2012 in Review

1. What did you do in 2012 that you'd never done before?
Bought a house. Went to Las Vegas. Went to the Grand Canyon.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't think I made any. I don't usually make them.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, thankfully.

5. What countries did you visit?
The US of A.

6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?
Passionate sex.

7. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
February 27 - taking possession of the house. February 28 - moving day. July 11 - an explosion at work.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Becoming a homeowner.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Leaving too much of the packing to the last minute.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Yep. I sprained my right knee in the spring and injured my left rotator cuff in the fall.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
A two bedroom townhouse.

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
My sister, for getting me to go on vacation with her, and I had a lot more fun than I expected to. She accepts me and validates me like nobody else has.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Anyone who shot another person (excluding in self-defense).

14. Where did most of your money go?
The house.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My garden.

16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2012
Call Me Maybe, The Water is Wide, Now Westlin Winds

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
I. happier or sadder? Both.
II. richer or poorer? Well, I have more assets. And less disposable income.
III. fatter or thinner? I think I'm a little thinner, since cutting down on gluten.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Packing, in January.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Waiting to see if my course reimbursement papers had been received.

20. How will you be spending the holidays?
I went to Edmonton and spent Christmas with my sister and her family.

21. How will you be spending New Year's?
I watched movies and I lit sparklers in my backyard at midnight.

22. Did you fall in love in 2012?
No.

23. How many one-night stands?
None.

24. What was your favourite TV program?
The New Girl. Grey's Anatomy plummeted in my personal ratings.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No.

26. What was the best book you read?
Wheat Belly by William Davis.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I already knew Kevin McKidd had a good voice, but The Speyside Sessions, which he had a hand in, is fantastic and expanded my knowledge of Scottish folk music.

28. What did you want and get?
A house. A garden.

29. What did you want and not get?
We didn't have time to see Donny & Marie in Las Vegas.

30. What was your favourite films of this year?
The Hobbit. I really enjoyed Brave, but it lost me during the middle because of where the plot went.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I just went to work. I went out to lunch with coworkers. I was 46 (still am).

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I should've dug out my light therapy box in September, to combat Seasonal Affective Disorder. I've been feeling depressed this fall and that needs to stop.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?
Same as usual - comfortable.

34. What kept you sane?
My sister, my friends, my kitties, my garden.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Kevin McKidd.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Not wanting the Wildrose Party to take power in the provincial election. They are too conservative and clearly have issues with same-sex marriages and abortion. They didn't take power. I voted PC for the first time, as it was the best vote against the incumbent Wildrose member. Wildrose won by 26 votes.

37. Whom did you miss?
My family to the East, particularly my oldest nephew.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Sarah. a coworker who calls me Sunshine and hugs me a lot. I'm not happy she's leaving.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012
I need to remember to bloom where I am planted.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
May it be the shadow's call
Will fly away
May it be you journey on
To light the day
When the night is overcome
You may rise to find the sun

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Presents

Presents, a photo by angelamermaid on Flickr.

Someone who knows me well sent my first housewarming presents!

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2011 in Review

End of the Year Meme!

  1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before? 
Walked 16 km in one day. Screwed up my courage and got approved for a mortgage. Skyped with Kevin McKidd.

  2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions? 
Didn't make any.

  3. What will your New Year's resolutions be for next year? 
Not making any.

  4. Did anyone close to you give birth? 
Not very close - a coworker and a casual friend did.

  5. Did anyone close to you die? No, thank goodness.

  6. What countries did you visit?
 America! I went to California for the first time.

  7. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? My own home!

  8. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? 
October 13 - found out I have ovarian cysts and that my health needs further investigating. And then I Skyped with Kevin McKidd later the same day. Kevin freakin' McKidd.

 October 15 - I walked into a pet store intending to get a new cat toy or two, and walked out with a kitten, a bag of kitty litter, a bag of kitten food, canned kittten food, and a couple of cat toys.

 And yes, I think the two days are related - I decided "fuck this worrying, I`m getting a kitten!"

  9. What was your biggest achievement of the year? 
Starting the home ownership process.

  10. What was your biggest failure?
Not speaking up sooner about how much I hated how my work environment had changed.

  11. Did you suffer illness or injury? 
I started 2011 recovering from cervical disk replacement surgery, so it got better from there. I did have a bout of cellulitis and my blood pressure got out of control, but with new medication, my blood pressure has stabilized.

  12. What was the best thing you bought?
Hermione. In non-feline matters, I'd say my desktop computer.

  15. Where did most of your money go? 
Besides rent, credit card debt reduction.

  16. What events did you get really, really, really excited about?
 Going to San Francisco and meeting three women I've known online for years. The Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, meeting William Shatner, Felicia Day, and lots of other cool people.

  17. What song will always remind you of 2011?
 "Fireworks" by Katy Perry. Because baby, I am a firework.

  18. Compared to this time last year, are you: ii. thinner or fatter?
 Thinner.

  iii. richer or poorer?
 Richer.

  19. What do you wish you'd done more of? 
Knitting - I owe a friend a scarf that he wanted to give his wife for this Christmas. I'm almost done ...

  20. What do you wish you'd done less of?
 Wasting time on my iPad.

  21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
 My sister.

  22. Did you fall in love in 2011? 
Not with a human.

  23. How many one-night stands?
0.

  24. What was your favourite TV program?
Ooooh, tough. Grey's Anatomy and Glee have been uneven and are no longer must-see TV. I'd say The Big Bang Theory has been the most consistently enjoyable show.

  25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
 No.

  26. What was the best book you read?
 The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure.

  27. What was your greatest musical discovery or rediscovery?
Lately I've rediscovered The Doobie Brothers and discovered Straight No Chaser. Seeing SNC in concert this March.

  28. What did you want and get? 
A HDTV. I bided my time, watched the flyers, and got a good deal.

  29. What did you want and not get?
Dressy boots that fit my calves.

  30. What were your favourite films of this year?
 I didn't go to a movie theatre this year. Tangled is my favourite new film.

  31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
 I started the day at my sister's house, then I came home via the bus. I was (and am) 45.

  32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
 Fantastic sex.

  33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
 Concealing.

  34. What kept you sane? 
Pain relievers.

  35. Which celebrity/public figure did you like the most? Least?
 I liked Kevin McKidd the most - he raised a lot of money for Save the Children by going online and engaging his fanbase. He used Twitter, Twitpics, and chats to interact with viewers and did a lot of good.

Least - Kim Kardashian. I don't watch any of her shows, I never clicked on any stories of her "dream wedding", and I think she's a load of crap and I want her to go away. That's why I installed the "Dash-Out (Kardashian Blocker)" extension for Chrome.

  36. What political issue stirred you the most? 
The federal election on May 2 was very important. I was thrilled by how the NDP became the official opposition for the first time, and heartbroken when Jack Layton died on August 22 after leading the NDP to new heights.

  37. Whom did you miss? 
My Bonnie kitty.

  38. Who was the best new person you met?
 I'm going to say Vee. She's a copywriter at work and loads of fun. Her actual name is Verity but she prefers Vee. She brought her friend to the Christmas party and we all danced a lot together.

  39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.
 It's okay to speak up about being miserable about something.

  40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
  "I'm beautiful in my own way, Because God makes no mistakes."

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Confessions of a fangirl

I first took notice of Kevin McKidd when he appeared on Grey's Anatomy. I'd stopped watching GA during Season 4, but caught the season finale with the house of candles and decided to give Season 5 a try. Owen caught my eye, and I remembered how much I liked Cristina Yang and Miranda Bailey, so I kept watching. Slowly, I started to want know more about Owen Hunt and the man who played him, Kevin McKidd.

I can tell you when I became a Cristina/Owen fangirl. It was during episode 5-10, in the scene where Owen takes Cristina to the Vent. In the exact moment that Cristina laughed for the second time, I was hooked. I remember thinking, "Anyone who can make Cristina Yang laugh like a little girl is someone I want to watch."

Fast-forward to this summer. Kevin McKidd decided to do the Tough Mudder Event in California, bringing attention and donations to Save the Children: East Africa. He worked with his fan club to establish "Thank you" gifts for different donation levels. One of the gifts was a group video chat with Kevin himself.

At first I didn't think I'd want to do that. What would I say? Besides "Talk Scottish to me"? He'd shown himself to be a great communicator through his Twitter feed, but I was still hesitant. Then I happened to be online when he joined a group chat with his fan club. He was so personable and friendly that I decided to go for the video chat. It was for charity, after all! And he raised over $14,000 for a very worthy cause.

My group session was on October 13. And it was awesome. Myself and other fans Skyped with Kevin, aided by the lovely moderator, Leanne. I've gotten tons of requests for details, and I've shared some. This is my attempt to capture everything I remember.

The first thing is that Leanne said we were surprisingly quiet, given how vocal we can be online. Heh. Kevin asked where everyone was from. I represented the Canadian fangirls.

I think we were all trying to be polite and give everyone a chance to speak ... or were too shy/starstruck. Consequently, nobody wanted to break the ice. I'd prepared a couple of questions so I decided to not be such an introvert, and ask the first question. I asked if he'd prepared a back story for Owen or was he given one by the GA writers?

Kevin replied that he wasn't given much at all. He senses that Owen has a sister, who may appear in the future. He thinks Owen's father died a while ago, of a heart condition, so Owen's mother has been on her own for a long time. Owen is very close to his mother. Kevin likes working with Debra Mooney and hopes she'll appear on the show again.

I asked if Owen's mother has a first name (something I've wanted to know for my fanfiction). Her name has never been determined, but Kevin thinks it's something like Imogen.

I had another question prepared and it was a huge one - "the Teddy thing". I asked if that was a hard story to sell, because we fangirls certainly weren't buying it. The battery in Kevin's laptop started to die, so he had to briefly drop out of the chat and find the charger. When he came back, he asked me to repeat the question and then answered it, with a lot of detail.

Kevin talked about how in the early seasons of GA, the writers created MerDer, then split them up with a triangle the next season. They tried to do that with Cristina/Owen in Season Six - Kevin said he "sensed" that Owen was supposed to go off with Teddy while Cristina spent some time with Jackson. Kevin and Sandra didn't like this, but as actors they decided to go along with it. What happened next was that the fans were far more angry about the plotline than the writers expected. We were so vehemently opposed that the plot had to be changed. (Fangirl power!)

Most of us in the chat, if not all, had something to say about the Triangle of Doom. We could not believe that the Owen of Season Five could ever love two women at the same time, and Kevin agreed. I referred to the Writers Blog where Shonda shared that some of the writers really believed that Owen could, and we shared some strong opinions about that.

Kevin talked a bit about that - he said that the writers were not ill-intentioned, but what they envisioned in the writer's room as an interesting story to tell, did not materialize onscreen as something that the fans could accept.

I want to stress that while Kevin may not agree with some plot points, he was very professional while discussing the writers. He was respectful. Katherine Heigl could have taken some tips from him.

I'm glad I brought up the Teddy thing, it was interesting to hear Kevin be candid about how it failed. He also talked about the differences between most men and women - a woman could conceive of being in love with two different people easier than a man could. And he doesn't think Owen can be in love with more than one woman at a time.

I'm not sure if the other women in the chat want to be identified publicly, so I'm not naming names, though I hope they will their memories to this. One asked him about an interview in which Kevin had said that Cristina was supposed to have been pregnant at the end of Season 5, and Season 6 was going to be about them raising the child together. Kevin said that a pregnant Cristina was supposed to have been the cliffhanger, but he doesn't recall ever being told that she would go through with the pregnancy.

We also talked about the current abortion storyline. Kevin is emphatic that it's not over yet. They just did a table read for 8-09, and there will be a catalyst for Owen and Cristina to really confront the issue. I felt that he tried to put on a professional demeanour about the storyline, but I don't think he's really enjoying playing it. He talked about how Owen and Cristina get the "darker" storylines. I said it was frustrating to have drama all the time, when Callie and Arizona only had to deal with chicken pox. I blurted out "I want Cristina and Owen to have chicken pox!"

"I want chicken pox!"

Kevin had a chuckle and pointed out that they did just deal with food poisoning.

The session wasn't all venting about GA. He loves working with Sandra very much - his whole demeanour changed while he talked about her, he clearly adores her.He agreed with us that it would be cool to see Owen and Meredith clear the air between them, maybe get stuck in a situation where they have to talk with each other.

He definitely feels that Cristina and Owen are "end game", no matter what. He thinks Cristina is a hard person to be married to, where she is so stubborn and headstrong and self-centred, until hit with the truth. It's very clear that he wants Owen to always be Cristina's love interest, that's what he was hired to be and what he wants to be.

Other details ...

Kevin knows how to block people on Twitter, but prefers to just ignore them. He's only blocked two people.

We got to meet Pippa, one of his dogs. When the chat session got quiet, I asked if his ukulele was nearby. It was! He played it for us - I think it was "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". I can't be sure. I kept thinking, "Kevin McKidd is playing the ukulele for us! Kevin McKidd is playing the ukulele for us! Kevin McKidd is playing the ukulele for us!".

Kevin doesn't go to the fan forums to read what people are saying about his work - it messes with his vision of his character too much. He did read the ABC message board for a short time. James Purefoy once suggested that he check out Television Without Pity. Kevin is never going back to TWoP again. :-)

He's looking for another event like the Tough Mudder, or maybe something that involves a mountain. He doesn't want to do a triathlon - he can't swim very well, and the training that he would have to do would take him away from his wife and kids too much.

Some people have approached him and congratulated him on his promotion to Chief of Surgery.

In conclusion, I'm very glad that I participated. I learned quite a few things about Cristina/Owen, but more importantly, Kevin is very friendly and gracious, and made it a great conversation.

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