I’ve been putting a few of these on BlueSky in preparation for this post, so for those who follow me there, some of this will be old news.
Best New-To-Me Film: “The BikeRiders” written and directed by Jeff Nichols
Best New-To-Me TV Show: “Ted Lasso” on Apple TV+
Best Morning Soundtrack: “Best of Bach” Spotify playlist, in particular Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048: I. Without Tempo Indication (Musica Amphion, Pieter-Jan Beider)
Best Evening Soundtrack: “Beta Radio Radio” Spotify playlist, in particular “Our Remains” and “Tongue Tied”
Best Game: L.A. Times Crossword
Best Vacation: Sedona, AZ for an intimate celebration of my father’s life
Best Song Discovery: “Blue” by Joni Mitchell
Best Community Theatre Experience: “Eyes to the Stars” staged reading & cast reunion
Best Professional Theatre: “La Traviata” at the Detroit Opera House
Best Fiction Read: “Rules of Civility” by Amor Towles
Best Non-Fiction Read: Joan Didion, “The Year of Magical Thinking”
Best Podcast: “Ologies” with Alie Ward
Best Art Museum: Detroit Institute of Arts (always and forever)
Best Exercise: Dancing for four hours with my daughter at the Wallows concert at the Michigan Lottery Ampitheatre
Best Workout Routine: Weights before cardio.
Best Large Venue Concert: Sarah McLachlan, Fumbling Towards Ecstacy 30th Anniversary Tour at Michigan Lottery Ampitheatre
Best Small Venue Concert: The Whiskey Charmers at the Whitney Garden Party
Best Small Venue Concert – Runner-Up: Michelle Held and Audra Kubat at The Congregation Detroit
Best Work-Related Event: Promotion to Senior Paralegal
Best Advice: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” ~ Maya Angelou
Best Advice – Runner-Up: Don’t call your loved ones out; call them in.
As my final retrospective act, I completed my annual personal audit, evaluating various aspects of the year. My professional and personal goals. The breadth and depth of my relationships and activities. My values and my hopes; my joy and my growth. Lots of psychological stock to take in, and absent classwork and work-work, I was blessed with the time to sit with it.
All the highs and the lows.
All the gains and losses.
What else am I to conclude, other than that I am so very grateful for all of that pure life, and that there is so much yet to be lived.
He had said that our lives are steered by uncertainties, many of which are disruptive or even daunting; but that if we persevere and remain generous of heart, we may be granted a moment of lucidity—a moment in which all that has happened to us suddenly comes into focus as a necessary course of events, even as we find ourselves on the threshold of the life we had been meant to lead all along.
Amor Towles, “A Gentleman In Moscow“
Muttering Retreats 