2012: Read

My favorite books this year were both nonfiction (one biography). I don't think that's ever happened. I've always enjoyed well-written nonfiction and duly acknowledge, when done right, it's as potent a form storytelling as anything else, but it has never held the near-magical, whizzpop allure for me that fiction does. Being said, it's taken a few fantastic journalists to top my list this year. YAY! Every Love Story is a Ghost Story by D.T. Max Fiddler in the Subway by Gene Weingarten OVERALL YAY Most Evil by Steve Hodel Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell And Then We Came To The End by Josh Ferris Every Love Story is a Ghost Story Obviously,...

2012: Music

Don't you know I only listen to NPR now? And old mix CDs with the likes of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Fleetwood Mac and whatever my friend Sam gave me in college? And like, lots of Robyn when I'm working out? I'm changing the title of this category. AUDIO YAY Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Any episode with Paula Poundstone. Just look at that face. And tie. NAY Music in 2012. I think? Anything worth hearing? I sort of feel weird about Paula's image representing this categor...

2012: Film

The way I typically designate a good film is based on the following, rigorous criteria: 1. There is a story 2. The story works 3. I feel an emotion other than boredom, irritation, or complete and unresolved confusion 4. The absence of Katherine Heigl That's it. I don't necessarily have to agree with the filmmaker's intent, any moral, worry about the fps rate, or anything else. It's just got to nail the 4 principles and I will probably like it. Of course last year I saw movies that didn't qualify, of which there are legion. YAY! Argo Young Adult Silver Linings Playbook Anna Karenina Looper The "Am I Crazy? or Is this Movie About a 'Crazy' Guy Awesome?"...

2012: Television

(I don't see many shows as they air. Because, Netflix. So this is more of a personal chronology of exposure, rather than what actually premiered.) YAY! Homeland Nashville  The Wire *thirtysomething  The Cosby Show The "Can This Show Get Any Better?" Award Breaking Bad How DOES IT END? And DOES IT HAVE TO? NAY New Girl I find Zooey Deschanel intolerable. There. I said it. Let the hate mail commence. *Someday I will emotionally steel myself to write about this series and why, despite pushing 25-years-old, it's my favorite show eve...