2019 in review

As today is the last day of 2019, I'd like to take the opportunity to commemorate some of my favorite new¹ things this year!

Books

Favorite fiction: "Station Eleven" for its captivating portrayal of the people and relationships surviving a global pandemic.

Favorite nonfiction: "The Second Mountain" for painting a picture of a meaningful life outside of the usual meritocratic/self-improvement lens.

Runner-up: "Cat's Cradle" for teaching me about granfalloons.

Movies

Favorite movie: "Rashomon" for beautifully illustrating the difference between reality as shared truth and reality as personal experience. A timeless classic.

Runner-up: "Batman Begins" (blu-ray) because it's too much fun.

Music

Favorite album: Kubelik conducting Mahler 1, specifically the 1979 Audite recording. Magnificently interpreted, and a good example of how musicality and technical perfection are quite different things.

Favorite non-classical album: "Bringing it All Back Home" (Dylan). A tour de force featuring hit after hit and introducing the world to Bob Dylan's electric sound.

Runner-up: Ray Charles, "The Ultimate Collection" – every essential Ray Charles recording for $10 is hard to beat.

Honorable mention: Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty, performed by Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra. Nearly three hours of music, and played with such energy that I was on the edge of my seat pretty much the whole time.

New group shout-out: Classics IV, which I looked up after hearing a song on the radio. I ended up listening to a four-album collection. Many of the covers are forgettable, but the original songs are good!

Miscellaneous

Favorite restaurant: First Slice pie cafe, featuring homemade desserts and a feel-good charitable mission to boot!

Favorite lifestyle purchase: expand-your-hand bands, which are basically small physical therapy bands for the fingers. I've been using them a couple times a week and my wrists and elbows feel great!

Favorite new hobby: chess, which is really quite a beautiful game. I've gained much more experience this year and am beginning to realize that it's not about imposing one's will on the board, but about recognizing what the situation calls upon me to do².

Favorite quote: "A wise man can learn from other men's experience; a fool cannot learn even from his own." ("Fallen Leaves", Will Durant)


1 New to me, that is; most are definitely not new to existence! (back)

2 There's probably a metaphor for life in there somewhere. (back)