can you believe it? 2013! we survived the end of the world (yup! still here!) and more importantly, we survived 2012. it seems there are a lot of us who were only too happy to see the tail end of last year.

there’s a meme doing the rounds which was started by wenchy a few years ago. i came across it on angel’s blog and was inspired to do my own version. i hope 2013 treats you all fabulously.

1. What did you do in 2012 that you’d never done before?

• i got divorced after 19 years and 9 days (and being separated for about 8.5 yrs)
• I started an e-commerce site for my clothing line, sassdesigns
• i wrote some new poems – something i haven’t done in ages
• i pretty much stopped working out and got heavier than i’ve ever been in my life
• i mc’d 2 events at afrikaans festivals
• got treated like a rock-star in namibia
• took a holiday road-trip
• spent new year in a place called red stone just outside oudtshoorn with 3 other couples and had an awesome time
• i went to afrika burn for the second time since the year it first started and had a blast
• i bought a new pair of powerisers and went bouncing about on them
• we bought a caravan in anticipation of going to afrika burn again.

the caravan – i feel properly middle-aged now!

 

2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? 

i’m not one for new year’s resolutions. why set yourself up for failure? i don’t need more reasons for self-flagellation.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

no, but there are so many  buns in so many ovens right now. 

4. Did anyone close to you die?

no. let’s keep it that way – but i fear because my mom is now 81 and i got a shock seeing how much she has slowed down in the last year.

5. What countries did you visit?

i went to namibia for work, but otherwise my passport stayed in the drawer – i’d like to change that this year.

6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?

• to get out of my head, get over myself and  pay more attention to my loved ones.
• movie roles would be great too.
• more mc work.
• new adventures and lots more travel. 

7. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory?

the week of afrika burn. our combined birthday party which was awesome. 

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

wow, this one has me stumped. and it shouldn’t. i guess it’s getting the sass designs e-commerce site up and helping to organize slutwalk johannesburg again. 

9. What was your biggest failure?

my biggest failure was getting to be the most unfit, inflexible and fattest i’ve ever been in my life. but that’s changing. i looked in the mirror last month and thought, this is the year i turned into an old woman. 2012 is also the year in which i started thinking about mortality and the fact that in terms of “3 score and 10” life expectancy, i am long past the half-way mark. 

but i have living to do yet.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

i’m happy to say that i made it through winter without one of my usual respiratory infections, though i was plagued by knee injuries and an injury to my achilles which kept me from exercising the way i’d like. 

11. What was the best thing you bought?

ooh… right now, that would have to be the russell and hobbes 1000w blender and the stick blender which i love. the blender isn’t quite the vitamix i had before, but so much better than anything else. 

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

my other half – he got to direct the biggest reality show in nigeria, called the gulder ultimate search. it was great for us financially and great for his self-esteem. i always knew he had it in him.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

my own, mostly… and then our lawmakers and supposed leaders.

14. Where did most of your money go?

living. 

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

• my other half getting the directing job.
• going to afrika burn. 

16. What song/album will always remind you of 2012?

“the greatest man in the universe” by bobby womack was my most exciting musical discovery this year. 

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

• Happier or sadder?
• Thinner or fatter?  fatter. by  far.
• Richer or poorer? richer. For the moment. Sort of.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

more yoga. more exercise. been more loving. blogged more. my blog basically died this last year – hopefully it will receive some much-needed resuscitation in 2013. i wish i’d had more time to read. i sometimes say that i’d like a reading holiday, a period of time in which the only thing i do, is read.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

i wish i’d eaten less badly and drunk less alcohol. and spent less time in my head. 

20. How did you spend Christmas?

Xmas was awesome. we spent it in cape town with wolfgang, my first boyfriend (31, yikes, years ago) and his husband. we spent the day of xmas eve preparing dinner for 23 people and it was beautiful. xmas day i went to my mom’s house for a small lunch and then went to my sister’s house where she had a huge gathering for extended family. 

21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?

i don’t spend much time speaking on the phone at all. it’s not my favorite thing. i use my phone mostly for email, social media, twitter, fb.

22. Did you fall in love in 2012?

yes. several times. 🙂

23. How many one night stands in this last year?

none of your business. 😉

24. What was your favourite TV program?

i loved, loved, loved the newsroom and homeland. and i watched the entire series of  smash  within one weekend. i’d watch it again. 

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

i prefer not to hate anyone, but i’d have to say, every asshole who perpetrated violence against any woman or child makes my list.

26. What was the best book you read?

i’m ashamed to say that with the number of scripts i have to read, i read hardly any books this year – and this is from someone who grew up in the library and used to read a book a day. i listened to the audiobook version of the steve jobs biography – mainly on the treadmill at the gym. i’m reading damien echol’s “life after death” on my ipad and we listened to a great book, “beautiful ruins” by jess walter on our holiday roadtrip. i’m also halfway through listening to “the unlikely pilgrimage of harold fry”

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

bobby womack – the greatest man in the universe

and also “tiny prayers” by aaron embry who i knew when i lived in topanga

28. What did you want and get?

a pair of powerisers, a vintage singer sewing machine and a new blender

29. What did you want and not get?

oh, isn’t it the human condition to constantly crave for more? there’s always a wishlist – i want an iphone 5, i wanted a replacement for my vitamix whose motor burned out, i wanted my clothing line to grow and be more successful than it currently is, the elimination of violence, the end of rape…and so on and so forth, etc, etc

30. What were your favourite films of this year?

hmn… i watched mainly series this past year, but the ides of march and searching for sugarman are on the list – i have a long list of movies that i still want to see though: shame, looper, life of pi, the master, tiny furniture

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

i turned 48 – i don’t remember what we did on the day, but we had a fabulous birthday party a few days later that everyone talked about for ages afterwards.

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

actually being paid the alimony which my divorce agreement says i’m due!

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?

dress to look good, but mainly to feel good. if the dress doesn’t fit, then the dress is the wrong size.

i’ve always been a quirky dresser – that doesn’t really change.

34. What kept you sane?

being creative. having awesome friends, fabulous dinner parties and the once every few months, champagne club gatherings.

35. Which celebrity/ public figure did you fancy the most?

hmn… i’m not really a schleb follower, but i did think the guy who plays the ass-hole director in smash was hot – in a quirky way.

36. What political issue stirred you the most? 

violence against women and children. i am after all the poster-child for surviving rape and sexual molestation. *ironic voice*

37. Who did you miss?

my friend ineke who died of cancer a few years back. i think about and miss her often and always will. and then all of my really good friends in LA and other parts of the world.

38. Who was the best new person you met?

i didn’t meet them for the first time, but this year i got much closer to two women – my friend lauren and someone i work with, hanli, has become a good friend.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012.

• everyone has a story. everyone has troubles they are dealing with. everyone, no matter what is on the surface, is going through something, so if you can, be nice to everyone around you.
• at the same time, i’ve learned to disengage from other people’s drama and not make it mine.
• and i’ll say it again: just be nice.
• oh, and don’t forget to play.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year?

sometimes a song will  pop into my head like something rising from the bottom of a murky pond. at first i can’t quite make out what it is and then i’ll realize what the words are and invariably it will be a comment from my sub/un-conscious on something that’s going on in my life.

i don’t know if it sums up the year, but over the past few days, this tune popped into my head and then i remembered the lyrics:

“Joyful Girl” – Ani Difranco