It's been a good year.
Adam continues to be as lovable, funny, smart, sweet and gentle as ever and his achievement in passing his grade 2 piano exam with merit makes me especially proud.
Andy and I have now been together for sixteen years since the Villiers House Christmas party...and, in a number of ways, I don't think our relationship has been stronger.
I like my work and I'm well paid for what I do. It's not always inspirational but there aren't many jobs like that that I am qualified to do (or can be bothered to do; effort and ambition not being my strong points). I have completed my sixth year of studying at the OpenUniversity and I could accept a degree if I wanted (BA/BSc Open degree). However, I think I would like to get a named degree but finding a course I want to do and finding time to do it in is getting harder.
Here are some reasons that I have less inclination to study:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - although we finished season seven in January, the rest of the year has been taken up with rewatching it (and in the case of some episodes, rewatching and rewatching)
Firefly and Serenity - a Western in space is no way to sell a tv series but that's what it is and it works very well indeed - the ensemble cast is perfect but I have a soft spot for Summer Glau who played River with serious mischievousness
message boards
blogs
fan fiction - if I had been asked a year and a half ago what fan fiction was I would have had no idea and when told I would have snorted and sniggered with derision - however, I have surprised myself spending a lot of time reading the stuff - I admit that a great deal of it is poor (most of it isn't even edited for spelling and punctuation) - and far too much of it has far too much sex (considering its early 70s roots as romantic fiction that isn't surprising) but some of it is stunning; Bread by Tulipp is one of the best things I have ever read. And it doesn't hurt to mention it again but Jet Wolf's The Chosen which is a continuation of BtVS is an amazing body of sustained writing which is as funny and moving as the "real" thing. Jet Wolf loves Tara and brought her back and that leads to...
Amber Benson - "In the end, I discovered that being the nice guy - when it's really just a front for being a coward - eventually leads to you becoming the Spawn of Satan. It's best just to be honest and forthright from the beginning - even if it means people call you names behind your back and don't like you as much. Just ignore them. I do." - I wish I was ever as insightful as that (and I am a coward).
comics - or graphic novels to make it sound grander
our ever expanding DVD collection - best films this year seen on DVD include Adaptation, Fight Club, Heathers, Twelve Monkeys, Doctor X, Serenity, and Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
television - Ugly Betty, Life on Mars and University Challenge
music - Audrey, Espers and Aimee Mann
books - I do have time to read them, most of them unmemorable except We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, The Night Watch, Case Histories, and A Darkling Plain
