Surprise!
This post is a recap and roundup of all the cool things of 2019 in my life. As usual, I've got a list of experiences and accomplishments, some photos, and—the main event—rankings of media I consumed.
Major Events
I started off the year by finishing up a trip to Utah and having fun with Christmas gifts before returning to work in January. I returned to Utah in early February to surprise my sister Gabbie for her entrance into the MTC to serve a mission. I had the immense satisfaction of just showing up while the extended family was at lunch, successfully surprising not only my sister but also my mom, which I considered a major accomplishment.
Baked trout and soda bread to combat the winter cold.
Most of my photos in Utah were of Nikka
and Misha
see?
But I did also get a picture or two with Gabbie
Watching the deer in the yard
Sarah and I celebrated Valentine's at home in Pittsburgh. I made a vaguely strawberry-themed meal that turned out pretty well. In February we also went to a Harry Potter marathon at Row House Cinema, watching all eight movies in a 24-hour period. That was taxing and a lot of fun.
Cornish hens, a strawberry cake, some other red stuff
Thanks to my mom for the shirt and to Row How Cinema for the event
Bragging rights?
In March we celebrated Saint David's Day. We also completed the bulk of our Marvel watch-through in preparation for Avengers: Endgame.
The beginnings of Welsh rarebit and leek soup
In April I saw wild turkeys on the roof of the neighbor's house. I prepared the usual full English breakfast for General Conference, including a cherry pie and Welsh cakes.
A Mediterranean meal we had at some point.
Gobble
HP sauce and Welsh cakes and honestly the rest is just for fun
Cherry pie (duh)
Miranda came to visit in May. We spent time hanging out throughout the city, ate at fun restaurants, went to the zoo, and played games. Sarah and I also went to visit her parents & family in Maine, which was a wonderful chance to write, explore, and spend time as a family—and eat as much lobster as I could manage, which unsurprisingly is a lot. Sarah and I took a trip up north to Amish country to relax for a weekend and sample local wares.
Thai we made at home
A new friend on my bike
Photo from the Point on a bike ride
More homemade Thai, including jackfruit and longans and braised duck
In June I explored Pittsburgh on my bike as much as I could and wrote a lot at the Cathedral of Learning. Toward the end of the month, Sarah and I traveled back to Utah for our annual trip. It was really great to spend time in Utah during the summer when lately we've just been there in the winter. I also got to spend my birthday there for the first time in a few years: hot dogs, snowcones, an hour at a batting cage, some time at a bookstore, swimming, and then dinner with extended family. I visited some favorite restaurants, tried out axe-throwing, and mostly just spent time with my dogs. I also went on a nice long bike ride with my dad and then grabbed lunch and a movie at the Riverwoods, which was our Fourth of July tradition for a long time, so that was neat. Another highlight was going to Jen's wedding, which was conveniently timed at the end of our trip. Finally, Sarah and I announced to our families that we were expecting our first child. No big deal.
Look at that furry face!
Axes, yes, but also batarangs
Nothing says a successful bike ride like pizza and a movie
We clean up okay
Kolaches with Miranda
The Facebook announcement, which came a little later in the year
July and August brought a bunch of fun events: lots of time outside; a Terry Brooks booksigning in Slippery Rock (we chatted about Betws-y-Coed in Wales and about how Sarah needs to read more Shannara novels); local food events; lots of writing around the city; gardening; preparing fun food at home; and taking a weekend trip to Cedar Point with Josh, which was a blast.
I met Terry Brooks once before, when I was in seventh grade. I'm a little taller now.
Coconut chicken from an East African food truck
Writing in the courtyard of the Carnegie Library
A zucchini the size of a large child
Adorable! and delicious! The left half is clafoutis.
More homemade Thai. The drink was an attempt to recreate my favorite drink in the world, a kiwi slush I tried in Phuket.
We had a blast at Cedar Point, and spent the evenings recovering in a hotel room filled with pizza and Brooklyn 99.
A new pal on the bike path. I see him every now and then. Still not totally sure what he is.
In September I attended the annual Irish Festival in Pittsburgh, spending a day and a half checking out the art and food and musical performances, including three shows by one of my favorite bands, Screaming Orphans. I also took a personal writing retreat to Presque Isle on Lake Erie. I had a blast, wrote a lot, and explored a lot of the natural beauty there.
More new friends!
Writing on the shore with my trusty Clamato for inspiration
October brought another writing retreat, this time to Shenandoah and the Blue Ridge Mountains with my dad. We explored, canoed, cooked up tinfoil dinners and s'mores, wrote a bunch, walked through Luray Caverns, and generally enjoyed a bit of solitude and a chance to reconnect with nature. While my dad was in town, we also went to a Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band concert (which was phenomenal), and later in the month Sarah and I saw Kishi Bashi perform (also fantastic).
Nothing but good clean fun out there in the wilderness, just us and the bears
A column of monster skulls?
A bokoblin and a Boo
Sarah is a mummy. My costume, sadly, features no wordplay.
In November we spent a lot of time indoors. We also took a babymoon to the Historic Stone House Inn near Ohiopyle in the Laurel Highlands, where we enjoyed homestyle food and scenic walks and lots of movies.
Nothing like a chicken fried steak, hashbrowns, eggs, and buckwheat pancakes to wake you up in the morning.
We talked about cosmic horror stories while walking through this part of the forest.
I love bears anyway, but this guy was the best. He spent twenty minutes picking up weeds, standing them on their end, and then letting them fall while he nonchalantly looked in the other direction.
The university has a cute little robot delivery service
We saw Krampus (and Krampus) at Row House. I told him I'd name our unborn son Krampus; that's why he's smiling.
December was calm and quiet and peaceful; we spent most of our time indoors, enjoying the holiday and the time together. I also rounded out the year with a particular achievement: I currently hold the number-one spot on the LyricsTraining app for the song "Como un Lobo" by Miguel & Bimba Bosé:
Truly my talents know no bounds
A few more accomplishments and events worth noting from 2019:
- I turned 29.
- I went to the gym 93 times and significantly improved my physical fitness through weightlifting, yoga, meditation, cardio and conditioning, walking, and flexibility training.
- I biked approximately 1200 miles and ran 450 miles between running on pavement, the treadmill, and the elliptical.
- I wrote approximately 260,000 words of fiction, which is the most I've ever written in a single year, and involved the following milestones:
- Finished the first draft of an adult epic fantasy called The Phantom, the sequel to the first novel I ever wrote, The Servant.
- Finished the first draft of a young adult fantasy called The Blackberry Witch.
- Completed NaNoWriMo for the first time with a historical mystery called Dark Devices: A Mystery in Seven Vignettes.
- Wrote various short stories in a range of genres and made progress toward other ongoing novels, novellae, and poems.
- I kept active in my passions and hobbies, including reading, writing, playing games, watching movies, listening to music, spending time with Sarah, enjoying the outdoors, exercising, and learning.
- I worked on cooking, calligraphy, music (Irish whistle and piano, mostly), language study (Welsh and some Japanese), ornithology and gardening, linguistic analysis, service, editing, and a variety of other interests new and old.
- I had, overall, a fantastic year.
Lists
Again, this is really the main purpose of this post. Below are some lists and rankings for various forms of media. Please be sure to let me know how terrible my opinions are.
Movies
I watched 153 movies in 2019, including 31 unique 2019 releases and 53 movies seen in theaters.
Some non-2019 movie highlights included Batman Ninja, completing a rewatch of every Marvel Cinematic Universe film, the Harry Potter marathon, An Island (a delightful short film), Tarkovsky's Solaris, watching a bunch of 80s sci-fi with Sarah that she'd never seen, and my first viewing of: The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Maltese Falcon, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Airplane!, La Jetée (I think about the imagery in this one frequently), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and The NeverEnding Story. (I still have many classic movies I want to see and haven't, but this was some good progress.)
My Top Ten 2019 Movies
- Avengers: Endgame: It doesn't surprise me at all that this was my favorite movie of the year; it was definitely my most anticipated. Lots of fantastic moments here.
- Captain Marvel: Captain Marvel is one of my favorite superheroes, and I was already well into her comics runs before this was announced, so this was a close second to Endgame. I enjoyed everything about it.
- Knives Out: The first trailer sold me and the movie hooked me from the first five minutes, and it didn't let go for the remainder of its runtime. Very, very entertaining.
- Star Wars, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker: Whatever its faults, this was a very enjoyable, satisfying, and surprising movie for me. I especially enjoyed the extremes of imagery and the climax's culmination of years of lore and beloved characters and musical motifs.
- Pet Sematary: The book is one of my favorites, and I felt this depiction captured a great deal of the novel's slow horror.
- Spider-Man: Far From Home: Spider-Man might be my very favorite superhero, and I have loved Mysterio since I was five. This was great fun.
- Frankenstein's Monster's Monster, Frankenstein: Boy, this came out of nowhere; and it was great.
- Ad Astra: I think this film was overlooked by a lot of science fiction fans. It reminded me a lot of 2001: A Space Odyssey or Solaris; the slow burn and quiet contemplation worked really well.
- Doctor Sleep: I haven't read the book, but I really loved The Shining, and I felt that this was a worthy sequel with powerful additions to the characters and overall lore.
- Frozen II: This could have been very disappointing, but I liked it almost as much as the first film (which is saying a lot: I saw that five times in the theater).
Honorable Mentions include The Wandering Earth, Captive State, Shazam!, The Farewell, and Jumanji: The Next Level.
Books
I read 41 novels in 2019, as well as 46 comics, graphic novels, and manga.
My standout favorites were The Pagan Night by Tim Akers (exactly the type of fantasy I try to write myself), the Dark Legacy of Shannara trilogy by Terry Brooks, Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (mind-twisting science fiction with a complex exploration of identity), The Croning by Laird Barron and The Fisherman by John Langan (two similar masterworks of horror that fully and completely creeped me out), The Little Breton Bistro by Nina George (I'd live in one of her novels if I could), Monstress by Marjorie Liu (absolutely amazing art, very compelling worldbuilding, and engaging plot), and Gideon Falls by Jeff Lemire (a slow build that only increases my ongoing sense of dread about the Black Barn...).
Below are further highlights from different genres.
Fantasy
The Pagan Night - Tim Akers
Ghost King - David Gemmell
Autumn Princess, Dragon Child - Lian Hearn
The Queen of Blood - Sarah Beth Durst
Wards of Faerie, Bloodfire Quest, and Witch Wraith - Terry Brooks
Science Fiction
Skyward - Brandon Sanderson
Dark Matter - Blake Crouch
One Word Kill and Limited Wish - Mark Lawrence
Annihilation - Jeff VanderMeer
Solaris - Stanisław Lem
Horror
The Croning - Laird Barron
At the Mountains of Madness - HP Lovecraft
The Fisherman - John Langan
Murder in the Crooked House - Soji Shimada
Other
King Dork Approximately - Frank Portman
The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett
The Little Breton Bistro - Nina George
The Nonexistent Knight - Italo Calvino
Sourdough - Robin Sloan
Favorite comics and manga
The Mighty Captain Marvel, Spy Seal, Batman (New 52), Spider-Gwen, The Amazing Spider-Man Worldwide, Fatale, Kimi Ni Todoke, Shutter, Monstress, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Symbiote Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel, Gideon Falls, Avengers & War of the Realms
TV Shows
Just a list of shows I enjoyed watching this year: The Good Place, Modern Family, Brooklyn 99, Britannia, Colony, Game of Thrones, Good Omens, The Haunting of Hill House, Lost, Maniac, Psych, Stranger Things, Supernatural, This Is Us, The Witcher, The Dragon Prince, Gargoyles, After the Rain, Last Hope, Lost Song, March Comes In Like A Lion
Videogames
Games I played and loved this year: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Alliance Alive, the Metroid Prime Trilogy, Pokémon Go, Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart, Super Mario 3D World, Pokémon Moon
Podcasts
These are some of my favorite podcasts across a range of topics: Lexicon Valley, The Allusionist, Writing Excuses, The Endless Knot, Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin, Imaginary Worlds, Lore, Lead Singer Syndrome with Shane Told, Song Exploder.
Music
Whew, this is a big one. I listened to 201 albums that were released in 2019 (~400 albums total during the year). I've got some rankings below, but first a list of bands I discovered this year and loved, or otherwise really appreciated in a new way: Ninja Sex Party, Hailaker, Adrian von Ziegler, Busted's comeback album, live albums from Visions of Atlantis and Loreena McKennitt, Rúnahild, Old Sea Brigade, Beast in Black, Echoes of Eternity, Charly Bliss, We Are The Catalyst, the new Sum 41 album, Beyond God, Eat Your Heart Out, Mechina, The Murder of My Sweet, NorthTale, The Story Changes, Blind Guardian, Xeria, Sakurako Ohara, Myzica, Young Summer, Enemy Inside, Shadowrise, Last Days of Eden, Yaima, Gåte, Mairead Carlin, Graveyard Club, Rura, Áine Minogue, Mary Black, Fear of Domination, Memoremains, Asphodelia, Ethernity, Divine Ascension, and Barrie.
Top 50 2019 Albums (in order!)
- Avantasia - Moonglow
- Jimmy Eat World - Surviving
- Moonlight Haze - De Rerum Natura
- BUMP OF CHICKEN - Aurora Arc
- Kishi Bashi - Omoiyari - 2019
- Elessär - Kósmos
- Grayscale - Nella Vita
- The Y Axes - No Waves
- Furor Gallico - Dusk of the Ages
- Ayla Nereo - By the Light of the Dark Moon
- Electric Youth - Memory Emotion
- Cyan Kicks - I Don’t Love You
- Sigrid - Sucker Punch
- Savoir Adore - Full Bloom
- Fenrir - Legends of the Grail
- Rose of the West - Rose of the West
- Screaming Orphans - Life In A Carnival
- PassCode - Clarity
- Silent Siren - 31313
- Pythia - The Solace of Ancient Earth
- Ancient Bards - Origine (The Black Crystal Sword Saga, Pt. 2)
- CELESTIVL - TenTimesTwo
- Faun - Märchen & Mythen
- Veronica Maggio - Fiender är tråkigt
- Celtian - En Tierra de Hadas
- Sleep On It - Pride & Disaster
- Visions of Atlantis - Wanderers
- Astralium - Land of Eternal Dreams
- Eluveitie - Ategnatos
- Imperia - Flames of Eternity
- The Japanese House - Good At Falling
- Cellar Darling - The Spell
- The Dark Element - Songs the Night Sings
- Anna of the North - Dream Girl
- Amanda Rogers - The Hallow
- Neverlight - The Quiet Room
- Edge of Paradise - Universe
- The Hu - The Gereg
- Tales of Evening - A New Dawn Awaits
- machineheart - People Change
- Marko Hietala - Mustan sydämen rovio
- TWICE - &TWICE
- Rage Of Light - Imploder
- Coronatus - The Eminence of Nature
- Carly Rae Jepsen - Dedicated
- Highasakite - Uranium Heart
- BAND-MAID - CONQUEROR
- MUNA - Saves the World
- blink-182 - NINE
- Solarus - Darkest Days
Some thoughts on these albums, organized by genre:
Symphonic metal
#1, Avantasia, takes the top spot due to its fantastical imagery, sweeping motifs, catchy melodies, and overall sense of fairytale epic. Other standout metal albums (symphonic or otherwise) on my list are #3 (former lead vocalist of Temperance, another favorite metal group; and their début is amazing), #6 (new to me, and very impressive), #9 (I like these harsh vocals better than most bands', and the addition of persistent strings and flutes is great), #15, #20, #21 (I'm a sucker for a good fantasy story set to music, which is applicable to most entries in this category), #22, #25 (pretty fun to have some Spanish-language symphonic metal), #27 (I bought the deluxe vinyl with a 40-page art book for this album; well worth it), #28, #29, #30, #32 (so dark and melancholy, I love it), #33, #36 (I was hesitant about this concept album, but their first album was great and this was even better), #37, #39, #41 (first solo album from the male vocalist of Nightwish; it has a really great rock-and-roll/metal feel to it), #43 (man, Melissa Bonny has so many musical projects and I love them all), #44, and #50.
Rock/pop-punk
#2, Jimmy Eat World, would have taken the #1 spot on any other year, and maybe that's just because I had a full 12 months with Avantasia instead of 4 with JEW. But this was another knockout album from one of my favorite bands of all time. Other favorites were #7 (one of the best pure pop-punk albums in recent memory), #8 (delightful indie-pop that surprised me), #12, #26 (I technically discovered this album in February of 2020, but it's a 2019 release and I fell in love immediately), and #49 (hard to go wrong with a blink album, and I like this even more than California).
Pop
#5, Kishi Bashi, is just delightful. As mentioned, I saw him perform live in 2019, and it was a real treat. This album is not one to miss. Other favorites were #10 (she has a way with poetry that astounds me), #11 (not as immediately impressive as their début, but it grew on me soon enough), #13 (this was my leading contender for second place for most of the year), #14 (this album has the line "do you think mountains feel sad when they hear us/use them as reasons to give up what we fear is/holding us back from the things that were nearer/before this tornado when my love was clearer"; and that really gets to me every time I hear it), #16 (I saw an ad for this band in the Carnegie Library and the rest was history), #17 (my second-favorite band of all time), #31 (I need to spend more time with this album; it's something special), #34, #35 (best listened to on a long winter's walk), #40, #45, #46, and #48.
Miscellaneous
I've a few comments about some of the other albums on this list that I wanted to collect in one section. #4: Bump of Chicken is one of my favorite Japanese-language bands, and this album is their best yet. I'm particularly moved by "Sirius," which featured heavily in the anime Last Hope, as well as "Answer" and "Spica." #19: Silent Siren is my favorite Japanese-language band. This is also their best album yet. #23: I discovered Faun this year. I should have known German medieval folk would be a fast favorite. #24: I learned about Veronica Maggio through the accompanying media recommendations in a Try the World box for Sweden. Highly recommended (Swedish food and Swedish pop alike). #38: Man, if you haven't listened to traditional Mongolian folk-rock (The Hu), you need to get on that this minute. Also, in my experience, newborns really like these songs. #47: Band-Maid is my vote for the best Japanese hard rock band currently performing.
I probably missed a few, but it was hard enough narrowing this list down to 50. Speaking of, here are some honorable mentions that I really enjoyed but that didn't quite make the cut (still well worth listening to):
- The Cranberries - In the End
- Goo Goo Dolls - Miracle Pill
- Waterparks - Fandom
- Metalite - Biomechanicals
- Broods - Don’t Feed the Pop Monster
- Dayseeker - Sleeptalk
- Edenbridge - Dynamind
- Betty Who - Betty
- Alice Merton - Mint
- 2002 - A World Away
- Get Scared - The Dead Days
- Cold Kingdom - Into the Black Sky
- Lindsey Stirling - Artemis
- Tegan & Sara - Hey, I’m Just Like You
- Alia Tempora - Dragonfly Effect
- BABYMETAL - Metal Galaxy
- Everfrost - Winterider
- Within Temptation - Resist
- SOAK - Grim Town
- Valley - MAYBE
- Of Monsters and Men - FEVER DREAM
- Ardours - Last Place on Earth
- LEAH - Ancient Winter
- Rhapsody of Fire - The Eighth Mountain
- Chaos Magic - Furyborn
Oh, and I can't forget my favorite EPs released in 2019:
- Delain - Hunter’s Moon EP
- Olivia Broadfield - Eyes Wide Open: Ten Years On EP
- The Band CAMINO - tryhard EP
- PVRIS - Hallucinations EP
- Meet Me @ The Altar - Bigger Than Me EP
- Yours Truly - Afterglow EP
- Sleeping Wolf - La Cienega EP
- MisterWives - mini bloom EP
- LiSA - Gurenge EP
- Leaves’ Eyes - Black Butterfly EP
And there you have it! My musical rankings for the year.
Recap
Overall, 2019 was a really great year. This list is mostly focused on what I consumed, experienced, and enjoyed; but really, the standout memories of the year were the times I spent with loved ones and the moments of personal learning and growth.
Here's to another great year and plenty more memories!
