answering the 40 questions for 2025
Here's the list of questions in different languages
1. What did you do this year that you’d never done before?
Got married, stayed in hotels with friends, visited France, had a butterfly on my hand, finished up 45 ECTS in education, started volunteering for noyb, visited a conference in my desired field :)
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions?
I think I had no strict resolutions, just wishes? I did invest more time into creative and fitness pursuits and passed my cert so I think yes :)
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No!
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Also no.
5. What cities/states/countries did you visit?
Aside from Alsace in France: Munich, Fürth, Nuremberg, Erlangen, Tübingen, Gießen, Offenbach, Zirndorf, Koblenz and Oberhausen.
6. What would you like to have next year that you lacked this year?
A little bit more rest. I pushed myself a lot this year, and moving forward, I want to respect my limits and come to terms with them. I don't want to burn out or permanently damage myself. Sometimes it feels like getting worse below a certain known point is a slow burn unlocking incrementally over months or years, but after recovering from it for a while, it doesn't take nearly as long to end up back at that point than when you originally progressed to it. I want to keep that in mind.
7. What date(s) from this year will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
03.05.2025 - the wedding date.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Becoming a certified data protection consultant next to full-time work and part-time studies.
9. What was your biggest failure?
I don't know if I had any significant failures that stuck with me or were my fault. I unfortunately failed another medication for my illnesses, but that's hardly something I can control.
10. What other hardships did you face?
- There's been a lot of change at work, with people getting fired, leaving, or being moved to different departments. Had to deal with difficult coworkers.
- Was denied an internal transfer to a department that wanted me. Leadership isn't interested in creating more data protection roles.
- Rejected from a job posting that asked for ridiculously much in paper qualifications for a job I can do with the ones I already have. Even others agreed it was over the top. They haven't found anyone for the job since.
- Had a coworker lie about how much she contributed to a project and omitted how much I helped by giving her a copy of our database backend. Boss knows this, acknowledges it in private, yet continues to publicly peddle the story of how that coworker did it all on her own.
- Feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of leaving the place I worked for since 2018, and wanting to move far away, having to coordinate both job search and apartment search.
- And the fact that no one wants to employ my wonderful wife for a year now.
11. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Yes. Unfortunately not just my chronic illnesses, but also I was sick with a cold in a hotel room in Tübingen and had to miss out on the birthday party we originally traveled there for.
12. What was the best thing you bought?
I barely have any overview of what I bought, since I usually buy so little that isn't just groceries and stuff like that. The stickers I bought at conventions bring me a lot of joy, as do my Sanrio vinyl plushies, and Careless People was the best book purchase I made this year, I think.
13. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My wife! She is amazing in what she does, and she is so supportive of my goals, dreams, and my limits. She's so resilient, calm, and understanding. Simply a cool and interesting person, too.
14. Whose behavior made you appalled?
People I know who have a talent of making themselves the victim in every situation, picking fights, never taking responsibility and almost never admitting mistakes, while being very patronizing whenever they have to explain anything. There have been a couple moments this year when I had to bite my tongue or else it would have completely escalated, I think. There are some people I only tolerate because it would otherwise cause issues in the group (work or otherwise).
15. Where did most of your money go?
My education/career. I paid almost 3k for the cert, about 340 Euro in semester fees, and 534 Euro for a conference of that field. Even the wedding was cheaper than my ambitions. Unfortunately, the upcoming certs I still wanna do are equally expensive. I don't know why other people ask for Birkin bags and cars from their sugar daddies and paypigs, why not ask for education costs to be covered? lol
16. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The conference :)
17. What song will always remind you of this year?
Difficult to say yet... maybe Ripping Rubber by Haircuts for Men?
18. Compared to this time last year, are you: happier or sadder? Richer or poorer? Healthier or unhealthier?
It's such a mixed time right now, I can't yet say. I am almost at the same point I was last year. Maybe a little worse; I think last year, the meds were already working well at this point and I was very hopeful. I am just starting a new one and coming out of a crisis. I guess we're poorer because of all the extra expenses this year and the unemployment benefits my wife gets are less than the work she used to do.
19. What do you wish you’d done more of?
I don't think there is something like 'enough' for me in many aspects. I feel like I could have always done more, even if it wouldn't be physically possible, or if I already pushed my limits to make it happen. I'd probably always say more time studying and volunteering, more time exercising, drawing, and reading, even though I already did what I could. I should actually do more intentional, dedicated resting.
20. What do you wish you’d done less of?
I think it was fine the way it was.
21. How are you spending the holidays?
This year is a bit... cold and sterile. I don't particularly care for Christmas decoration and think it's gaudy, but I can't deny it adds something. Without a tree, decorations or snow, it seems a bit weird, as if it is any other time of the year, but in gray. We had lots of question marks around when and where we would celebrate the holidays because some people just couldn't decide on anything until closely prior, when we finally made the choice to stay home due to my current health and not wanting to hassle family with a stay on short notice, plus not wanting to get dragged around to tons of activities or have to explain myself. You know, despite everyone knowing I am chronically ill and what it entails, I sometimes still face judgment about not wanting to attend huge gatherings or see lots of people during waves of respiratory infections, or for sleeping longer, or just needing to lie down for a little while. You can explain that to people over and over, it doesn't matter. The same person who pities you for your pain can't understand why you want to hang out in bed doing nothing at 4pm. I am currently very much still taking it day by day and can be incredibly depressed the next day, and I don't really need judgment about saying no to visiting a my wife's grandmother right now. But we'll spend NYE with friends :)
22. Did you fall in love this year?
I fall in love with my wife a little more each day. Other than her, no.
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Yes. Maybe hate is a strong word. Disliking, though.
24. What was your favorite show?
Severance!
25. What was the best book you read?
Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams. I am also not sure when I finished Flowers for Algernon, that would be a close second if it was this year.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery of the year?
27. What was your favorite film?
I barely watched any! Maybe Nosferatu.
28. What was your favorite meal?
Tteokbokki.
29. What did you want and get?
My certificate!
30. What did you want and not get?
A job in data protection (to be fair, I only applied to one internal listing so far!). And my workplace giving me a reason to stay!
31. What did you do on your birthday?
My wife organized a birthday party for me :) I didn't have one since I was 9 years old. My parents only had that one for me and then either forbid it or made it very hard, or I didn't have any friends during some times as a teen. At some point I had just kinda given up, especially after having none at other milestone birthdays. It was so nice to be surrounded by people that love me and play some fun games and have cake together.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
If my medication could have just continued working for me.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion this year?
Experimental, more colorful, whimsical. I still want to expand on that.
34. What kept you sane?
My wife, looking at Sanrio characters, doodling, venting to coworkers about work issues.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you admire the most?
Molly White!
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
There are so many! To choose two in different spheres of severity: The genocide on Palestinians by Israel, and the Digital Omnibus of the EU.
37. Who did you miss?
I dearly miss my dead dog, Filou, who died over 2 years ago.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
Difficult to choose... I guess it would be Cris!
39. What valuable life lesson did you learn this year?
It's usually better to slow down a bit and continue things in a manageable pace, than do a lot and then become so stressed or sick that you can't do anything at all. So, I guess the old adage about how slow and steady wins the race.
40. What is a quote that sums up your year?
I don't know if I can think of a quote, per se, but a piece of art.
There's this art piece by Anna Haifisch that I have always related to very deeply:
But nowadays, with a wife, and friends, and my wife's family, I can finally relate to the addition by another artist (molabuddy):
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