Tuesday 1 January 2013

2012 Personal Review

It's the time of year to both reflect and look forward... here's my reflection, in awards format!

Book Of The Year
Can't believe I'd never read it before, but The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde was an amazing read. Almost everything that Lord Henry said resonated with me in some shape, fashion or form! A notable mention should go to Crime & Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Psychological drama at its best.

Film Of The Year
I don't do films. I rarely go to the cinema. I can't be bothered with DVDs at home either. However, I did see Argo this year and thought it was a terrific story.

Achievement Of The Year
I guess it has to be losing 43lbs in weight most of which was lost within a three month period from August to October. Getting in to jeans which are 4 sizes smaller than I used to have to buy feels terrific and there are shops I can now visit!

Event Of The Year
Finally getting to put on some fancy dress for Halloween was pretty cool. Pulling on my Ulster jersey and heading off to Twickenham for the Heineken Cup Final was cool too (despite the result). Seeing Ulster win in Dublin in the semi-final of the Heineken Cup was terrific! Watching United and Liverpool at Old Trafford was not as much fun as I'd hoped! But maybe my cycling weekend with Messrs Longridge and Keeler around the Ards Peninsula would be the highlight. Not sure why I enjoyed that so much - the sense of achievement maybe?

Album of The Year
Did I buy any albums? I'm not quite sure that I did. If I did, it was mostly "oldies" which should already form part of my collection. The only new album I bought was Lana Del Rey's Born To Die. It was OK, I guess. Given that it was the only album I bought during 2012, I guess it gets the accolade.

Theatre Event Of The Year
There were plenty of outings to the theatre in 2012. Hansel & Gretel at the Lyric was much better than I was expecting. Macbeth (also at the Lyric) was very good indeed. Grease and Horrible Histories were both good. But the best? The Mousetrap at the Opera House.

Traveling
The trips to Old Trafford, Lansdowne and Twickenham certainly count as travel but they don't make it to top spot in my travel list! The break to London to visit the Houses of Parliament, the Rib adventure on the Thames and the Michelin starred Indian cuisine was very good but not quite as good as the holiday to Lake Garda and Verona. But even that couldn't compete with the weekend in Hertfordshire and the visit to the Harry Potter Studios! Oh me, oh my. What a trip that was. Never have I wandered so long with my jaw in a dropped state! I want to go back!

Of course the year had some moments that weren't so great. My preceding generation have dwindled this year once again and too many family members have had too many health issues. Hospitals have been frequented on too many occasions this past year.

So for 2013, I'd like to see the inside of hospitals a lot less; I'd like to get out on the bike a bit more; I'd like to lose another 14lbs; I'd like to travel a bit more; and I'd like to finally get a new car after having had to put up with my current car for the past 11 years!