a little late

Best and Worst of 2004

It’s taken me awhile to care, and now that everyone’s hopped onto 2005, I thought I’d give a look back at the year, on a personal angle, and tell you my best and worsts.

Best Films (that I saw in 2004, not release dates)
1. School of Rock
2. Dogville
3. Le Dernier des Immobiles (hard to describe, like On the Road for France.)
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
5. Kingpin/Two for One/Dodgeball (OK, they’re not masterpieces, but they show how strangely fresh formula comedy films can be.)

Film that came out that I missed, and really really regret missing
1. Before Sunset (because Richard Linklater is the best director alive)
2. Mean Girls

Worst films of the year
1. Master and Commander
2. The Village
3. Ken Park
4. Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason
5. The Chanel Ad with Nicole Kidman (so laughable, including the 7 minute long “making-of.” I saw this on the list for best film, from a french art critic…only more proof of how misplaced irony is a thin blanket for bad taste.)

Favourite books/short-stories read
1. Disgrace – J.M. Coetzee
2. The Fly – Katherine Mansfield
3. Carrie – Stephen King (his first book!)
4. Abelard and Heloise – The Love Letters
5. Elizabeth Costello – J.M. Coetzee (he is that good)

Best Moments of 2004
1. Finding out we had the apartment on rue de la Chine in Paris.
2. Riding my bicycle with Voin, peeing in the Seine naked
3. Getting married on a Monday afternoon, then watching everyone get smashed drunk by 4 in the afternoon.
4. The non-stop party that was the first weekend in September.
5. Winning money at the tracks in Oostende, Belgium then eating giant steaks and smoking cigars with Scoobs, Gasp and the husband.
6. Getting Syksy to rerun his Big Lebowski line over and over again on utter lunatic statements by yours truly, thus proving that logic can be foiled by sheer madness. Plus body slamming the sleeping guy on the broken couch.


Worst Moments of 2004
1. The night of the FIAC/ The night of the Balle Jaune
2. The week before my opening when I realized my old programmer had massive psychological issues.
3. All the fights with my husband.
4. Turning 30.
5. Pashmenga
6. Syksy falling down on his face.

People I hated in 2004
1. My old landlady
2. Free.fr
3. all the administration in my old school
4. the boy who made my life entertaining in September (BLES)
5. N. Reich

People who I discovered hated me in 2004
1. My ex-boyfriend’s girlfriend
2. BLES’s girlfriend
3. numerous old schoolmates from very old photo school

People who I surprisingly realized I loved in 2004
1. My sister
2. Scoobs
3. Voin
4. The In-Laws
5. Jaci
6. Juhana (I miss you little man!)

Bad things that keep popping up, then disappearing, then popping up again
1. smoking
2. insomnia

Worrying things
1. More white hair
2. Turned 30
3. Am officially out of school
4. Funny ankle sound is permanent now
5. My teeth are fucked

Happy things
1. My life is fun
2. Making my first bona-fide narrative film, and listening to the laughter (intended) in the cinema.
3. Working with non-professional actors who were perfect.
4. I am still beautiful, and aging does not seem to be a big deal yet.
5. I have an IQ of 169 (or so the internet tells me)

Musical Highlights
1. Mocky with Jamie Lidell – How Will I Know You
2. Scissor Sisters – Lovers in the Back Seat
3. Cobra Killer in Concert
4. KAP BAMBINO
5. Sunset DJ set by me and Voin

Sports Highlights
1. Hicham el Gherrouj, Paolo Bettini, French fencing team and Ian Thorpe in the Olympics
2. Portugal vs. England, Euro Semi-Finals (game of the year)
3. Gaudio at Roland Garros
4. Voekler in the first Alp stage, Tour de France (all of france crying)
5. Max Mirnyi in the Paribas Masters

Sports Lowlights
1. Lance Armstrong bullying Simeoni, Tour de France
2. Tyler Hamilton testing positive
3. No NHL season
4. Ladji falling in the 110m hurdles, Olympics/ P. Radcliffe in the Marathon
5. Monaco losing to Porto, Champions League Finals; Greece in the Euro.

How TV Sucked
1. December 26, 2004
2. Bush getting re-elected despite all the bullshit in Iraq
3. Hearing people whine when Bush got re-elected
4. Seeing the scary face of facism everywhere until became so banal about it. No, this isn’t new in 2004, but it still bugs me.
5. Star Academy proving that talent doesn’t get you anywhere
6. Miss France. Terrible waste of time, and making me sad that they can’t update pageants for the 21st century…for that matter, why don’t they have a Mr. France? I’d like to see that.

TV ruled
1. Chesnot and Malbrunot released
2. Raphael killing the shark on Survivor
3. Scissor Sistors, Tracks on Arte (berlin version)

How many hours I spend on the internet per day: 2.5-3.

How many hours I spend in front of my computer: 6.

How many new clothes I bought for the whole year: not much, really. Like maybe three pairs of pants, five tops, one jacket, socks, underwear, two sweaters, four dresses, 1 skirt.

How many shoes: 4 pairs of boots (all second-hand), and 3 heels

Number of books I acquired: 26

How much orange juice I drink a week: 4 litres

How much alcohol I consume in a week: over 2 litres of wine

Weight before Paris: 50kg
Weight in Paris: 53kg

Number of Plants killed: 3

Number of times ate foie gras: 5

Number of Chanterelles bought: 9kg

Number of times ate pasta out of a can: 1

Number of times had real Russian Beluga Caviar: 1

Highest win at the tracks: 187Eu for Purple Rain

How many hours I log on my cellphone (outgoing-monthly): 4

Overall Verdict: 2004 was an eventful, significant, and frustrating year, career-wise. The end was especially disappointing. Emotionally, this was second heaviest year, only topped by 2003. However, I can safely say that 2004 is a turning point in my life, and not just because I turned 30. In this year lies the realization that I am not a child anymore, and definitely aiming at good things. I didn’t stagnate mentally, and I’m older, wiser, and married.