millionreasons | 2020 In Review

What did you do in 2020 that you'd never done before?
Worked at home

Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don’t believe in NY resolutions - what's the point of pretending you're going to do something that you'll give up on by 11th Jan? But when I started home-working I said I'd get through all the teas that people buy me (gunpowder! chai! chocolate tea!) even though I prefer coffee. Still working my way through.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
Two and another who got pandemic-pregnant, due in a month or so.

Did anyone close to you die?
Yes, both people in their 50s, both unexpected, neither from Covid.

What countries did you visit?
Majorca.

What would you like to have in 2021 that you lacked in 2020?
A big old holiday.

What date from 2020 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
17th March - the day I was sent home and the thus the day I realised it was serious.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Work stuff.

What was your biggest failure?
Work stuff.

Did you suffer illness or injury?
Only ongoing migraines.

What was the best thing you bought?
No one thing but I've loved getting random things through the post. Posh pot noodles! Conditioner! Pasta!

Whose behaviour merited celebration?
NHS, obviously.

Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
People who believed conspiracy theories. The irony is that these people think they are the only ones who can see through lies, whilst being the most gullible of us all.

Where did most of your money go?
Food

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Vaccine!

What song(s) will always remind you of 2020?
Summer Ghosts by Ben Watt.

Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) Happier or sadder?
Possibly happier? Bizarrely. I enjoy not feeling that i need to go out on a Friday night, i enjoy less choice about what to do, i have enjoyed lots of walks, exploring this fantastic city. I've enjoyed fewer people around.

b) Bigger or smaller?
Fatter, less exercise, more sugary things

c) Richer or poorer?…
Richer although that's due to not going out/not going on holiday. I did set up subscriptions though - to the Guardian, to the Food Bank, to Shelter.

What do you wish you'd done more of?
Days out, leaving London, exercise

What do you wish you'd done less of?
Worrying

How did you spend Christmas?
At home, inc walk in the Olympic Park, got a bit drunk on champagne and fell asleep on the sofa

Did you fall in love in 2020?
Nope

How many one-night stands?
Nope

What was your favorite TV program?
Lots of good TV this year. I got heavily into Schitt's Creek. My fave BBC programme was the adaptation of Lethal White (Robert Galbraith).

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Some Tories I'd never heard of before this year.

What was the best book you read?
Either Actress by Anne Enright or Out Of Africa by the original Karen, Karen Blixen.

What was your greatest musical discovery?
LIFE

What did you want and get?
To sleep in on a week day

What did you want and didn´t get?
A day trip

What was your favourite film of this year?
Make-Up. Teenage girl goes to caravan park in winter. Sees ghosts, falls in love.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
47. I cycled to Epping Forest (and back again), had a takeaway and watched Eurovision. This was peak Lockdown, when you weren't even allowed to sit down when you went for a walk.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
If the right wing/culture war idiots hadn't decided to make the lockdown the new thing they were against.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2020?
Comfy

What kept you sane?
The Boyf and the cat.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Quite keen on Imran from Corrie

What political issue stirred you the most?
Apart from the virus, Brexit (again) and when it looked like it was going the right way, the American election.

Who did you miss?
Far away friends.

Who was the best new person you met?
Some folks in Brighton I met at a music festival in Jan whom we then visited in July.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2020:
I'm not as introverted as I thought I was

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
twenty ternty four hours to go, I wanna be vaccinated.

Post a picture of something that made you happy this year:

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Did you wrong or hurt somebody in 2020?
Oh, probably.

Is there some new place you are planning to visit in 2021?
See below.

Where would you have wanted to go and did not in 2020?
Had plans to go to West Wittering, Lille, Tromso, all cancelled.

Did you learn any new life skill in 2020?
I made mince pies for the first time ever (from a kit)

Any new food or drink preferences developed in 2020?
I eat everything (except meat and fish) so no.

What is your greatest fear for 2021?
That we'll still be waiting for the vaccine this time next year.

Did you follow any sports event in 2020?
I got far too into the three grand tours (cycling), including the Giro, won by an English cyclist from Hackney (Tao Geoghan Hart)

Which social media occupied most of your time in 2020?
Indubitably twitter

Is there somebody you feel particularly grateful to this year?
davidnottingham

Name a hope you have for 2021
That some idiot refuses the vaccine and I'm called in, last minute, to get jabbed!