Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot, and Never Brought to Mind?

Figured I would do this, seeing as how it's all the end of the year and junk.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
Participated in a medical study. Holla.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I doubt I made any resolutions, and if I did I obviously didn't keep them--I forgot them.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No. I don't think. A lot of people around me like to have children, though, so maybe.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
A friend from high school. RIP Mike :(

5. What countries did you visit?
I never left this country (The US of A)

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Money, for Pete's sake, and a summer job.
A passport--I'll need it eventually.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
June 8 - 21st birthday!
June 14 - Mike
November 4 - Election day.
December 4 - Completed the first draft of a full-length screenplay!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Completing that screenplay.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Probably this last semester of classes. Geeze! (edit: My grades we AWESOME last semester, go figure!)
Not having a summer job.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I think I was fairly healthy this year.


11. What was the best thing you bought?
A long board. I wish the weather was better so I could get better at riding it.


12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Hmmm...Lindsay Lohan's.
My mom's

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Tom Cruise's

14. Where did most of your money go?
Besides school, I have no idea.
But really, to movies and books.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Writing. The most I've done...ever.
Finding 'Roseanne' on DVD

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
'With You' - Chris Brown
'Paper Planes' - M.I.A.
Tons of others.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier...but that's not saying much.
b) thinner or fatter? Fatter...nah, around the same.
c) richer or poorer? BROKE as usual.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Exercising.
Reading.
Going to class...ha. It was just Shakespeare...I just couldn't do it.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Sitting around.
What others wanted to do.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
At Grandma & Grandpa's house.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Yes. But not with someone.

22. What was your favorite TV program?
SVU, My Boys, The Big Bang Theory, Family Guy

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I'm sure.

24. What was the best book you read?
I reread The Bell Jar and I think that was my favorite. But I also read books by Jen Lancaster and Caprice Crane which were awesome.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Demi freaking Lovato. Haha.
She & Him

26. What did you want and get?
A long board.
More movies.

27. What did you want and not get?
An orange iPod/Laptop.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Juno, No Country For Old Men, Martian Child

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 21 and went out to a bar with my mom, a couple friends and other family members at midnight. Then during the next day I went to Emerald Queen Casino with my mom and a friend (and won almost $200!).

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Writing more, reading more

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Lazy--not sloppy though.

32. What kept you sane?
Closing my bedroom door and watching movies.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Tina Fey (she's the first person that came to mind)

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Gay Rights (Marriage, adoption, etc.)
The economy

35. Who did you miss?
Roseanne Barr...she should do something more with her career, I miss her.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
There's a few.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
Just say 'NO' -- and that has nothing to do with drugs.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

"It seems today, that all you see / Is violence in movies and sex on TV / But where are those good old fashioned values on which we used to rely?"
- Family Guy theme song.

For a few reasons:
1. I watch the show a ton.
2. It's true.
3. It's just so catchy to sing.
4. It's on right now and I can't think of something else.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Title Song: 'Auld Lang Syne' - Robert Burns (Poem)

So, Christmas Was Yesterday...

I barely even noticed.

As We Grow Older, It Becomes Difficult to Just Believe

It's not that we don't want to, but too much has happened and we can't.

----------

So, it's Christmas Eve. There's snow and the ground and, supposedly, there's more to come. I don't have that 'holly jolly' spirit at all. I wish I could do something about the somber cloud that has settled over this house. It doesn't even feel like Christmas at all. At least the young ones in my family have the spirit--it's easy to have it when you still believe in Santa Claus.

Title Quote: Demi Moore as 'Samantha' - 'Now and Then'

My Wish List: Past & Present

I'm sitting next to my window, watching the snow fall and it makes me think of every Christmas wish I have ever made.

Wishes I Remember Making (As I Progressed in Age):

-Coming downstairs Christmas morning and seeing a puppy under the tree.
-To stay up long enough to see Santa or to just, at least, hear him leaving.
-Snow.
-Win the lottery -- Like what happens in 'To Grandmother's House We Go'.
-Rollerblades.
-A camera.
-A Bike.
-My dad.
-Snow.
-Walkman.
-Various tapes.
-TalkBoy -- Like in 'Home Alone'.
-A puppy.
-Binoculars -- Like Harriet the Spy.
-My dad.
-Snow.
-Cell phone.
-Discman
-Various CDs
-Anything my friends had -- Let's be honest.
-Snow.

Yeah, many things are repeated. And when you see the word 'snow' it separates anytime I moved to a new school level (pre-school, elem. school, up to high school). I wished for some random shit back in the day; lots of materialistic stuff. I don't wish for too many items of that sort anymore. Just books, movies or a few bucks, if anything--and books and movies are things I buy for myself anyway, but it's always nice to get them from others, and money is just something everyone can use.

I've been less materialistic about things in college. I've accepted that you can't always get what you want--and if you do get it, it shouldn't just be expected at Christmas, because that's not what the holiday is about. Now, we all know that I'm not the religious type, so don't try to call BS on what I'm saying. It really is just about being together with people you care about--whether or not you bring religion into it is your business.

Not having money makes you appreciate things so much more when you do get them. I have friends (who will remain nameless) that get things not only at Christmas, but year round from their parents. I sometimes can't stand to be around those friends. Maybe it's because I resent them for being so unaware of how their boasting makes others around them feel. Or maybe it's that I'm jealous because, shit, I want to hand various family members a Christmas list and get just about everything on it. OR (maybe), it's because they're selfish, spoiled ADULTS who bitch and moan when they only get nine presents, instead of the eleven they got last year. It just pisses me off that I've met children more grateful for the little they receive, than the adults I call my peers.

Didn't people learn anything from Veruca Salt? You can't have everything or the Eggdecater (God/Life/Karma (you choose)) will decide you're a bad egg and send you down the chute to the furnace (Hell/A life nothing but things and loneliness/Dirt broke). (Excuse the Willy Wonka reference.) (Also, excuse the obnoxious amount of parentheses in this last bit here.)

You still with me?

Where was I even?

Oh, right.

I'm glad that I have been able to go from: 'What am I going to get for Christmas?' to not even knowing what to say if someone asks, 'What do you want for Christmas?'

Family has always been the reason I enjoyed the holidays. So many people nowadays can't stand their family. Half of the time, I'm one of those people, but I try hard to give them a break during the holidays. I'm hoping this year my family--my extended family--can take a moment to pull themselves together for about 48 hours, at least. I'm so tired of all the petty crap that goes on--it makes it a burden to come home. It makes it hard for me to feel like I'm home. It's just not a good feeling.

Mother Nature has done her part by giving us the perfect setting for the storybook Christmas I have always pictured--I just hope the characters in my life can follow the story I have written in my head. So here it is...

Jamika's 2008 Christmas Wish List:

-Snow falling on Christmas morning.
-Fully functioning family at Grandma's house on Christmas.
-I just really want home to feel like home again.

Simple enough, right? Come on, Santa!


Happy Christmas...Merry New Year...Joyous Holidays,
Jamika

The Earth Is God's Snow Globe!

Gosh, I love the snow!

Our campus looks so awesome when it snows enough to cover the trees and all that. It's pretty awesome. Brittany, Steven and I walked around the campus. We slid in the streets on the tire tracks and walked to 7-11 (where the clerk was giving me his bedroom eyes) and on the way back we flirted with random guys. It was pretty awesome. We also would stand under trees covered in snow and pull on the branches so the snow would fall on us. It was the best night I've had in a while.

Another quote from the night: "We don't have to be drunk to have fun. We just like to be drunk when we have fun."

I'm heading home for Christmas on Saturday--hopefully the weather stays nice. I'm soooooooooo dreaming of a white Christmas. I hope it happens.

I'm looking forward to Jan-Term so I can take screenwriting again!

Zaida left this morning--it's really sad. We had some good times. But eventually I'm going to make my way down to Hawaii to visit her...and learn how to surf!

I wish I could have gotten more pictures of the rest of campus--my camera was getting snow all over it though and I had already dropped it once, so it was time to put it away.

This post is kind of all over the place. I had something else I wanted to say, but I can't remember. I'll add it later if I remember, I guess.

Title Quote: Me! While walking around our beautiful campus. I won the "Corniest Quote of the Night" award. A-Go me!

Oh The Weather Outside Is Weather

Tis the season for mircles! My professor for my Shakespeare class cancelled our final on Friday. It's a pretty exciting thing.

We're supposed to get more snow here tomorrow and Thursday. Hopefully I'll be able to get home this weekend.

I'm going to go keep myself busy.

Title Quote: Paul Rudd as 'Chuck' - 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall'

And Since We've No Place To Go...

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!


CLASS IS CANCELLED!

Yay for snow days :)

I really love how everything looks so new once the snow falls.




Title Song: 'Let it Snow!' - Whomever Sings Your Favorite Version

Dec. 4, 2008 -- A Day I'll Always Remember

At 1:09PM on December 4, 2008, I finished my first screenplay.

A-go me.

Yay.

It's Gonna Be Legen--Wait For It...And I Hope You're Not Lactose Intolerant Because The Second Half Of That Word Is--DARY!

This made my day.

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Title Quote: Neil Patrick Harris as Barney - 'How I Met Your Mother'

Don't Tell Me You're Sorry, Cause You're Not

When I know you're only sorry you got caught.

I just hate when people get called out on something and try to pretend that they're better for it when, in all actuality, they're not going to change. I hate that I let myself get hella (yeah, I said hella) peeved when certain people are just being who they are. It's just that some people are, to quote T.I., "piss poor morally." They put on this show like I'm the bad guy for speaking my mind, when they're the ones who basically asked for it when they treated me like shit.

But you put on quite a show, Really Had Me Going. But now it's time to go. The curtain's finally closing.

I think I need to avoid people for a little while. I've been really irritable today, it's not good. I just feel like I need to be away from the masses for the sake of the feelings of certain people. I need some time to get over whatever mood it is that I've fallen into. We're going to have a going away party for a friend soon, so that is when I'll take myself out of this time-out. I don't want to blame my bad mood on others, because I know it's me who controls my mood. But I want you (yes, you) to know that your fakeness is what triggered it.

Yeah, that was quite a show; very entertaining. But it's over now. Go on and take a bow.

------Anyway------

I wanted to write something to submit to the literary magazine, but I've hit a huge writer's block and it is pissing me off. I can't stand it, it's very irksome. Maybe I should just sit down and write--even if the writing is crap, at least I'll be writing. I think that'll be the best/only way to get through it. But the deadline is Wednesday and I don't think I'll be able to get something together by then.

While on the subject of writing, I was thinking of coming up with a nom de plume, a literary double...put simply, a pen name. I have a couple ideas in mind of what it could be, but nothing for sure. I read somewhere that people whose first and last names start with the same letter have more luck/success. Maybe I'll come with a name like that. We'll see, I guess. One day some alliterated name will burst on to the scene and you'll wonder if it's me. Well, I hope you'll at least think of me. No, really, think of me.

It's Christmastime--well it's December, which means I can officially start listening to Christmas music loud enough for others to hear. I sneak some Christmas music year-round, but no more hiding it now. It puts me in a good mood...something I'm in need of.

Well, I think I'll go write...or something. I just need a good case of insomnia, that's all. Say, 'Good luck, Jamika.'

Good luck, Jamika.

Title Song (and other italics): 'Take A Bow' - Rihanna