Review of 2023

What did you do in 2023 that you'd never done before?

Lived in Scotland.

Visited 14 countries in one month.

Published a paper from the STARFISH project. Was interviewed on a podcast. Provided spoken Old English for a jazz track.

Did you keep your New Years' resolutions?

I didn’t have any this year, so… yes? No?

Do you have any resolutions for next year?

No.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not as far as I know.

Did anyone close to you die?
No.

What countries did you visit?
The UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands. 14 of these 18 in March.

What would you like to have in 2024 that you lacked in 2023?
2023 was a fine year for me, so there isn’t much to wish for. I’ll keep donating to charity so that others can have what they lacked.

What date(s) from 2023 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
26th July: Michael and Rachel’s wedding celebration, much delayed but all the more joyous for it.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting the LUKS prize for the second time was a nice validation of all the time I spent writing my bits of me and Míša’s textbook during the pandemic, and revising my big History of English course to reflect it.

What was your biggest failure?
I don’t feel like I failed too badly at anything this year. Though there was one paper that got rejected, which I hope will resurface in the not-too-distant future!

Did you suffer illness or injury?
I had more colds than usual, at least one of which might have been Covid again. Also blistered my feet quite badly in August and got a nasty UTI in September. But as illness goes this wasn’t too terrible.

What was the best thing you bought?
My trip on the Glacier Express was an absolute bargain, and a lovely experience.

Whose behaviour merited celebration?
I’m tremendously proud of my three STARFISH PhD students. They’ve all really come out of their shells this year and become truly independent researchers producing exciting work. A shame that we have less than a year left working together.

Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Hamas, briefly, then the Israeli military, more extensively.

Where did most of your money go?
“Travel and various good causes”, like last year.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Hosting ETG again for a return visit, this time with the Tempest. There’s a fine line between excitement and anxiety for me, and one I was walking this November-December.

What songs will always remind you of 2023?
“In The Army Now”, by Status Quo, which seemed to be playing pretty much everywhere in the Balkans.

Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder? Happier.
Thinner or fatter? About the same.
Richer or poorer? Richer.

What do you wish you'd done more of?
Writing! All other parts of the research process went well, and I was finally able to chill out a bit more in 2023 (at least most of the time; in February, April, November and early December not so much). And I probably did do enough writing, but I always wish I’d done more.

What was the most embarrassing thing that happened to you in 2023?
Getting lots of glitter in my hair.

Who did you meet for the first time?
A dude from Kosovo who helped me tremendously in getting into the place. Several nice people in Edinburgh; you know who you are.

What was your favourite TV programme?
Killing Eve series 1 was well crafted.

What was your favourite film of this year?
I watched a few big-budget action films that were enjoyable, like the new Indiana Jones and Mission Impossible. The Crimson Rivers was an entertainingly creepy one. Belfast was very well made. Tenet and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever were disappointing. The original Mean Girls was a treat.

What was the best book you read in 2023?
Fiction: either Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir, or The Secret History, by Donna Tartt. Non-fiction: Infinitives, by Susi Wurmbrand.

What was the best game you played in 2023?
I spent quite some time replaying Dragon Age III and Skyrim, though ultimately both replays petered out. As regards new games, I haven’t quite finished Baldur’s Gate 3, but so far it’s great.

What was your greatest musical discovery?
I didn’t make any new discoveries in music this year.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2023?
Hair down. (Largely a function of losing or breaking all my hairbands and never remembering to buy new ones.)

What kept you sane?
Having O. and S. around was very grounding.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
38 this year. I was in Edinburgh and had a quiet time at home with a piece of red velvet cake.

How did you spend Christmas?
Another quiet one with my parents.

What would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
There’s not a whole lot, to be honest! A cure for CADASIL would be nice, or at least some prophylactic options that aren’t just “healthy lifestyle”.

What political issue stirred you the most?
A mess of unnecessary ethnonationalist wars in various parts of the world.

Who did you miss?
To spin this around: it was great to catch up with all sorts of people in Edinburgh, and at Michael and Rachel’s wedding celebration. There are family members I should reach out to, though.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Not sure. Possibly not, outside of British politics.

Was 2023 a good year for you?
The best year I can remember, in recent times. Probably since I left Cambridge, at least.

What was your favourite moment of the year?
Once again it’s hard to pin it down. Drinking coffee on a train at 2,000 metres in good company?

Rattling across the border into Montenegro through the Piva Gorge in a rusty minibus?

Sipping limoncello in a Venetian palazzo while waiting for the storm to subside?

Autumnal steam train ride after a bracing hike in the Harz with friends?

Trudging to the northernmost point of mainland Britain in evening light?

But I think it’ll have to be giving a reading at my brother’s wedding celebration in the Peak District.

What is a valuable life lesson you learned in 2023?
Managing a team is never something I particularly signed up to do, as an academic – but it can be tremendously rewarding.