This Year and Next

It is now 6 full months that I have been here in London. That, and the fact that we are knocking on the door of 2008 has made me tres reflective. A bit of introspection never hurt anyone did it?

For a start, I have made for resolutions for the New Year. Your assistance with a couple of them is being solicited and actively encouraged.

1) I am going to learn to make a fantastic meat and potato pie - never fail crowd pleaser :-)
2) Further to the above, I am going to learn to make a kick-ass lasagna - given that as a child I repeatedly answered "lasagna" when quizzed on my favourite food, it is a little bit strange that I have never made one.

*I INTEND TO TRY A NUMBER OF RECIPES OUT OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT FEW MONTHS AND WOULD LIKE YOU TO SHARE YOUR BEST IF YOU HAVE THEM*

3) Learn to enjoy having a bath - many people would know that while I have no aversion to 'bathe-ing' generally, but that I have for some time loathed baths. I have diagnosed this as being directly symptomatic of my inability to relax, and therefore have prescribed for myself a new years resolution to force myself to get over this.

4) Finally and perhaps most importantly - in the new year I am going to stop not doing things, because I don't have anyone to do them with. There is a slightly melancholic tinge to this resolution I suppose, given that my occasional lonerism is due to my ongoing single-ness. However, there are many things that I want to do in this city while I have the fortune of living here, and so damn it, I am going to do them alone-or-no. Theatre, museums, galleries, even holidays - in 2008 I shall unleash my inner pal. :-)

So that's my resolutions. What do you think? I think they are achievable - there is no point making resolutions like 'in 2008 I am going to do the things that I have been resolving to do on December 31 for every year of my life in recent memory'. If ya ain't lost that 5Kg/quit smoking/been on that holiday yet - another new years resolution ain't gonna help.

There are other things I want to achieve in 2008 of course, another notable one being to do some semi-competitive running, given my new found affinity with the treadmill. I also want to travel more within the UK to cities like Bath, Norwich, Torquay, Leeds, Bristol, Manchester, Cardiff, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Realistically I might get to 3 or 4 of them, and I am starting to plan this now. For all it's flaws, this is a beautiful country, and I take great delight in observing the subtle regional differences that even a journey of 5Km can reveal. As someone once said 'there's nowt as queer as folk'. Meeting as many of them as I can, will if nothing else, keep life interesting.

So that's the resolutions. Now for the retrospective.

I think 2007 for me will over time demonstrate itself to be a fairly important year. I flew the coop, slogged my way to admission as a lawyer and moved countries alone. I think that I have also learned in the last year, but really in the last couple, to chill out more and enjoy life as it comes.

I was mildly alarmed when flicking through a book in a bookshop today, to read that Einstein believed that at 25 you have pretty much achieve most of your potential and have set yourself on your life's trajectory (your parabola of success or failure?). A bloody depressing thought don't you think? I am not sure that I agree, but then again, as a 25-and-a-quarter year old, I wouldn't would I?

But I digress.

I have thought quite hard about this, and have listed what I consider to be the highlights and lowlights of the year that was. I will probably re-read this tomorrow and kick myself for missing out some pivotal moment, but if so, I guess it's my prerogative to edit it covertly. So ner.

Highlights of 2007 (in no particular order)

• Discovering Balzac
• Discovering Sufjan Stevens
• Discovering the weird and occasionally unnerving joy of travelling solo
• The Adelaide Weekend
• Living in Norwood with Erina
• Visiting Eastern Europe for the first time
• The Car Man at Sadler's Wells
• My friends
• Living with Frilly!!
  
• The Labor election win in Australia (as sweet as candy!)
  
• Labour Party Conference, meeting fellow politicos and seeing David 'the dish' Miliband speak three times (I'm being slightly tongue in cheek for those of you who care...)
  
• The day in August where I fell in love with London while sitting on the balcony drinking wine and staring dreamy-eyed into the darkening evening sky
  

Lowlights of 2007

• Being homesick
• Having my handbag and camera stolen in Fulham (that was last night by the way)
• The British winter
• Men (though I remain hopeful...)
  
• Being in London for the Aussie Labor victory
• The flagging fortunes of the British Labour Party
• Saying goodbye to Erina's wardrobe of glory
• The times where I haven't been true or honest to myself
• That day in June where I had to say goodbye to all my dearest friends and family in one big fat soul-crushing hit.

Apologies in advance for my self-indulgence here. I do afterall, as a dyed-in-the-wool Virgo, find this kind of list-making quite cathartic.

Without question this next six months will be tough- make or break if you will. They will also be unfailingly interesting, busy, challenging and exciting. Beginning the year with four international trips ought to set the tone.

So for now I shall bid you adieu fair-readers. Please don't forget to give me your recipes if you have good ones. I shall at least succeed in two of my resolutions.

NB - As an addendum to this diatribe of self-indulgence, please be advised that I had a wonderful christmas spanning four equally welcoming homes, with the cherry atop the week being a night out in Blackburn, the neighbouring town to Burnley where I was born. Thankfully I uploaded a few pics to the photostream yesterday prior to having my camera, blackberry and scarf pinched from my handbag (they didn't want the bag, or my lovely new gloves, or my new perfume), so all is not lost. :-(