Every subsequent year feels like it’s worse than the previous year. That’s not the reality of course. It just feels that way. Due to the connected nature of life now (thanks to Twitter and the Trinet). Each of us are saddled with an incalculable weight of the year’s past. We sulk around with so much in our little heads. The inane, the devastating, the memes, the news, the crosswords, the work, the emails, the to-dos, the payments, the notifications and yes — even your parents social status updates from Facebook.
Naturally, we’re all very tired. I guess we live for this, right? We are after all, members of the human race. Despite what the madness every year brings us, we’re also graced with some good things too. When the years brings good tidings more so than bad tidings, I’d call it a good year.
2022 was mostly a good year, I’d say.
Let’s look over a few things from this past year. I even threw in a couple of things from 2021 I was dying to get caught up with.
TV & Film
There was a lot of content to watch this year. Ever since the pandemic became an endemic, I’ve found myself in theaters more than ever before. Alamo Drafthouse, I love you so ❤️ But the fact remains that streaming is now the de facto means to consume America’s greatest export, film and TV programming. Here’s some of my favorites from this past year (in no particular order or grouping).
There’s so much more that belongs on this list 🥲
Music
There’s so much more I listened to, but I’m my favorite artist I discovered in 2022 is probably Sugar Candy Mountain. If you enjoy Tame Impala, you’re going to love them.
Art
Didn’t see much art this year. But, thankfully I had a friend who came to visit, and had a big list of exhibitions and galleries to see. We hopped around all day seeing art. I’ll need to see more art in 2023, that’s for sure.
The Diane Arbus exhibition at David Zwirner was a once-in-a-lifetime exhibit.
Games
I played a lot of games this year. Or maybe I should say, I played a lot of Modern Warfare II this year. Activision/Blizzard really knocked it out of the park. But there were a few games that really outshined others.
Apps
I have become a person who regularly relies on apps on my iPhone and Mac now. Wether or not I enjoy that admission is another thing.
- TickTick – I don’t know where I’d be without this app
- Duolingo – learning Korean, Finnish and Spanish!
- Citymapper – old trusty, my daily carry for getting about NYC
- Letterboxd – the original film diary
- iA Writer – literally nothing compares
Places
Every year, my goal is to travel somewhere new. This year, I flew to Las Vegas twice. I traveled by Amtrak once in the summer. I hope to do more train trips in the future. It’s a luxurious and chill way to travel.
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Saratoga Springs, New York
- Great Sacandaga Lake, New York
- Fort Worth, Texas
Books
I’m notoriously slow at reading. I have a Kindle that I swear by, but alas — like you, I am a mere mortal and only have so many hours in the day (and night). These books I really enjoyed (a few on this list, I have yet to finish, oops).
Looking Ahead
A lot happened in 2022. Personally, and globally. Not a lot of good things happened globally honestly. But, personally I feel like I’ve grown a bit. Things are looking up, I’m feeling positive about myself, and where I’m headed.
Looking at my calendar for 2023, I really hope to travel more. Wait, why does that sound familiar? In 2022, I went back to the gym, and rode the ol Peloton quite a bit. Next year, will hopefully be no different. Another goal I have in mind is to speed up my reading habit, because I’m not getting any younger. Looking ahead, feeling’ rad. See y’all around✌️