2010 in Review – Randomness: Look Back in Bloggery

2008 CalendarsImage by Scott Ingram Photography via Flickr
I did this “beginnings and endings” blog-retrospective meme at the end of 2007, and I thought I’d bring it out again since I haven’t used it since then. 

Rules: Paste the first line of your first post AND the last line of your last post for each month, starting with January 2010. Links are optional. (Note: If the first post of the month was a book review, it’s the first line from the Comments section – that is, the first line I actually wrote myself):

January start: Good day, and welcome to 2010!
January end: I hope you have a good reading week! (Sunday Salon)

February start: It’s still sinking in that after more than eleven years, two states, three cities, and four homes, I don’t have a dog any more.
February end: Have a great reading week! (Sunday Salon) (OK, that seems to be becoming a canned sign-off…)

March start: Carly is hosting the week’s Weekend Assignment, and with the Academy Awards on tap for next weekend, she asks a movie-related question: “Chick Flicks or Guy Movies, which do you think you watch most often?”
March end: Do you have a favorite special-occasion place to eat?

April start: If you live with a middle-grade child, particularly a boy, you probably know all about the popular Wimpy Kid series of books by Jeff Kinney. (movie review)
April end: Happy Friday!

May start: Question of the Week: “Does the publisher know you’ve reviewed that?” (Sunday Salon)
May end: I hope you have a great reading week! (Sunday Salon) (I’m officially declaring a “rut” for this one.)

June start: The heart is not a size; it has great capacity to expand and accommodate, as Georgia discovers during two weeks on a service project south of the border in Juarez, Mexico. (book review)
June end: Thanks for the memories, and the opportunities, SV Moms Group, and I hope Donna’s right about this not being good-bye to my fellow LA Moms Bloggers!

July start: While books transport and fire the imagination for some of us, movies can do the same for others (and some of us are just as affected by both). (book review)
July end: And if you make it to my ROYO session, please come by and say hello!

August start: It’s exciting to snag those advance reader copies, isn’t it? (Sunday Salon)
August end: And if those outlets – and the authors they’re bypassing – aren’t taking us seriously, that’s their loss too.

September start: Well, it’s certainly been one of the most talked-about books of the last couple of weeks! (book review)
September end: Tomorrow: songs I never need to hear again.

October start: When I think of “songs I never need to hear again,” I don’t necessarily mean songs I absolutely can’t stand.
October end: It’s Halloween – treat yourself to some reading time today! (Sunday Salon)

November start: By the time you read this, I’ll have already voted.
November end: But I don’t have any posts scheduled here for a few days, so y’all get a break too!

December start: It’s that time of year…and I had planned to talk about it in this week’s Sunday Salon, but I didn’t get a chance to write one. (Weekly Geeks, re: 2011 reading plans)
December end: However, I do know that it’s time to say goodbye to 2010 – that is, 11111011010 – and I wish you all the very best in the New Year!



I also thought I’d revisit selected questions from the Year-End Meme I did for 2009 and update my answers for 2010:

What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?
It was actually quite a year for “firsts”! I went to Comic-Con International in San Diego for the first time – and if they ever get their registration issues resolved, we’re going back for all four days in 2011! I also visited our nation’s capital – where my son has lived since 2007, but where I’d never been before. And while I have been in New York City before, it was never as a proper tourist; I made up for that in June with a vsit to the Statue of Liberty and a Broadway musical on Broadway (well, technically, on West 46th Street), among other things.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
No, but 2011 is going to be the Year of Book Blogger Babies! (None will come from me, though.)

Did anyone close to you die?
It was a good year for people – I didn’t go to any funerals. However, both of the dogs my son grew up with passed away this year. Shadow, a black flat-coated retriever, stayed with my ex-husband in Memphis after we split up; he died early in December, just after his 14th birthday. And if you’ve been reading here all year, you know that I’ve been without Gypsy for most of this year.

What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
Another dog, but I think we may be waiting a bit longer to make that commitment.

What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
January 23 – said goodbye to Gypsy.
June 25 – Returned from vacation and dislocated my shoulder (the first time) two hours after getting home, leading to my first trip to the ER in 40 years
November 13 – Dislocated my shoulder for the second time…and didn’t know I’d done it until my doctor told me four days later.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?.
Learning to use a computer mouse left-handed when my right arm was in a sling – and still doing it, even when I don’t have to.

What was your biggest failure?
I’ve always been a klutz, but I don’t think it’s ever caused me the sort of serious injuries it did in 2010!

Did you suffer illness or injury?
See my answer to the “memorable dates” question.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Being invited to moderate a panel at the 2011 Book Blogger Convention (I know the convention hasn’t happened yet, but since the invitation did, it counts!)

What do you wish you’d done more of?
Cooking and baking, but having my right arm out of commission made that a challenge and I slacked a lot as a result. I also wish I’d done more walking, but since I didn’t have the excuse of a four-legged companion to get me out of the house to do it for most of 2010 (and the out-of-commission arm also factored in here), I slacked on that too.

What do you wish you’d done less of?
Dislocating my shoulder (as if you couldn’t guess that would be my answer!)

What was your favorite TV program?
I can’t pick just one, but I’ll narrow it down as far as possible:
Old favorite drama: Lost
New favorite drama: Mad Men
Old favorite comedy: How I Met Your Mother
New favorite comedy: Modern Family

What did you want and get?
A bunch of new books!

What did you want and not get?
More time to read all those books.

What was your favorite film of this year?
I can’t pick only one, of course. I have to name two, and they’re very different: Toy Story 3 and Inception.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Not injuring my shoulder – especially not the second time! (Yes, I realize I keep going back to this, but it was one of defining events of my life in 2010.)

What political issue stirred you the most?
I was more stirred by the combative, negative political climate in general than by any specific issue this year. It was a real challenge not to be overly cynical.

Who did you miss?
My son at Christmas, and Gypsy all year.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
Watch where you’re going, don’t drag your feet, and wear shoes that fit securely! (OK, maybe that’s three, but they’re all related…to my shoulder injuries.)

Some forward-looking randomness: I’d like to line up some guest posts for the recuperation period after my shoulder surgery later this month. Care to help a blogger out? 

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