Tyler DiPietro tagged me with a meme, in obedience to which I’m supposed to answer a series of questions about my personal behavior. I said I would do this if I could answer the questions in a way which wasn’t terminally dull; if you see this post, then I’ve succeeded, at least in my own estimation. If you don’t see this post, then I failed and I didn’t want you to know.

1. Will you be looking for a new job?

I’ll definitely be looking for new people with whom I can collaborate and do new research; maybe that counts as the same thing.

2. Will you be looking for a new relationship?

Ick. What is it with the words we use for romance? “Relationship”? “Significant other”? To quote Amanda Palmer, “Just say we were lovers and we’ll call it even!”

But no, I don’t see myself looking for anything new in the “relationship department,” just following up what I’ve already got and seeing how its course unfolds.

3. New house?

I’ve moved into (and become financially tied to) a nice place, so no, I’m not moving.

4. What will you do differently in 08?

Start fewer projects, finish more of them; write more blog posts with equations and BPR3-level content. Drink less refined sugar juice. Eat more bok choi and Chinese broccoli.

5. New Years resolution?

Be less redundant in my life!

6. What will you not be doing in 08?

Repeating myself!

7. Any trips planned?

No, not yet.

8. Wedding plans?

No.

9. Major thing on your calendar?

A certain event in mid- or late February whose details I am not at liberty to disclose has got me quivering with excitement.

10. What can’t you wait for?

The chance to not repeat myself.

11. What would you like to see happen differently?

I’d like my computer paraphernalia and consumer electronic devices to all just get along. Also, world peace.

12. What about yourself will you be changing?

I believe that 2008 will see a decisive victory in our ongoing struggle to increase the consumption of Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce.

Also, I’m going to become less repetitive.

Damn! Well, 2008 hasn’t started quite yet.

13. What happened in 07 that you didn’t think would ever happen?

The single most surprising event is one which is still unfolding, and about which I am still bound by a promise of confidence (as indicated above). However, watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and finding that it was a pretty darn good movie shocked me good.

14. Will you be nicer to the people you care about?

I’d like to see my attempts to do nice things meet with more success, but I already hold the people I care about in warm regard. My problems are with implementation far more often than they are with intent; I’m usually a buffoon, but I’d like to think I’m a genial one.

15. Will you dress differently this year than you did in 07?

More trenchcoat! More fedora!

16. Will you start or quit drinking?

I seldom have more than a single beer in one evening, although I’ll freely admit to liking a gin and tonic, a mojito or something of that nature on infrequent occasions (we’re talking once a season or thereabouts). I doubt this habit will change.

17. Will you better your relationship with your family?

A few relatives are living in this neck of the country now, so I might be seeing them more frequently. Our relations have been perfectly cordial, but the way my kin have scattered across the map has made visits difficult.

18. Will you do charity work?

Sure, if a good opportunity presents itself.

19. Will you go to bars?

Yeah, definitely, if by “bars” you mean “Bukowski’s,” and by “go to” you mean “eat the sweet potato fries at while drinking a double chocolate stout.”

20. Will you be nice to people you don’t know?

Why do I get the feeling that this meme is trying to make me think I’m a bad person?

21. Do you expect 08 to be a good year for you?

No, disaster lurks around every corner, beneath every snowdrift, in the comment thread of every blog post!

22. How much did you change from this time last year till now?

“33 cents.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“How else am I supposed to measure how much a person changes?”

“No! I mean, why did you say ’33 cents’ instead of ’49 cents’ or ’17 cents’?”

“If I had said ’17 cents’, you would be asking me the same question!”

(With apologies to R. P. Feynman.)

23. Do you plan on having a child?

My DNA has caused enough problems in this generation, thank you very much.

24. Will you still be friends with the same people you are friends with now?

Probably.

25. Major lifestyle changes?

More trenchcoat! More fedora! More Chinese broccoli! Less redundancy!

Oops.

26. Will you be moving?

No, but I will be padding out my questionnaires.

27. What will you make sure doesn’t happen in 08 that happened in 07?

I will not allow the world to be destroyed and rebuilt exactly the way it was before the annihilation, perfect in every detail.

28. What are your New Years Eve plans?

Not sure. Maybe First Night, maybe a party at a friend’s apartment.

29. Will you have someone to kiss at midnight?

True gentlemen never tell.

30. One wish for 08?

I’d rather keep the wish-making ability in reserve, you know, until I know something really important is at hand.