not wiser.
thinner or fatter? thinner. Thanks, stress!
richer or poorer? I probably am richer, thanks to my "real job," but I feel poorer, thanks to my "real rent."

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Advocating for my dream job.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
I kind of say this every year, but: I wish I had done less FREAKING OUT.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Introducing Phil to It's a Wonderful Life. And hopefully eating Chinese food.

21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
Yes.

22. How many one-night stands?
Zero.

23. What was your favorite TV program?
In the first half of the year, House. In the second half of the year, Heroes. All thanks to the wonders of Netflix!

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I hate at least 55% of the people who ride the Q58 bus.

25. What was the best book you read?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, naturally. For good measure, I'll throw in Cynthia Lord's Rules, and in the world of non-children's books, Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and Mark Haddon's A Spot of Bother.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
It's a tie: Amos Lee, courtesy of this year's S2P mix, and Matt Nathanson, courtesy of the iTunes Free Download of the Week.

27. What did you want and get?
A genuine full time job with health insurance, psychiatric help, and my own apartment.

28. What did you want and not get?
My dream job.

29. What was your favorite film of this year?
I was stunned by Sicko, but I don't know if I'd call it a "favorite." I can tell you that my least favorite film of the year was Across the Universe. Maybe my favorite was The Namesake.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 24 in 2007 (although one night I forget this and found myself actually struggling to remember how old I was), and I hosted my second annual bagel picnic in Central Park!

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Good health. Physically, mentally and emotionally.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Confused? It was a struggle to get myself into the groove of dressing professionally every day, especially since I dropped ten pounds when school started and all of my clothes were falling down.

33. What kept you sane?
This year? It was totally the Lexapro.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I know I said it last year, but I think I've still got to go with David Wright!

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
After seeing Sicko, I was all about the sorry state of health care in America.

36. Who did you miss?
Wacky but true: My cat.

37. Who was the best new person you met?
Phil.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
The first job you ever have will not necessarily be the last.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
"Leave everything you know/And carry only what you fear." --Bruce Springsteen

Show a little faith, there's magic in the night

Because my apartment lies between the elevator and the stairwell, I don't overhear much noise through the walls. In the kitchen and the bathroom, though, through some odd quirk of engineering, I not only hear my neighbors through the vents, but occasionally I hear them very clearly. I don't mind, because I've always enjoyed eavesdropping, and sometimes I even hear music that sounds vaguely familiar -- like something I would listen to.

This evening at sunset, I was reading the New York Times when I heard the unmistakable chords of one of my favorite songs in the world. "That's Bruce!" I exclaimed, jumping to my feet and hurrying into the kitchen. Sure enough, my mysterious neighbors were listening to "Thunder Road." I couldn't help singing along in the hopes that they would hear me: "Come take my hand, we're riding out tonight to chase the promised land..."

Things to look forward to

• clementine season
  
• Entenmann's Halloween cupcakes with candy corn on top
• the NYC marathon (I won't be running, but I'll be volunteering/cheering)
• the last two episodes of Heroes coming via Netflix
• winter vacation, when Dianne comes to visit
• my evening television lineup
• better days, better days, better days
  

I am so cool and famous

Claim to fame #1: My union is going to pay me $150 to reprint an excerpt from my teaching blog that already ran on their website.

Claim to fame #2: I write reviews for New York Newsday. Check out my first one here. (My picture screams "I didn't have any time to put on makeup before this photo was taken.")

State of the Union

Five things you need to know about my life right now:

1. I changed my cell phone ring tone from Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" (I wanted something mellow, but it rang so softly I missed most of my calls) to Bruce Springsteen's "Badlands" ("I wanna find one face that ain't looking through me, I wanna find one place, I wanna spit in the face of these badlands").

2. I'm eating lots of pita chips and bagel chips with hummus, but very little in the way of actual meal food; consequently I haven't weighed this little since the sixth grade.

3. My new building is chockablock with unsecured wireless networks, so I don't pay for Internet. So I splurged on DVR and I love it. Now I can store America's Next Top Model marathons for times when it's too quiet in my new apartment and I just need to hear Tyra Banks' voice in the background.

4. Rocking Horse still makes the best margaritas in the whole world, and eating there still makes my life perfect, even if it's just for a few hours.

5. It's six weeks into the school year, and I am still the most stressed out, anxious and frantic steaming ball of unhappiness that I have ever been. And if you know me, you know that's saying a lot.

Lyrics that resonate

...from the free iTunes download of the week!

Just push me till I have to fly
I've shed my skin, my scars
Take me deep out past the lights
Where nothing dims these stars
Nothing dims these stars

I wanna feel the car crash
I wanna feel the capsize
I wanna feel the bomb drop, the earth stop
Till I'm satisfied
I wanna feel the car crash
'Cause I'm dyin' on the inside
I wanna let go and know
That I'll be all right, all right

DAMMIT, METS

Incomprehensibly bad performance by a previously stellar pitcher? Check.
Stranding ten runners on base in totally failed effort to stage a comeback? Check.
Worst collapse ever in the history of Major League Baseball? Check.

Being a Mets fan is turning out to be almost as heartbreaking as being a Red Sox fan. Actually, this season, it's worse -- because the Red Sox, by the way, are in the playoffs. And so are the !@#$ing Yankees. Heck, even the freaking Cubs are in the playoffs.

I am so disappointed in my life right now.