What did you do in 2006 that you’d never done before?
(in chronological order, edited for my privacy)
I became intensely involved with an all-female spoken word group, Romancing Venus.
Together with friends Gabby & Jilly, we finished a commissioned book on cancer.
I became interested in photography and visual art.
I gave a writing workshop to inmates in medium-security prison in Bilibid.
Towards the end of the year, I interviewed FVR for a magazine. (See proof below.)

Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
No, I didn’t keep all of them. Ironically, these are the same resolutions I am making for 2007.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
No, not this year.

Did anyone close to you die?
Not people close to me, but to my friends. 2006 was a busy year for the Grim Reaper: casualties include N’s grandmother, father, as well as her mother’s favorite student and best friend; A’s mother; Dr. B.’s 12-year-old daughter; and Gb’s aunt.

What countries did you visit?
Bangkok, Thailand

What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
Clarity and firmness of purpose.

What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
March 27 (I’d rather keep that a secret, but yes, it involves a man, in a good way), May 25 (I’d also like to keep this a secret, but it also involves a man, in a bad way)

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting over what happened to me on the 25th of May 2006.

What was your biggest failure?
Unlike in 2005, I don’t feel like I failed at anything in a major way in 2006.

Did you suffer illness or injury?
Yes. I’d rather not go into detail about this.

What was the best thing you bought?
Ah, the sweet scent of commercialism: among other things, I liked my new iPod, books, and gifts for family and friends.

Whose behavior merited celebration?
All my friends have been very supportive and caring, but the one person whom I would call the paragon of goodness and self-sacrifice in my life is my father.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I’m not naming names, but he knows who he is.

Where did most of your money go?
Food (gustatory extravaganzas with fellow foodies), work materials, bills, gym/exercise class dues, clothes, make-up, gifts, BOOKS!

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The writing workshop I conducted in Bilibid, my work with Ateneo, my performances with Romancing Venus. Oh, and photography.

What song will always remind you of 2006?
“Pag-Agos” by Up Dharma Down

Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? ==> Happier.
ii. thinner or fatter? ==> Thinner, but not as much as I would have liked.
iii. richer or poorer? ==> Richer, thank the good Lord.

What do you wish you’d done more of?
I wish I’d focused more on honing my skills for the kind of work that I do.
I wish I’d exercised more.
Oh, and I wish I’d written more!!!

What do you wish you’d done less of?
I wish I hadn’t wasted so much energy over an idiot who in the end just wasn’t worth my (or any sensible girl’s, for that matter) time!

How will you be spending Christmas?
I spent it at home, with my family.

Did you fall in love in 2006?
Oh sweet Jesus. Yes.

How many one-night stands?
I plead the Fifth.

What was your favorite TV program?
Joss Whedon’s Firefly, America’s Next Top Model, Project Runaway

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Yes. But hate is such a strong word. It connotes anger and bitterness, and I do not want to be either of those things. Not anymore.

What was the best book you read?
— Oh dear. Will you make me list all of them?
In no particular order: Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Anderson Cooper’s Dispatches From The Edge, Haruki Murakami’s short story collection The Elephant Vanishes, and his stellar novel, Sputnik Sweetheart.

What was your greatest musical discovery?
Fado! (Thanks to my Tio Aris who gifted me with Cristina Branco’s “Corpo Illuminado”) Now I also like listening to Mariza and Dulces Ponte.

What did you want and get?
Work in the Ateneo as a fund raiser and project coordinator, and boys galore (even if they were mostly the wrong kind).

What was your favorite film of this year?
The Prestige, no doubt.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Frankly, I can’t remember what I did on the exact date of my birthday. I turned 26 in 2006.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
In the words of Wesley in “The Princess Bride“, as he lay ‘almost dead’ on the witch doctor’s table, “True Love”, the dizzying romantic kind, that eventually outlasts the dizziness, allowing one to take flight.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
I had to tone down my fashion sense so as not to shock the people in the office: I cut down on the plunging necklines, off-the-shoulder tops, frilly skirts, sexy, lacy dresses (though I still love wearing them outside the office), and I acquired more button-down collared tops and slacks.

What kept you sane?
Friends, family, poetry, music, books.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
2006 was the year I fell in love with Anderson Cooper! Thanks to him, watching CNN has never been so … pleasurable for most women (and rumor has it, men too).

What political issue stirred you the most?
The “Nicole” Subic rape case.

Who did you miss?
Littol seester Gabby Lee, when she went off to Singapore in June 2006 to study.

Who was the best new person you met?
I met so many neat people in ‘06, I’ve lost count. A few names come to mind: my boss Chris Peabody, JESCOM coordinator Ken G. Tan, photographers Paolo Picones and Bahaghari, Barcino Gourmet restauranteurs Serge and Jo, Romancing Venus sister Anabel Bosch and National Artist Ben Cab.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006:
Everything and anything is possible, as long as you believe in yourself.

Quote a song lyric that sums up 2006:

Isang umagang muling aahon
At sisikat sa mga panahon
Na tayong pang dalawa
Masayang nagsasama.

Buong araw ng pag-agos
Kailan ang huling unos?
Di alam kung tatakbo,
Kusang lalayo sayo.

Isang umaga muli ng pag-iisa
Walang mayakap at makasama
Pusong pilit na sinugatan
Landas ko’y karaniwan.

Buong araw ng pag-agos
Kailan ang huling unos?
Di alam kung tatakbo,
Kusang lalayo sayo.

Ayos lang,
Agos lang.

- “Pag-agos”, Up Dharma Down

Photo by Agustin Infante.