1. What Did You Do In 2005 That You'd Never Done Before ?
Played in Café Saguijo. Played songs I wrote in Saguijo. Soundtracked Dodo’s directorial debut!
2. Did You Keep Your New Years' Resolutions, And Will You Make More For Next Year?
Spent less on CDs. Woohoo! Spent more on DVDs. Which amounts to not much, but hey, ATM’s still loaded so I think I did pretty well.
3. Did Anyone Close To You Give Birth?
Sugar and Buttercup. My dog and cat, respectively.
4. Did Anyone Close To You Die?
Yeah. Sadly. Just recently.
5. What Countries Did You Visit?
None. Most probably this year. Planning to get Shangai’d this April.
6. What Would You Like To Have In 2006 That You Lacked In 2005?
A waist.
7. What Date From 2005 Will Remain Etched Upon Your Memory, And Why?
August 9 – First StarKiller production in Saguijo. September 11 – 6th year anniversary. Thought to myself: Wow, this guy really knows me. And loves me.
8. What Was Your Biggest Achievement This Year?
Check # 1. Was rarely bored at work, too. More happy reunions with old friends. And no wandering of any sort. Oh! And winning the Inumarathon, baybeh! *Shout-outs to group members M, W, Luis and Yvette, the Kristines.*
9. What Was Your Biggest Failure?
Can’t think of any right now. `04 was a painful year full of mistakes. Thank God for `05’s kindness.
10. Did You Suffer Illness or Injury?
Killer stomach acid.
11. What Was The Best Thing You Bought?
Subscribed to DSL.
12. Whose Behavior Merited Celebration?
Old friends with a long history of violent happiness.
13. Whose Behavior Made You Appalled And Depressed?
Nothing appalling. But annoying, yes, oh yes.
14. Where Did Most of Your Money Go?
DVDs. Charity. Some weekly beer drinking fund-raising.
15. What Did You Get Really, Really, Really Excited About?
Mostly #1. Park Chan-wook’s Vengeance Trilogy. Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men. Neil Gaiman’s visit. Rockestra. DivX player. Metrowalk. StarKiller Productions.
16. What song will always remind you of 2005?
Rilo Kiley's More Adventurous, Shout Out Louds' The Comeback, SugarFree's Prom, Magic Numbers' I See You, You See Me, Itchyworms’ Beer, The Guild League’s Animals, The Pernice Brothers’ Saddest Quotient, and The Lucksmiths’ Camera Shy.
17. Compared To This Time Last Year, You Are:
…more fluent in Korean, more responsible with insurance payments, but surprisingly less tolerant of whining kids.
18. What Do You Wish You'd Done More Of?
Sleeping. Hanging out with the parents. Writing. Drinking.
19. What Do You Wish You'd Done Less Of?
Easy one. Eating. And adding photos on my friendster.
20. How Did You Spend Christmas?
With the family. Some lively banter on Asian cinema and life after retirement. Had fatty, oily Noche Buena but, yeah, we were all together. Plus 8 dogs.
22. Did You Fall In Love In 2005?
Yeah. Every weekend week-recap in bed before sleep.
23. How Many One-Night Stands?
None. Puro two.
24. What Was Your Favorite TV Program?
Battlestar Galactica. Lost. Supernatural. House. Kitchen Confidential. Pinoy Big Brother. Desperate Housewives. Attic Cat. And ROME.
25. Do You Hate Anyone Now That You Didn't Hate This Time Last Year?
A few officemates, but that’s natural.
26. What Was The Best Book You Read?
Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go - pretty and savage at the same time. Ursula LeGuin’s Changing Planes – magnificent fun. Gregory Maguire’s Wicked – a difficult but rewarding read, fucked up Oz is good. Dodo Dayao’s Askals – warped redemption in heartless Quiapo. Noisy, violent frames care of Bong Leal.
27. What Was Your Greatest Musical Discovery?
Magic Numbers. Rilo Kiley. LCD Soundsystem. The Guild League. The Lucksmiths. Pernice Brothers.
28. What Did You Want And Get?
Won Bin mug. Infernal Affairs special edition set. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Old Boy region 1 DVDs. A raise.
29. What Did You Want And Not Get?
A new phone. Old one still works eh.
30. What Was Your Favourite Film This Year?
Park Chan-wook’s Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. Kim Jee-woon’s A Bittersweet Life. Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom’s Shutter. Kim Ki-duk’s 3 Iron. And the lovely, quietly heartbreaking Last Life in the Universe (Pen-ek Ratanaruang).
31. What Did You Do On Your Birthday? And How Old Were You?
Watched DVDs all night, scored by W’s soft snoring. Finally, a thirtysomething. Because the thirties is the new black. Comfy and almost always elegant.
32.What One Thing Would Have Made Your Year Immeasurably Satisfying?
Geez. Nothing. I’ve become boring.
33. How Would You Describe Your Personal Fashion Concept In 2005?
Dress coded chic.
34. What Kept You Sane?
Music.
35. Which Celebrity/Public Figure Did You Fancy The Most?
Won Bin. Jang Dong-gun. Joo Jin-mo. And Dennis Trillo.
36. What Political Issue Stirred You The Most?
Stir sila lahat.
37. Who Did You Miss?
Catching up with old friends.
38. Who Was The Best New Person You Met?
New staff. The most efficient associate editor ever. I hope she knows this. And our new marketing gal.
39. Tell Us A Valuable Life Lesson You Learned In 2005:
"With every broken heart, we should become more adventurous."
40. Quote A Song Lyric That Sums Up The Year:
"All of your failures are training grounds …" sings Jenny Lewis in The Absence of God. 2005, the year that I relaxed. Exhaled. Got addicted to Korean cinema. Got enough courage to play in a band and let friends hear my songs. Drank less. And corrected last year’s mistakes.
