2016, a disgustingly good year (bar all the shit)

Left: your gal Libby. In the blue: Jezza C.
Good evening.

I'm starting writing this post in the afternoon but there's a lot of food in the house at the moment and I'm prone to distraction so it'll take me a while to finish this.

I've not blogged since I got a job. That's because at the end of the work day I'm so sick of staring at my laptop screen that I can't bring myself to blog. But I'm not back at work til Jan 3rd so here we are.

Yeah, so, 2016 was a bit out there wasn't it? On my to-do list for 2016 I included "do something that 2015 Libby wouldn't have done". I did way too many of those things, which is great, because it proves I've grown as a person, but is also terrible, because here are some of those things I've done:

  1. Tried coffee.Ended up crying on North Bridge in Edinburgh at 3.30am. Between the hours of 5 and 6am I went for a walk somewhere. I only know this thanks to FitBit.
  2. Spoke to a guru for advice, and trusted said advice.
    I like to be in control of all aspects of my life, uncontrollable ones included, so this was an odd thing for me. Ended up taking a year out from uni by following said advice. No idea what I would do in the year. Less than a week later, a job appeared. I don't entirely credit coincidence.
  3. Went on a camping road trip.
    I learnt a lot doing this, mostly that I can't reverse to save my life and that you need to take the handbrake off to make a car move without weird alarms going off.
  4. Answered the phone to a journalist whilst hungover.
    Worst mistake of the year. If you Google "Libby Mayfield BBC" you find the article. I went out with my mates that night, and was reading the comments at pre-drinks. I had a drink for every mean comment: a) I broke my mate's pull up bar and b) threw up by my car at 3am.
  5. Went on tour.
    Tour is 90% insults and 10% music from the two days I experienced. 
But among all my bad choices there were the greatest moments I've had in my life. There's no doubt in my mind when I say that this year was the best year of my life. Allow me to brag my way through the highlights.
  1. Interviewed John McDonnell.
  2. Worked at Fringe and in doing so worked behind a bar for the first time in my life.
  3. Started writing for the lovely Cultured Vultures.
  4. Started writing for the lovely EvolvePolitics.
  5. Got a car (thanks Grandad).
  6. Learnt to drive car after forgetting how to.
  7. Played more than one gig.
  8. Saw a lot of dogs.
  9. Started selling paintings.
  10. Spoke alongside Jeremy Corbyn at his rally in Derby.
  11. Gave a lot of money to charity.
  12. Began to get my anaemia under control.
  13. Because of the above, got a lot better at running, and can now run 7.5 miles.
  14. Went on national prime time TV, local radio, international radio, Canadian radio, financial radio.
  15. Photobombed a lot of club photos.
  16. Learnt a lot about what it takes to be a good person.
  17. Memorised 'If' by Rudyard Kipling.
  18. Passed my 100wpm shorthand exam.
  19. Got poetry and short stories published online.
  20. Got a short story published in print in America.
  21. Watched all of How I Met Your Mother in a month.
  22. Traveled to new places and places I already love on my own and with friends: exploration.
  23. Drank Prosecco off the floor.
  24. Got a job as a Wordsmith and Tweet Queen.
  25. Have never filled my car up with the wrong fuel.
Not bad not bad not bad.

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