inklingfair Time for the annual review! I realize I hadn’t been able to link to past years, so here are 2020 and 2019.
1. What did you do in 2021 that you’d never done before?
Watched a virtual concert with Amy and talked with Brett and Eddy of TwoSet Violin. Co-managed a household/bubble of +/- nine people.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for 2022?
Learning from 2020, I just took things one day at a time in 2021. This year, I do have some goals: move house (and stay there for more than 2 years), establish regular ride days and grow the business/community with Josh, get Amy and hopefully Daniel vaccinated against COVID, make a road trip to Iloilo via ro-ro passing through Mindoro and Boracay, start my “thick desire” project.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
H gave birth to B, so now the kids have a cousin!
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Marie, a community member whom I really loved listening to, was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in November. She went home to her family in the final week of December and passed away a few days ago. She was insightful, very intelligent, earnest, and though she was soft-spoken you could tell she had a streak of mischief behind her smile. She had a marvelous memory, and I will miss her bringing up something Father Paolo had talked about in a homily months or years ago. I texted her when she left to go to her family but she didn’t reply, and I wish I had called her. Several people close to me lost somebody to COVID or a terminal illness.
5. What countries did you visit?
None.
6. What would you like to have in 2022 that you lacked in 2021?
Confidence in our leaders and their plans to bring us out of this pandemic. Vaccines for the children.
7. What dates from 2021 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
A lot of “firsts in a long time” during the pandemic:
Pat and Ranz’s wedding because we weren’t vaccinated yet then, but we dressed up and took off masks for photos and while eating (we all had to go through rapid antigen tests before we began). It was quite stressful but everything was lovely and it gave us the courage to go schedule Daniel’s baptism and start going to face to face mass in the well-ventilated church with high ceilings.
The vacation in Laguna, our first time to travel together with extended family outside our household, and Bataan with Josh, our first overnight trip as a couple since 2019.
Meeting up face to face with work colleagues and also going to the dentist for the first time in over a year.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Being brave and making the most out of uncertain times.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Struggling with building and managing remote teams. But I’ve learned a lot and hope to do better in 2022.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Josh and I quarantined for two weeks due to a weird virus in September. I fell off a road bike in November, got a few cuts and a skinned chin.
11. What was the best thing you bought or gave away?
Bought: fountain pens again so I could use up the bottles of ink that were orphaned when I lost my first ones; comfy work from home clothes from Taytay; tickets for the virtual TwoSet Violin concert; rapid antigen test kits
Gave away: Amy’s and Daniel’s baby stuff that could finally be reused again
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Amy, for being a model big sister even if Daniel annoys the heck out of her by wanting to play when she wants to sleep in. And for learning to read chapter books! Hours of quietness = sanity for me and Josh.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
The Marcoses and their allies.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Groceries and house stuff, I’m happy to say.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Getting vaccinated. Being able to travel, even in a limited way. Seo Bok, which fell short of my expectations but Gong Yoo’s and Park Bo Gum’s acting made up for it. The Silent Sea, which also wasn’t quite there yet, but Bae Doona was excellent in it. Amy graduating to chapter books – and discovering great secondhand books at bookspine.ph. TwoSet Violin’s concert and meet & greet!
16. What songs will always remind you of 2021?
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and The Wheels on The Bus, Daniel’s favorite songs of the year. Romantic Sunday from Hometown Cha-cha-cha. Butter and Permission to Dance by BTS.
17. Compared to this time last year, you are:
// happier or sadder? happier
// thinner or fatter? a teeny bit fatter since Daniel started solids
// richer or poorer? I feel richer, but my bank balance disagrees
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Hanging out (even virtually) with friends.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Social media scrolling as a means of escape/coping.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
It was a bit more outgoing than 2020. Nothing earthshaking (we had an earthquake for 2020’s Christmas). We did spend more on gifts and food, which I hope was good for the local economy at least.
21. Did you fall in love in 2021?
Yes. With Josh, with being a family, with working on things I love and believe in.
22. What was your favorite TV program?
So many! The Hungry and The Hairy (with a special appearance by Hyori and Sang-soon) made me want to go traveling again. Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha was such a probinsya life comfort watch, despite the scandal that plagued Kim Seon-ho right after it wrapped. My Octopus Teacher was the best nature documentary I watched and possibly the only one that made me cry – Amy loved it. Paik’s Spirit made me yearn again for deep conversations with good friends over food and drink. Reply 1988 was a wonderful family series, but it brought back too many childhood memories I have complicated feelings about that I don’t think I can watch it again. Trese burned bright and quick, it’s a pity people seem to have forgotten it. Vincenzo was a fun romp, though rather dark and violent towards the end.
23. What was the best book you read?
I haven’t been reading books this year, period. But I did get reunited with Silence Will Speak (Errol Trzebinski) and U2 at the End of the World (Bill Flanagan), thanks to Miko’s care package.
24. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Cocomelon and how it instantly calms down Daniel at his antsiest.
25. What did you want and get?
I just wanted to get through the year, and I did.
26. What did you want and not get?
See #25.
27. What was your favorite film of this year?
My Dear Youth. Oh, and maybe Destination Wedding. I preferred watching series and escapist reality shows this year.
28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
This was in my Christmas post.
29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
More sleep, haha.
30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2021?
Zoom casual.
31. What kept you sane?
A daily routine. Bokashi. Work. Josh.
32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Still Gong Yoo. And more recently, Kim Seon-ho.
33. What political issue stirred you the most?
The misuse of government funds in its COVID response.
34. Who did you miss?
No one.
35. Who was the best new person you met?
I haven’t had the opportunity to meet many new people this year, but if our current home was a person, it would be it. I guess our home bubble/community? From a household of 4 early last year, we’ve more than doubled, and it was quite a growth challenge for me. When we found this house, it was an old, next-to-rundown bungalow, and we thought we’d have seven people living in it, tops – which soon became nine. We had to re-rig the budget and play around with the room configurations several times before settling on something that everyone was happy with.
When we learned that the owners were soon going to tear down the place to build a new house, we started searching for a new place. When we did find one that fit our budget, it was a God-send because it had almost exactly the same number of rooms and plenty of outdoor space and airflow.
36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2021:
Make room for the unexpected. “Let everything happen to you. Beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
37. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
There’s always something that’s standing in the way
But if you don’t let it faze ya, you’ll know just how to break
…
We don’t need to worry
‘Cause when we fall, we know how to land
