Goodbye, 2008! (Looking Back at 2008)

Member Name: calypte

Product:	Looking Back at 2008
Date:	04/01/09 (227 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: new job, passing exams

Disadvantages: work crud, health problems, lack of accomplishments

There's a lot to be said about starting a new year by looking back at the previous 12 months. What went wrong, what can you avoid - but also, what went well, what do you want more of?

I started 2008 - as ever! - with huge plans. Perhaps too huge?! Then events take over, throw those plans out of the window and you struggle through as best you can! Well, that was my year, at least. This being a consumer website, I'm more inclined to talk about products, but here's a brief roundup of calypte's 2008:


~Personal~
What a year! My two biggest achievements were passing two more exams, bringing me halfway through my degree (in terms of material, not time, thank goodness!!); and finding a new job. After a lot of unpleasantness at the start of the year, and having to put up with the bad situation while I got those exams out of the way, I totally lucked out when a position opened in another team in the same company. I started in September, and can honestly say it's the best fitting job I've ever had - hurrah! :)

The other big news that took over was my health. Apart from constant snuffles through the year (really, I think I've spent more time with the cold than not!), I had a MAJOR health scare in November/December. Luckily it turned out okay, although I'm still heading for surgery this month. Trying hard to use the experience to improve my view of life in general, though!

Right, enough seriousness! This is Dooyoo, people!


~A Year of Dooyoo~
2008 has been my best and certainly most productive year since I started. Having joined in 2001 with that initial exuberance, I can never have been accused of being a prolific writer! ;) However, the end of 2007 brought the new payment system, and a shift in attitudes. No, I didn't manage to start churning far, far shorter reviews (which, let's face it, is the money-making option now!), but suddenly I felt a lot less pressure to produce epic masterpieces (I know - hah!). Obviously the powers that be thought short and often was worth pushing - and shifted the focus from waiting for reads to writing. Hurrah! I might have 'only' managed 33 reviews, but by my past levels that was a great output!

So what was I writing about? Well, this year saw my liking of Lush turn into a full-blown (but very clean!) obsession, so there were plenty review of those! I managed my first ever travel review, and the longest epic on muffins ever LOL! Mostly, though, I was writing about films...


~Movies~
I managed a respectable 30 trips to the cinema (getting worth out of that pass!), and would say that my movie year was very split: things were either very good, or very disappointing. I Am Legend, Sweeney Todd, National Treasure 2 and The Other Boleyn Girl failed to impress me at the year's start, although against all odds I managed to find the unpopular Jumper a bit of fun! Luckily, things improved in the summer. In Bruges made me giggle like mad, and then it was time for the summer blockbusters!

First and favourite remains Iron Man. Robert Downey Jr took a relatively unknown comic and made the part of playboy-turned-superhero his own. The other side of the season saw Christian Bale and the late Heath Ledger manage the same, albeit in a MUCH darker way, in the brilliant Dark Knight. In between, Indiana Jones almost managed a comeback, and I still think was as good as we could have expected. I was underwhelmed by Hulk, Hancock (Will Smith didn't have a great year, for me!) and a return to Narnia - not to mention poor sequels for the X-Files, Mummy and Bond franchises; but I was pleasantly surprised by the sequel to Hellboy, a cartoon robot and a low-budget Abba singalong!

The last part of the year brought more of a mixed bag. There were some very mediocre action movies: Bangkok Dangerous, Taken, Max Payne; the what was that about Burn After Reading; and the pretty dire The Day the Earth Stood Still. No wonder I stopped going much! To end on a plus, though, I would recommend keeping an eye out for Rocknrolla when it hits the small screen - a relatively fun offering from Guy Ritchie. Fortunately, there are some great-looking titles coming up for 2009!


~Books~
I managed a pitiful three book reviews this year, but counting up I only managed to read 37 - 'only', she says, but for me that's pretty low. I blame studying! I also spent a lot of time rereading (slower, as I don't have that urge to find out what happens next) and reading series in particular, which I almost never review.

I started the year finally finishing off Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth sequence, which managed not to disappoint. Another series, the Night's Dawn trilogy by Peter Hamilton, chewed up several months of reading time as I slogged through the massively thick volumes - mostly worth it, thank goodness! I also finally ventured into reading Dune - which wasn't as confusing as the film had always made me fear! With at least a dozen more books in the same universe, I might still be with that one through to 2010 ;)

Book of my year goes to Jasper Ffffforde's First Among Sequels, bringing the world of Thursday Next happily back to my attention.


So there you go - another year gone, and not one I can say I'll miss! Here's to a better 2009: more reading (and writing about that!), more good movies, and I think in general fewer goals with more focus!

Happy 2009, everyone. Here's hoping it's a great year! :)

Summary: It's over - bring on the new year!!