2021 in review
Well, as usual, it's taken a while after the end of the year to get this post out. I had music to finish listening to, journal entries to reference, photos to find, and Guilder to frame for all of it...I've been swamped. But the post is done! This is a recap and summary of 2021, including monthly highlights, photos, and the ever-popular rankings for the media I enjoyed this year. As always, please let me know via comments or hate mail what you think!
Major Accomplishments and Events
- Declan continues to be a sheer delight. This second year of his life was a wonderful time for all of us. He's funny, kind, sneaky, strong, adventurous, and charming. For the first half of the year, due to our work schedules, I got to spend 6+ hours with him every day one on one. We spent our time reading books, playing games, wrestling, going on walks, playing at the park, and exploring new places and foods in Pittsburgh. In the second half of the year we've spent a lot of good time together too, and I'm very grateful to be his dad.
- I had a wonderful year with Sarah. Our relationship continues to be the best part of my life, and I watched her tackle challenges in work, parenting, and other aspects of life with grace and skill. She helps me achieve my own goals and is a lot of fun to be around. This year was the best yet.
- Work continued to be satisfying and fulfilling for me. I'm privileged to be able to work from home and spend lots of time with my family that way. I enjoy the work I do, and I'm glad to have had quite a few freelance opportunities this year as well.
- The big move from Pittsburgh to Salt Lake dominated much of my life this year. I'm glad for all the time we spent in Pittsburgh, and I'm also very happy to be in Utah among family and friends again.
- My friend Derek and I had previously been meeting a couple times a month as a little impromptu writing group. We elevated that this year by including Dillon and Glenn, formalizing ourselves as the Inksmears, and holding twice-monthly virtual meetings. I've grown as a writer as a result, and it's been a lot of fun to chat with these guys and read their writing. Pretty all three of them are going to be bestsellers pretty soon.
- In the first half of the year, I kept up my running and cycling really well; in the second half, I focused more on building strength and hitting some weight lifting goals. As a result, I'm sitting a bit higher in weight than I'd like right now, but I'm very pleased with what I accomplished in 2021, and I think the difference is noticeable. Now it's time to trim some fat and maintain the strength I've got. But here are some impressive lifts that I've accomplished in 2021.
- Press (overhead): 245 pounds
- Press (bench): 325 pounds
- Squat: 495 pounds
- Deadlift: 555 pounds
- OHP 135x10, Bench 225x10, Squat 315x10, Deadlift 405x10
- I also ran 464 miles and biked 200 miles
- Writing went really well in 2021. I always set too-lofty goals and never reach them, but that helps me push more than I would otherwise, and I'm very pleased with my accomplishments.
- I wrote 191,290 words in 2021
- I completed NaNoWriMo for the third time, writing 50,000 words in November on a novel called Woodfire & Lakelight (which I finished the first draft of in February 2022)
- I finished the previous year's NaNoWriMo novel, Tangleweed & Waterbloom, which is my 5th completed novel
- I wrote two short stories: White Lights Above the Hills at Woolenrun and Lowly Antò the Blessed
- I received significant accolades from the Writers of the Future short story contest, earning honorable mentions for the two stories above, as well as a silver honorable mention for my story Witchlight Carnival
- I also made major progress on querying, revising, outlining, submitting, brainstorming, and drafting a variety of other projects, setting myself up to have a fantastically productive year in 2022
- I continued working on my hobbies and interests, including playing the Irish whistle, practicing calligraphy, cooking and baking, spending time outside, and studying Welsh.
- I tried a bunch of new foods, including kabocha squash, raspberry orange, lemon plum, proper mabodofu sauce, rabbit (I'd had it once before, but this one I cooked myself), ruby chocolate, bread cheese, ataúlfo mango, Cornish kern cheese, makok, and nazook.
Monthly Highlights
Under each month I've included a selection of pictures. Most of them are of Declan. I realize now that Sarah and I need to take more pictures together, but there are a few.
January
Declan turned 1! We had a birthday party for him themed on The Very Hungry Caterpillar, including locally sourced food to match the book. It was a real treat for everyone involved. Declan especially enjoyed his cake and his butterfly poster, which stayed up in his room for several months afterward. We were lucky to have family visit during this time as well.
February
In February we celebrated Valentine's Day with fancy homemade treats and playing in the snow with Declan. I spent a lot of time writing, relaxing at home, and outside running or cycling. I'm pretty sure it was in February that I cycled up Rialto successfully. It's a very steep hill by our apartment in Pittsburgh, and previously I'd tried to bike up but snapped my chain halfway. I did make it successfully though—and a couple months later, not sure exactly when, I also successfully ran up Rialto without stopping, which was a major accomplishment. In February I also slipped on a patch of ice at the top of Rialto and tweaked my hand/wrist, maybe spraining something or bruising a bone in my palm. I didn't do anything about it and it eventually went away, so it's a mystery for the ages.
March
In March we celebrated Sarah's 28th birthday, as well as a handful of other holidays—St. Patrick's Day, St. David's Day, Ostara, the equinox, and Tolkien's Day. We also discovered Peace, Love, and Little Donuts, a local donut shop that we frequented until we moved. As the weather warmed and Declan got steadier on his feet, he and I spent a lot of time outside at parks, exploring and playing and having a great time.
In April I had the chance to go on a few longer bike rides—18 miles and 12 miles—and explore some parts of the city I'd never been to, including the hills north of our apartment and the shoreline of the Ohio River west of the city. Declan and I spent most of our spare time down on the island chasing the ducks and geese.
In May I got vaccinated, which was a relief, and we starting packing up in earnest for our upcoming move back to Utah. My parents also came out to visit and we had a great time together at Heinz Lofts. We went on lots of walks in the rain, we explored the city, we went to the zoo, and we ate a bunch of great food. My dad and I went on a nice long bike ride on the southern side of the Monongahela River, which for my money is one of the prettiest trails around.
I celebrated my 31st birthday and had a great time. Sarah and I celebrated our 6th anniversary. I went on a 30-mile bike ride for my birthday, my longest to date. I received some great birthday gifts, including a 2-minute Cameo video from Billy Boyd, which was wonderful. My birthday meal, as ever, was burgers, jalapeño poppers, wings, chips, root beer, and a peanut butter cake.
July was our last month in Pittsburgh, and I spent as much of the month as I could taking a grand tour of all my favorites—trails, parks, restaurants, shops, views. Pittsburgh was a fantastic place to live for 5 years, and I still think about it most days. The food was excellent, the people were fun, the scenery was beautiful, and I think I really came into my own while living there. Also Sarah and I had Declan while we were there, so that makes for some great memories associated with the city. We packed up our stuff into a U-Haul, Sarah and Declan and Dave got on a plane, and my dad and I hopped into the car and headed out on a road trip west.
August
The trip back to Utah was the highlight of the month. On the road, my dad and I drove through some awesome places in Michigan (although we never did find any pawpaws), braved a crazy storm somewhere in Wyoming or Nebraska, and ate at all the unique fast food places along the way. We spent the month living with my parents while our stuff was arriving at the new apartment in Salt Lake. (There's a long, messy, and aggravating story about problems associated with the move, but this is a happy post and most of you have probably heard it already.) Declan and Misha became best friends and we all settled back into life in Utah.
We officially moved into our apartment in Salt Lake and started establishing new routines and habits here. We went to a cabin for the Allred Family Retreat, which was a lot of fun. We went to the County Fair, which Declan loved, and he got to explore the Capitol and the Marmalade neighborhood and marvel at all the trains and dumps and snorts in and around City Creek. My dad and I did a little writing retreat at Snowbird during Oktoberfest. I started trying to figure out the best running routes in Salt Lake.
We celebrated Halloween and Samhain in bombastic fashion and everyone had a great time. I ran up to Ensign Peak, very slowly, and decided I want to do that monthly until I get better at it. (I haven't done it since. But I will.) Kevin and I went to see Jimmy Eat World and Taking Back Sunday, which was a fantastic concert. Declan and I went to the planetarium; his favorite part was the Icee, but he enjoyed himself a lot. In general, he's had a great time being in Salt Lake, and especially with getting to see all his family and friends so often. He loves everyone here, and it's really gratifying to see how much he learns and grows around everyone else. He and I discovered a park in West Jordan that will satisfy his need for "going down to the island" because there's a huge playground, a library, and a rec center/splash pad nearby: so the traditions will live on. My dad and I went to see Flogging Molly and the Violent Femmes, which was fun. Gabbie and I went to see The Haunt and The Hu, which was also a great time. Sarah and I also went to see Walk the Moon play, which is always a great time. So nice to be going to concerts again. Oh, earlier in the year I watched two online Jimmy Eat World concerts and one online Scandal concert, which were all great as well.
November
In November Sarah went to New Orleans for a week with Miranda and Gabbie, so Declan and I got to stay with my parents. We had a blast. I also attended the Dragonsteel Mini-Con in celebration of the release of Brandon Sanderson's novel Cytonic, and it was great to get back into the convention/conference spirit that way. We celebrated Thanksgiving, of course, and in general had a great time as the weather turned colder.
One of the main reasons we wanted to move back to Utah was to spend more time with family and friends, and that's pretty much all we did in the month of December. It was great to be with everyone for Christmas and New Year's. We also had our own little celebration for the winter solstice and wrapped up a very satisfying and fun year.
Well, that wraps up the year!
Media Recap
And now the meat and marrow of this post. Below you'll find writeups on the different types of media I enjoyed, including a few links where applicable.
Music
I listened to 260 new-to-me albums in 2021. Narrowing the list down into my favorites was really difficult, but here we go. Here are my top 50 2021 releases. The first 25 are roughly in order, but after that, not as much.
- CHVRCHES - Screen Violence: Director’s Cut
- dArtagnan - Feuer & Flamme
- Epica - Omega
- Angels & Airwaves - Lifeforms
- Temperance - Diamanti
- Last Days of Eden - Butterflies
- Solarus - A Dance With Tragedy
- Walk the Moon - HEIGHTS
- Souls of Diotima - Janas
- Blackmore’s Night - Nature's Light
- Grayscale - Umbra
- Orkhys - A Way
- Feuerschwanz - Memento Mori
- The Lost Words: Spell Songs - Spell Songs II: Let the Light In
- Mayday Parade - What It Means To Fall Apart
- Xiphea - Witchcraft
- ICE NINE KILLS - Welcome To Horrorwood: The Silver Scream 2
- Ad Infinitum - Chapter II - Legacy
- Blackbriar - The Cause of Shipwreck
- Seven Spires - Gods of Debauchery
- Imperia - The Last Horizon
- As December Falls - Happier.
- Waterparks - Greatest Hits
- BAND-MAID - Unseen World
- Cœur de pirate - Perséides
- Screaming Orphans - Happy Christmas, Vol. 1
- Marius Danielsen - Legend of Valley Doom, Pt. 3
- Gruff Rhys - Seeking New Gods
- Auri - II - Those We Don’t Speak Of
- Sharon Corr - The Fool & The Scorpion
- The Band CAMINO - The Band CAMINO
- Pale Waves - Who Am I?
- Medwyn Goodall - The Wolfstone
- Magnus Karlsson - Heart Healer
- Crashing Atlas - Black Sky Sunrise
- The Fall of Eve - Beyond the Veil
- Everdawn - Cleopatra
- TWICE - Perfect World
- Mary’s Blood - Mary’s Blood
- Starset - Horizons
- Beast in Black - Dark Connection
- Frozen Crown - Winterbane
- Metalite - A Virtual World
- Enemy Inside - Seven
- Timo Tolkki’s Avalon - The Enigma Birth
- Mechina - Siege
- Phinehas - The Fire Itself
- As It Is - I WENT TO HELL AND BACK
- The Killers - Pressure Machine
- Jade Bird - Different Kinds of Light
- CHVRCHES: Picking my favorite album of the year was difficult, but this one edged out the other contenders by a hair. I adore all of their albums, I play them incessantly on vinyl, I add songs to all kinds of playlists, I eagerly watch for when they're coming to town on tour. I'm not sure if I like this album more than their previous, Love is Dead, but it's very close either way. Dark, brooding, melancholic, and often hopeful synthpop: sometimes dancy, sometimes atmospheric. I specifically mentioned the Director's Cut because the additional three songs really were what clinched the album as a whole. Standout track: "Good Girls"
- dArtagnan: Any other year, this would have been number one. dArtagnan are a side project of the medieval-folk-rock-metal group Feuerschwanz; they describe themselves as "musketeer metal," and everything about the way they dress and play and sing is my absolute favorite. Their songs are the perfect accompaniment to running, lifting, writing, anything. Declan is a particular fan of this song, featuring the also-charming Patty Gurdy: "Farewell"
- Epica: This is symphonic metal at its absolute finest and most creative. I really enjoy the whole aesthetic of the band, as well as their inclination to push the boundaries of the genre without fundamentally changing their sound. Their lyrics are top-notch as well. "The Skeleton Key" is a particularly fun song and impressive video.
- Angels & Airwaves: I've been anticipating this album since I heard "Rebel Girl" when it was initially released a couple years ago. Fantastic song, fantastic album. AVA consistently delivers inspiring arena rock perfect for writing or running to.
- Temperance is one of my absolute favorite bands, and to be honest, this album would probably rank in the top three of this year if I'd spent more time with it. I preordered the vinyl, but we don't currently have a record player, so I delayed listening to it until very late in the year, and I've only given it a couple spins. It's a phenomenal record regardless. I especially like the title track, "Diamanti".
- Last Days of Eden is one of the most underrated symphonic metal bands currently performing. They're consistently innovative and catchy. Funny enough, for a while I kind of thought they were two different bands—they've released a couple of acoustic/orchestral albums in Asturian alongside their English-language full-band albums, and I honestly didn't realize both sets were the same band until embarrassingly late. Nevertheless: check out "The Secret".
- Solarus have a lot going for them, but Sarah Dee's vocals are by far their strongest element. She's got an incredible voice. Just check out "Guiding Light" for a clear example.
- Walk the Moon are one of my favorite bands to see live. I've seen them three times now, and each time has been an absolutely incredible performance. This newest album gets a little more eclectic, a little more throwback-indie, a little more experimental, but the hooks and layered vocals and shimmering guitars are all still there. "Can You Handle My Love??" is a fun song and video. My only complaint about this album is that my favorite WTM song, "Timebomb," never made it onto the album at all.
- Souls of Diotima: These guys came out of nowhere for me. Symphonic metal, female vocalist, gothic vibes, fantasy elements...I should have been listening to them years ago, but I didn't discover them until October of 2021, and they rocketed to the top of my list. "The Dark Lady" is a great song and also a fascinating story told through the music video.
- Blackmore's Night: Hard to go wrong with fantasy-folk-Celtic-medieval music led by one of the most influential guitarists of the modern era and his wife. It was great to get a new album from them this year, and I particularly enjoyed listening to these songs while working on Woodfire & Lakelight and some of my other books in the autumn. The video for "Second Element" is everything it needs to be and more.
- I love that Grayscale added some cool choir and Motown elements to their pop-punk sound.
- Orkhys are a French symphonic metal group with very interesting vocals. Seriously, check out "The Devil & The Impudent". Incredibly impressive album, especially for a debut.
- The video is silly and the song is sillier: "Dragonstea Din Tei" by Feuerschwanz. These are the same guys in dArtagnan, as mentioned. The whole album is fantastic. I especially liked "Rohirrim," which was surprisingly stirring.
- It was great to get another Spell Songs album. If you're unfamiliar with the Lost Words project, reach out to me—it's very dear to my heart.
- Ice Nine Kills knocked it out of the park with their second Hollywood-inspired horror screamo-metal album. Good stuff for those who like that sort of thing.
- The Killers's new album probably suffered from the same thing as Temperance's: I just didn't listen to it very much. But it's really great. Probably should be higher in my rankings too.
- I would also like to note some honorable mentions: albums by Coronatus, With Confidence, This Wild Life, TVINNA, A Story Told, Timecop1983, Beartooth, Japanese Breakfast, Dayglow, The Joy Formidable. All of them impressed me very much and barely missed the cutoff of 50 albums.
- Against The Current - fever EP
- Dialith - Atrophy EP
- Dark Horse White Horse - Dark Horse White Horse EP
- Josh Radnor - One More Then I’ll Let You Go EP
- AfterTime - Infinite Legacy EP
- Temperance - Melodies of Green and Blue EP
- Ignea/Ersedu - Bestia EP
- The Beaches - Future Lovers EP
- The Haunt - Social Intercourse EP
- Meet Me @ The Altar - Model Citizen EP
- Fickle Friends - Weird Year Season 1 EP
- Fickle Friends - Weird Year Season 2 EP
- At Dawn’s Edge - Through Glass Eyes - 2017
- Saor - Forgotten Paths - 2019
- Versus Me - Continuous - 2019
- Dream State - Primrose Path - 2019
- Atlas Pain - Tales of a Pathfinder - 2019
- Terra Atlantica - Age of Steam - 2020
- Saltatio Mortis - Für immer frei - 2020
- As December Falls - As December Falls - 2019
- Tolkien Ensemble - An Evening in Rivendell - 2000
- ReoNa - unknown - 2020
- Shouting At Satellites - Close To Home - 2012
- The Moon and the Nightspirit - Aether - 2020
- FigureItOut - Searching for More - 2020
- Wind Rose - Wintersaga - 2019
- Walk in Darkness - On the Road to Babylon - 2020
- Ninja Sex Party - The Prophecy - 2020
- Mute Prophet - The Unheard Warning - 2016
- Narsilion - Nerbeleth - 2004
- Stateside - Havøc EP - 2020
- The Lost Words - Spell Songs - 2019
- Nostra Morte - Sin Retorno - 2012
- Last Days of Eden - Ride the World - 2015
- Marius Danielsen - Legend of Valley Doom - 2015
- The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar - 2011
- Marius Danielsen - Legend of Valley Doom, Pt. 2 - 2018
- Anna Fiori - In Ohtli Tonalli - 2017
- Saor - Roots - 2013
- Conquer Divide - Conquer Divide - 2015
- Antalgia - Twisted Dreams of Dark Commander - 2016
- Snow White Blood - Hope Springs Eternal - 2020
- Saor is one of the first black metal bands I've really connected with, and they're great for the gym. Impressive that it's just one guy too.
- Atlas Pain's song "The Great Run" is fantastic to run to and has the best techno-dance transition ever.
- Terra Atlantica are so much fun it's not fair. Same goes for Saltatio Mortis.
- I'm very sad I only discovered Stateside after they broke up. "Hellion" in particular is fantastic.
- Finally, Declan's current favorite song: "Diggy Diggy Hole" by Wind Rose. If you take any of my recommendations, let it be this one.
Movies
In total, I watched 83 films this year, 80 unique films, 52 new to me, and 29 unique 2021 releases.
My favorite movies released in 2021 were:
- Spider-Man: No Way Home
- Dune
- Last Night in Soho
- No Time To Die
- Raya and the Last Dragon
- The French Dispatch
- Free Guy
- Eternals
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
- Nightmare Alley
- Reminiscence
- Encanto
- The Green Knight
- Ron's Gone Wrong
- Old
- Soul
- Wonder Woman 1984
- Abominable
- Monster Hunter
- The Peanut Butter Falcon
- Dragonslayer
- The Old Guard
- The Big Lebowski
- The Garden of Words
- V for Vendetta
- Wall Street
- The Cabin in the Woods
- The Masque of the Red Death
- Double Jeopardy
- In the Line of Fire
A few movies didn't make the cutoff because I watched them in 2022. Notably, Red Notice, See for Me, Belle, and The Matrix: Resurrections thus far. Of those, only Resurrections would have made the top-15 list, I think. But it'll get its accolades in 2022's roundup post, I guess.
Not much else to say about movies. It was hard to narrow it down to a top 15 (both categories), and I highly recommend all of these films.
Books
I read 68 novels and 45 comics/manga this year, for a total of 113 books read. I'm pretty satisfied with that! It was a great year for reading overall. Only about 15 of these were published in 2021, and most of those were comics, so I'm just going to list my top ten for each category from any publication year. (I tend to be behind on new releases. Working on catching up.)
My favorite novels this year:
- The Rise of Endymion by Dan Simmons
- Endymion by Dan Simmons
- Greenwitch by Susan Cooper
- Dune by Frank Herbert
- The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson
- The Last Druid by Terry Brooks
- I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
- Cytonic by Brandon Sanderson
- Dracula by Bram Stoker
- Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
- Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker
- This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassem
- The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo
- Skyward trilogy of novellas by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson
- The Zero G series by Dan Wells
- Gideon Falls, volumes 4 through 6, by Jeff Lemire
- Monstress, volume 4, by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
- The Magnificent Ms. Marvel, volumes 1 and 2, by Saladin Ahmed
- Batman, volumes 3 through 7, by Tom King
- The Ancient Magus' Bride, volumes 5 and 6, by Kore Yamazaki
- The Fade Out, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
- Spider Woman, volume 1, by Karla Pacheco
- Kimi ni Todoke, volume 6, by Karuho Shiina
- Schlock Mercenary, volume 1, by Howard Tayler
- White Sand, by Brandon Sanderson and Rik Hoskin
Podcasts
I listen to a lot of podcasts on morning and evening walks, drives to and from the gym, errands, that sort of thing. I wanted to highlight some of my favorites that I've listened to a lot this past year, along with brief descriptions.
- Writing Excuses: This has been a longtime favorite, really the one that got me into podcasts in the first place. I'm only caught up to about season 10 at this point. Fantastic and easily digestible information about writing.
- Celtic Source: A professor of Celtic myth discussions traditional topics and culture. Really great for long Sunday walks.
- Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend: I never watched a ton of late-night talk shows, but I've always found Conan funny, and he really shines on his podcast: hilarious, often irreverent, and sometimes poignant or brilliant. Definitely a highlight every Monday morning.
- The Endless Knot: I listen to these on Sundays usually. It's an interesting cross-section of some of the things I like most: etymology, culture, language, myth, and pop culture, focusing on interstitial and cross-disciplinary connections.
- Lore, Grim and Mild Presents, Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities: I'm listing these together since they're all the brainchild of Aaron Manke. Lore is one of my all-time favorite podcasts, one of two that I support on Patreon. The supporter episodes and bonus content are well worth the monthly fee. Cabinet has a lot of fun bite-sized episodes that I'm slowly working my way through. And I'm very much enjoying the first season of Grim and Mild Presents so far, which is about sideshows. There are a bunch of other podcasts that Aaron puts out that are in my queue for when I catch up on these!
- Lexicon Valley: This was my second foray into podcasts after Writing Excuses and remains a favorite. John McWhorter is lots of fun to listen to and picks very interesting linguistics topics, always accompanied by showtunes. Great fun.
- Literally! with Rob Low: I don't think I've seen Rob in much other than Parks & Rec and Tommy Boy, but I've always liked his acting and I really enjoy his celebrity interviews. He's got fun connections and it's neat to hear the stories from throughout his lengthy career.
- Medieval Death Trip: This is the other podcast I support on Patreon. This is an exploration into "the wit and weirdness of medieval texts," and it might be my favorite all-time podcast for how precisely it tailors to my interests while also discussing things I don't know already. I drop everything to go on a long walk anytime a new episode is released.
- Myths & Legends: I listen to these when I run, and for whatever reason they're the perfect accompaniment to running: retellings of popular myths, legends, and folklore, with many ongoing meta-series throughout the show's history. I really enjoy the breadth of stories and the format of storytelling. I'm almost caught up, finally—just about a month's worth of runs away—and then I can become an official supporter and work through the backlog of member posts. Highly recommended.
- Page Break with Brian McClellan: I've only just started this one, and I've yet to actually read any of his books (they're on my shelf), but Brian is a cool guy who writes cool fantasy novels and interviews other cool creative people.
- Philosophize This!: Another Sunday listen, this one covers the history of philosophy by discussing different philosophers and schools of thought. It's very accessible and interesting for someone who knows a little about philosophy and likes it but isn't ready to commit a bunch of time to study.
- Saga Thing: This was recommended by Patrick Lane of Medieval Death Trip, and when I caught up on MDT, it became an easy replacement. John and Andy go through Icelandic sagas piece by piece, always with a lot of humor and fun. These are a staple of my morning walks and are incredibly entertaining while also broadening my understanding of Scandinavian lore.
- SmartLess: Another show in the vein of Conan or Literally with a couple of great, funny actors. I really enjoy their interplay and the interviews they have with celebrities and luminaries in a wide range of fields.
- Spectacular Vernacular: This show technically took the place of Lexicon Valley when the latter moved to a new hosting site, and while I don't enjoy it quite as much (and I'm glad Lexicon Valley continues), it's a lot of fun to dive into accessible aspects of language and culture. I'm a fan of Ben Zimmer anyway, so this is a neat one.
- Welcome to Our Show: Rewatch podcasts have exploded in the past year, and I've got a bunch on my radar (several for The Office, Parks & Rec, Psych), but this is the first one I've started listening to. It's a rewatch podcast for New Girl, one of my favorite shows, with Zooey Deschanel, Lamorne Morris, and Hannah Simone. Lots of fun and great to hear these guys reminiscing about their time on the show.
- Intentionally Blank: Brandon Sanderson and Dan Wells chat weekly about whatever they want. Lots of fun, often very insightful. Very much a fan.
TV Shows
Here are some of the TV shows, old and new, that I watched and enjoyed this year. Some are brand new, some are rewatches, some I'm not yet current on but am still enjoying.
- Mythic Quest
- The Hardy Boys
- Adventure Time
- Arcane
- The Book of Boba Fett
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
- Lost
- The Mandalorian
- Masters of the Universe: Revelation
- Mr. Mayor
- A Series of Unfortunate Events
- Space Force
- Spider-Man
- Supernatural
- Veronica Mars
- The Wheel of Time
- The Witcher
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- The Haunting of Bly Manor
- Midnight Mass
- WandaVision
I want to highlight Mythic Quest, Arcane, The Mandalorian, Master of the Universe: Revelation, The Wheel of Time, The Witcher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Midnight Mass as particularly enjoyable and highly recommended.
Videogames
I play videogames at a pretty slow, steady pace these days—averaging about 4 hours a week—so here's just a short list of games I really enjoyed this year.
- Pokémon Sword
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- The Alliance Alive
- Hades
- Hollow Knight
- Immortals: Fenyx Rising
- Hellblade 2: Senua's Sacrifice
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Pokémon Go
Of note, I beat Pokémon Sword earlier in the year, and that was fun. I also realized in January something funny about Skyrim: I'd been playing what I thought was a normal side quest, and it was taking way longer than I expected—like, I figured it would be 3 hours max, and I was coming up on 15 or 20 and still not done—when I suddenly realized that it was actually one of the major expansions to the game that came with my edition. It's probably a 30-hour quest and the latter half is well beyond my current capabilities, which explains why it was getting so challenging. I felt dumb but also relieved when I realized.
Final Thoughts
There's not much else to say here, except that 2021 was really a fantastic year. I grew as a person, had great experiences, developed hobbies, talents, and interests, and accomplished a lot of my goals. I'm looking forward to another wonderful year in 2022.
