[Imported] Year in Review

Scariest Moment of 2006: The return flight from NC to Indiana. By the time I boarded the delayed flight, my anti-anxiety meds, which didn't really help much to begin with, had completely worn off. Not to mention that when I had first found out the plane was delayed, I asked one of the Airport Worker People (his official title) if that meant there was something wrong or broken on the plane, to which he responded, "Yes." This did not help me. By the way, I don't care if A WING HAS FALLEN OFF AND MUST BE HOG-TIED BACK ON, the answer to that question should always be NO. You can repent for your lies later. Anyway, I boarded the plane, and before we had even taken off, I began having a full blown panic attack. Hyperventilation, tunnel vision, dizziness, nausea, thinking Carrie Underwood might actually be a decent singer, etc. My mind was so panicked and irrational that I was CONVINCED that I could smell gasoline leaking. I just knew that the plane was going to explode at take off into a Big. Fiery. Ball. and the hourglass of my life was on its last few grains of terrorized sand. Obviously, there was no such explosion on my plane and the flight itself was quite uneventful, though the pilot had said that that was the first time he ever had to physically pry a passenger's fingers off the arm rest with a crowbar (you don't know if I made that up). But for many days afterward I felt that I was living on borrowed time. I gotta tell you though, landing on the ground and feeling my feet planted firmly against the earth was perhaps the single most giant relief I have ever felt. I survived.

Best Moment of 2006: Touching the ground once more after surviving the aforementioned and totally routine, by the book flight.

Best Surprise of 2006: Getting more than a full ride to NCSU. I always heard that transfer students never got ANY money, especially out-of-state transfer students. To those people, let me wave my 22 grand a year smuggly in your face. Yay NCSU!

Worst Moment of 2006: Every single second spent on the campus of NCSU - a glorified over-crowded high school in which my very soul felt as if it were being pickled in a vat of acid. But at least it was a FREE vat of acid. The consequences of my smugness.

Best Movie of 2006: Night at the Museum. True, I've only seen about five new movies this year, but this movie was my kind of humor. Clean and contextual. I'd even put it on my top 10 list. And what really did it for me was the British guy, Dr. McPhee. The poor guy couldn't finish a single sentence, because, like me, his brain would just stop working mid-sentence, rendering his tongue about as useful as a Paris Hilton on a farm. And every time he opened his mouth, I couldn't help but think, "I feel you, McPhee. I feel you."

Best Movie of 2006 that I had to explain it to everyone else who watched it with me: Inside Man. Spike Lee actually made a good movie for once. Not just a good movie, a smart movie. Only it ended up being a bit too smart for about 2/3s of the population. Not that I'm in the smart 1/3, I'm just between the ages of 15-25, which, by default, lets me know everything. But yes, Inside Man? Worth your time. Don't worry, I'll explain it to you later.

Most Pointless Moment of 2006: Remember that time I spent AN HOUR AND A HALF curling my hair? Yeah, no one else does either.

Best and Only Clever Moment I Had in 2006: You had to be there, but here it is anyway- I was in the car with my mom the other day, when she called my aunt Wendy, and after she dialed the number and held the phone to her ear, she used her non-driving hand to turn down the volume of the radio that WASN'T EVEN ON. She didn't even notice what she had done, so I had to point it out to her by pretending to turn the radio down as well and say, "I know, the silence is deafening."

Best drink of 2006: Lipton Honey Lemon Green Tea To Go. I put one packet in a 32 ounce Nalgene bottle full of water, and within a half hour, the water is gone and I have to pee every five minutes. Until this drink came along, I never realized the importance of asking yourself the question, "Hmmm, has my pee been clear today yet?" And as for today? Why, yes. Yes it has.

Best Trip of 2006: Hershey, PA. Lots of chocolate, lots of roller coasters, and the entire town smelled like a brownie. What's not to like, people?

Worst Trip of 2006: Coming home from Indiana by way of Tennessee. My dad had just had a surprise heart attack (you know, as opposed to those planned heart attacks people are always having), so we had to take the forever-long detour to visit him in the hospital. My poor mom drove something like thirty hours in a matter of two days. On the way home from TN, the hub of the tire was somehow cut in half by a faulty nut or bolt or other fancily-named car part, and it took us about 10-11 hours for us to travel from Knoxville to Raleigh, even though we began that day by leaving from Lexington, KY. Of course, none of that compares to the awkwardness of seeing my dad poke out of his hospital gown, if you know what I'm saying.

Most Awkward Moment of 2006: Seeing my dad poke out of his hospital gown, if you know what I'm saying.

Best New Fandom of 2006: Star Wars. Okay, so it's a fandom that's been around since the 1970s, but no one ever loved me enough to show me the wonder that is the Force until my cousin Erika and her husband introduced me to the ways of the Jedi during my Spring Break. For this, I am forever in their debt. And let me clarify that I am ONLY talking about the original Star Wars. None of that Jar Jar Binks crap. But those Episodes 4-6 were a heavenly light guiding my way down the path of galactic rigtheousness. Sure, I'm a Christian and I love Jesus Christ my Savior and all that good Hebrew jazz, but whenever I hear the words "May the Force be with you," I can't help but respond in my head, "And also with you."

Best New TV Show of 2006: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Sure Sorkin gets a bit preachy and shoves all of his anti-conservative beliefs down my throat, but he's a brilliant writer, and for that I can forgive his liberal jack*ss. However, his style is an acquired taste. If he were to script a conversation between me and one of his characters, it would go something like this:
Him: Natalie.
Me: Yeah.
Him: What's your top TV show of the year?
Me: Of this year?
Him: Yeah.
Me: Of the year that we're in right now?
Him: Yeah.
Me: As in 2006?
Him: That would be this one.
Me: Studio 60.
Him: On the Sunset Strip?
Me: On the Sunset Strip.
Him: Your favorite new TV show of this year is Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
Me: Yes.
Him: That wasn't a question.
Me: You verbally constructed it like one.
Him: Yes, but my inflection did not imply a interrogatory sentence.
Me: So you were just making a statement?
Him: I was just making a statement.
Me: I gotta tell you, your linguistical intentions were pretty ambiguous.
Him: I can't help it if you can't tell the difference between a rising inflection and a falling one.
Me: Do you realize that this conversation has lasted as long as an entire episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Him: Your favorite show of the year 2006?
Me: Was that a question?
Him: Yes. That one was a question.
Me: Then yes.
Him: That's possibly a slight exaggeration on your part.
Me: The part about my favorite show or the length of this conversation?
Him: The length of this conversation.
Me: It's possible, but it's also possible that at this point I've stopped caring. (Walks away)
Him: Hmph...Christians.