Best of 2008

This has taken about two days to write. A lot to account for in such an epic year. Personally, it's been the craziest year ever, planning a wedding and getting married to my best friend, creating my first feature film, electing a president and so forth. Anyway.

Events:
- joined Twinhead
- went to New Zealand
- tornado hit our future neighborhood (I was in East Atlanta and drove through rubble to get Katie)
- made Loaded Guns: The Movie
- moved to Cabbagetown
- Donkey Punch
- first and best vacation ever with Katie's family
- Twinhead's 5th
- Wedding!
- Honeymoon in Paris
- started at Aurora
- elected Barack Obama president
- ran 26:55 at Romp and Stomp
- Choose Your Adventure

Places:
- Los Angeles
- Auckland and Christchurch, New Zealand
- Charleston and Isle of Palms, South Carolina
- Paris, France
- Blue Ridge, GA

CDs (faves near the top):
- Fleet Foxes self-titled
- TV on the Radio - Dear Science,
- Sigur Ros - Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
- Deerhunter - Microcastles (funny, I didn't realize the LP I got for Katie had Weird Era Cont. inside of it. The friggin disc is thinner than Bradford Cox (what a hip joke))
- MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
- Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride

Books:
- Harry Potter and the
-Prisoner of Azkaban
-Goblet of Fire
-Order of the Phoenix
-Half-Blood Prince
-Deathly Hallows
- Turn of the Screw
- Watchmen
- The Road

Movies...I haven't come close to seeing the films I wanted to see from last year. For now, I will just list my favorites that I did off the top of my head, in a rough order:
- The Dark Knight
- Pineapple Express
- Tropic Thunder
- Doubt

That's really about it, sadly. This year is not so hot for smaller films, but I have to say that it's the first time ever I've listed, and will probably keep, films as broad and mainstream as The Dark Knight, Pineapple Express, and Tropic Thunder, not because I've been an ass before, but because these kinds of movies were finally good!

Overall, I did slightly better keeping up with music and did incredibly better reading this year. I'm really proud of the amount of reading I did, but looking back it doesn't seem like so much. However, these are all seriously vast improvements over the last few years. I can't see going backwards in 2009, but only doing better. If anything I lagged a little in the film department, but I did rent a fair amount this year. Let's not forget, I was also planning a wedding.

Films have been a bit off this year, but who knows what I'll think after I see Frost/Nixon, Revolutionary Road, The Reader, Valkyrie, Snow Angels (on dvd), Let the Right One In, I've Loved You So Long, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Wrestler, and maybe Slumdog Millionaire and Gran Torino. Still seems weak, weak, weak. Music was incredibly good, with some solid releases from some faves and some amazing debuts (Fleet Foxes and MGMT). I wish I could've heard more, but I'm glad I'm actually staying current and not playing catch-up like in years past. I'm looking forward to the new Mastodon album, which is already sounding obtuse and wonderful.

I was really happy with everything I read. "Turn of the Screw" was a bit boring, but still worth reading some classic text. I absolutely loved HP and "The Road" and "Watchmen," all amazing experiences. I'm looking forward to next year's slate which includes:

- The Audacity of Hope
- John Adams
- Outliers
- The Last Lecture

I hope to squeeze in a few classics that I managed to avoid reading in high school, like Great Expectations. Anyway, here's to a great year.