A new year also means more bottles of wine to drink.
Have a roundtable to keep you warm
Participants: Evan Radford, Ethan Stein, Brady Knight, John Loeppky, Liam Fitz-Gerald (contributors), Destiny Kaus (a&c writer)
How much did you stuff yourself this holiday season?
DK: Oh I stuffed myself to the fullest! Cookies, turkey, cookies, mashed potatoes, cookies … everything. Dang, the butter tarts really got the best of me this year, too. But, I also sincerely filled up on vegetables and protein bars, so I did keep my diet moderately healthy. All in all, copious amounts of food kept me quite content this holiday season.
ER: Too much! (Chocolate is my Achilles heel.) But the food and drinks were delicious; therefore, I have no regrets. Alas, I may need to revert to my all-caffeine diet to drop the extra weight I put on.
ES: I stuffed myself excessively, but never more than I would during exam month. The horribly unhealthy habits I developed during the semester carried over nicely into the holidays. Here’s to another four months of going to bed at 4 a.m. and having a bowl of popcorn seasoning and Doritos for breakfast!
BK: Surprisingly, not as much as I expected. However, still enough that I’m getting slightly winded typing these answers out.
JL: I think stuffing and cranberry sauce have claimed the starring roles in my current recurring nightmare: Food Coma: The Musical. Turkey has an awe inspiring solo, so it’s not all bad.
LFG: Well I stuffed myself quite a bit this year. In fact, I say I stuffed myself like a typical North American. Ate everything and anything with little regard to the long term implications of my health. That’s okay, it’s Christmas. All’s forgiven!
What was your best moment during the holidays?
DK: Working out with my summer Subway boss back home was swell. There’s nothing like socializing with a truly inspiring woman and working out with a complete champ while I shred my own abs and lift oodles and oodles of heavy weights. Oh yeah I ran too: that rocked.
ER: The many moments I spent with family, friends, and loved ones. Also, catching up on the perceptive prose of Aleksandar Hemon. Check him out.
ES: My best moment was probably being satisfied with the direction things were going in life and having the freedom to do things at my own pace. Having a holiday to simply exist and exist on your own terms is delightful.
BK: Kicking ass at our family’s annual board game tournament. It’s usually quite intense, but this year was pretty tame. Only one trip to the hospital was required. Just a flesh wound really – nothing serious. No broken bones like last year …
JL: Hanging out with my little cousins. Trying as hard as you can to be the adult you are “supposed” to be is just too much work and not worth it. There, put that on a shirt.
LFG: Coming back from the Dominican Republic and watching Canadians depart the plane in beachwear. I’m not the brightest bulb in the bunch, but something tells me that if you’re departing the plane in short shorts into -52, you’re not either.
What do you do to get yourself out of the holiday blues and ready for a new semester?
DK: First, I go and buy all my textbooks. Though it may seem sickening to most, I love textbooks, especially English textbooks. In my world, nothing gets rid of the blues and brings in the joy of a new semester like cracking open a newly-purchased book, smelling its fresh aroma, and diving into its contents.
ER: Just do it! Get up early, work hard, and drink large amounts of coffee. A good diet helps, too. When all else fails, take a quick run through the snow, sans jacket.
ES: My time machine is still in the alpha stage (and the UN Human Rights Council is being totally uncool about the human test subjects), so in the meantime, I can just push forward. Complaining about going back to work is as fruitless as complaining about terrible weather in Saskatchewan.
BK: Well, first I go to bed early, pick up my textbooks and – oh who am I kidding? I run around in a mad panic, screaming like a 12-year-old girl and then sit down with copious amounts of beer and snacks and watch Canada lose at the World Juniors.
JL: Watch enough YouTube and listen to enough music aimlessly to get myself back in the procrastination groove (kidding), and go to the bookstore and try as hard as I can to hold the tears in (sadly, not kidding).
LFG: I remember that I’m (supposedly) going somewhere in life and at the end of all of this is the four story house, the two monster trucks, the boat, the cabin and all the toys. Common university education, gimme a million bucks!
A new year means resolutions, at least for some of us. What are yours for the new semester?
DK: My number one resolution that I’ve been thinking about for a very long time is to shower more. I don’t smell. I just don’t shower as much as I should. It takes way too much effort. Thus, showering more is at the top of my list, while staying jacked comes in second.
ER: There are many. One is run a marathon for a second consecutive year.
ES: I want to get a smartphone so the NSA can spy on me with greater efficiency. Either that, or be the first person who makes a resolution to get in better shape and actually pull it off.
BK: Seeing as I’ve never in living memory managed to actually keep and maintain a new year’s resolution, my resolution this year is to not make any new year’s resolutions. You may think I just failed miserably. Personally, I believe it’s brilliant.
JL: See the Op-Ed section. In short, better myself, fail to meet my own expectations, and then be slightly more okay with that than last year.
LFG: I resolve to leave more projects and more work to the last minute. I also resolve to read as little as possible, be really, really lazy, and spend more time watching shit on Youtube.
What concert(s) are you most looking forward to in 2014?
DK: Honestly, I would rather listen to an artist via YouTube in my room where I can hear each beautiful vocal note and guitar riff instead of battling hordes of rowdy individuals and listening to their screaming more than to the artist’s talents. But, P!nk would be cool. Is that this year she’s playing tours?
ER: A Tribe Called Red; Queer City Cinema; honorable mention to Neil Young and Rah Rah.
ES: I just checked Google, and it appears as though Weird Al is not coming to Regina this year. Looks like my concert schedule just got a lot lighter.
BK: The Miley Cyrus concert at the Brandt Centre. Wait … that’s not happening you say? Exactly.
JL: I really want to make it to shows where some of my friends are involved. First up, Fellows of Perfect Penmanship. Nothing better than witnessing and investing in someone’s success. If you want, you can also put that one on a shirt.
LFG: Northcote is playing at O’Hanlons in February, that’s going to be exciting. Neil Young is going to be in Regina in January (though I won’t be going, I’ve probably missed the ticket boat for that.) Chicago is going to Moose Jaw of all places, so that’s pretty sweet. It seems there are some sweet shows coming up in the next few months, so I’m going to stay tuned for that.
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