2024 in review

Twenty twenty-four! What a time. Nevertheless, we persisted.

What sorts of things did I enjoy this past year?

Books

Though I listen to plenty of podcasts, I’d never really gotten into e-books. That changed this year! I listened to my first e-book, When We Lost Our Heads. If I’m being honest, I didn’t like it much (the book part, not the e part). The characters were insufferable & homicidal, and it’s hard to maintain interest in their conflict when you just desperately want them to go away.

I read Rose à l’île, which was gorgeous & melancholy.

I read Wonderbook, which has all sorts of inspirations & useful tools, if you can parse them out of the strained xenofaunal analogy. Anyway, then I saw Jeff VanderMeer at Sala Rossa, promoting Absolution. He’s a thoughtful & entertaining guy!

Aramis, or The Love of Technology was fascinating, as a longitudinal, genre-bending, heavily-researched, neo-non-fiction work. Unique.

The Earthseed books were also a lot of fun. Well, “fun.” Mundane, in an compelling way… planting agave as a natural defensive wall—neat!

Film

The Thief of Bagdad (pictured) is my fav problematic fav of the year! Breathtaking in scope & composition & execution. One hundred years old at time of viewing, just boggles the goggles.

Slightly younger, Run Lola Run had a 25th-anniversary 4K re-release in theatres. It’s still one of my favourite films. I saw it over at Cinéma Moderne, which I’d only discovered incidentally weeks prior, even though it’s been around for a few years. Have some snacks & sips on the terrasse (don’t bother with the cocktails, is my advice), and watch some real cinema-ass cinema.

I had a long flight to Europe (more below), during which I watched both The Lobster and The Batman, two films in the growing repertoire (currently: 2) where Colin Farrell is nominally a sea creature.

Forbidden Planet was a great Star Trek movie, before Star Trek movies.

In short, check out this very long image for my Letterboxd 2024 year in review. I stand by my opinion of Chris Nolan.

Games

You can check out my general year-ender over on Backloggd (pictured below), along with my Steam Awards nominations, and my full Steam Replay. Of the latter, I think I’m happy enough that I managed to play 51 games over the year, apparently, which is well over the median Steam user, who’s played, uh, four. Which did start some discourse.

Anyway, what left an impression on me?

Botany Manor is a very relaxing first-person puzzler, with a down-to-earth (hah!) & fairly worldly narrative.

Été is a love letter to a very specific time & place dans ma ville.

Flock. You’re asking me to putter around a lovely world and collect things. Don’t threaten me with a good time. See also: Penko Park.

Judero is a joyous act of, and reflection on, creation & storytelling. Give these people more money to do more of this.

Myst—it’s the prequel to Riven!

Neyasnoe is both highly abstract and hyper-local. Somehow, we’ve all had nights like that. A moment of unexpected grace.

Finished Outer Wilds a second time, in anticipation of the DLC, Echoes of the Eye. It is still a clockwork masterpiece.

I finished Saltsea Chronicles early in the year, before Die Gute Fabrik fell on hard times. Much love to them and to a salty Star Trek voyage.

Starfield was something I played a lot. It tracks with my own experience of anhedonia—a million things to and do none of them all that interesting. Anyway, I tried my best & played a lot.

The Wild at Heart is good fun: just give me a few dozen little guys that I can throw at problems. It’s called delegation, and I’m good at it.

Music

No surprises on last.fm…

Elder, Metallica, NiN, Underworld, and the Wipeout soundtrack, as usual. Look, they help me work. Well, they help me focus. Well, they help me ignore the outside world.

In new releases, Cindy Lee’s Diamond Jubilee was definitely a highlight. I told a friend it felt like Twin Peaks relocated down the I-5 to the American south-west. Natural Wonder Beauty Concept (self-titled) and Underworld’s Strawberry Hotel also kept me company.

Fun story! Apparently just about anyone can set up a Bandcamp page, as any band, and there’s no, like… verification, at all. So I “bought” Strawberry Hotel from who knows who. Anyway, I got the money back, and a free album to boot. Great work, Internet!

I also saw Spencer Krug twice in concert, in June & October, and I’m very glad I did. I’d bounced off his Moonface & Sunset Rubdown projects in the aughts & teens, but I was younger and arguably stupider then. I’ve arguably grown since then. Somehow he turns poignant experiences into arena-pop bangers. Impressive work.

Other

Inspired by a fellow koopa, I thought I’d throw in a couple of rapid-fire bests & firsts in the year that was.

🏒 Best Sporting Event

Baby’s first Mooseheads game.

🎭 Best (only) Play

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead at the Neptune Theatre, Halifax.
Billy & Dom are unsurprisingly delightful. Michael Blake as The Player ruled.

🏡 Biggest Purchase

A home! A whole home!
Pictured: our traditional Sherlock & pizza upon a new move.

🛣 Best (only) USA Road Trip

Philadelphia for a wedding. The Chanticleer gardens were spectacular.
I also had my first ever experience with Grape-Nuts and The Cheesecake Factory (separately).
What a country!

🥗 Best Salad

This caprese I had on a hot day in Rome.
(more on that trip in the future)

🔭 Best Astronomer

Galileo. I saw his house and his middle finger in Florence.

🙆‍♂️ Most Breathtaking Moment

(TIE)

The April 8th total solar eclipse. I was caught speechless at totality, absolutely spellbinding. My one and only picture of it somewhat undersells the magnificence.

And also: seeing Botticelli’s Primavera in person, in the Uffizi. You see its reproductions everywhere; turning a corner and seeing the original spanning a wall in front of you is… something very different.

🌡 Highest Temperature

38.8°C, in early August, during my first ever bout with COVID.
Confirmed: I did not enjoy it.

🧘‍♂️ Biggest Stretch

Dada! I was cat-sitting and he is a big goof.

🐛 Most Bugs

Went to the Insectarium with some work pals. You wouldn’t believe how many bugs they have there.

🌄 Highest Elevation

Approximately 932m. My partner & I hiked up Mont Tremblant in mid-October; the grass was green at the bottom, and we were caught in a snowstorm at the top. Fun, with qualifiers!

Looking ahead to 2025

We’ll see what the new year holds! We’re about two weeks in and so far it’s been: Same X Different Y.

Still, I know there are nice work & personal things on the horizon, which is encouraging.

For myself, I intend to really focus on cycling & photography, as hobbies; really try to do these things with intention. Likewise, focusing on finishing some of the short stories I’ve been poking at for… years, now. Intending to intend: honestly something I need to be better about, in the general sense. Effort takes effort, after all.

Happiness must be earned.

One for the positive column in this fledgling year: these donuts I got as a belated birthday treat from my colleagues at KO_OP.

May 2025 be so sweet.

🖖♥