21 Things I Loved in 2021
What a year, y’all, I think it worked out pretty great for everyone involved. We all got what we wanted and there was no strife or drama anywhere for anyone. GREAT JOB.
In celebration of that (okay, now I’m going to stop being sarcastic), here are things that brought me joy this year, in no particular order.
Slate’s Pop Cultured podcast, specifically the delightfully cantakerous Stephen Metcalfe. In their latest episode, his co-hosts tried to get him to recant his previously dismissive opinions about Taylor Swift and his response was so simultaneously articulate and convoluted that I could only laugh and admire a perfect modern-day curmudgeon. He also voiced an opinion about TV comedies describing the “joke every 15 seconds” modern single-camera style as being just as much a trope as multicamera shows were where I had that feeling of someone saying what I was thinking. And he mentioned that in support of the show…
Reservation Dogs, which is an original, idiosyncratic delight.
And so is Stath Lets Flats. Three seasons of pure comedy that just gets better and better.
Wait, three seasons one better than next? I think I mean Succession. Matthew Macfadyen in the Nero and Sporus scene is some of the best acting I’ve seen… ever.
Dr Pepper Zero Sugar.
BananaSlamJamma’s Dota 2 YouTube content is so good it makes me play the game, even though I kind of hate the game, but I also love it and I’m coming up to 5000 hours played since 2013. I was gonna link, but honestly, if you don’t know what Dota 2 is, I don’t recommend it. It’s one of the greatest video games ever created but at this point in its lifespan it’s enraging more than not.
Valorant was the other multiplayer game I played a lot of this year and it’s quite fun, even as my physical reflexes atrophy in the struggle against Gen Z assassins.
The “card game” Inscryption. If you have a PC, just get this. Don’t read anything about it, just play.
Cathedral City near Palm Springs continues to be our soul-refreshing getaway.
The Tovala Smart Oven. I got it for a super cheap Black Friday price and it’s been wonderfully simple to use making delicious meals.
The movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and
C’mon C’mon, and
West Side Story, and
The Green Knight, and
Dune, and
Tick, Tick… Boom! It was a good year for the film and it’s been nice to be back in the theater (even if we might need to take a break from that for a bit).
Oh, and the book Dune by Frank Herbert, which is surprisingly undated and refreshingly unproblematic (except maybe for the very last line of the book, but still). It’s dynamic and is filled with absorbing palace intrigue that hasn’t really come through in any of the screen adaptations.
I don’t know if brought me joy, but exquisite melancholy… Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro.
TENNIS! I haven’t played in decades but my friends Zach, Tim, Bayne, Melanie, Mike, Lucas, and Rob played with me this year and it’s been a blast.
The incredible support put forth by my friends in several severe times of crisis this year.
And last but not least, my husband Eric, our two cats Corny & Peanut, and our families.
Hope you have a wonderful holiday season and a happy New Year. See you on the other side!