Hmm. Turns out I’m a bit of a sucker for End of Year stuff. Introspection, resolutions, celebrations, noticing the markers of time, setting intentions. Yada yada. Or maybe I like lists.
Because this is my blog, my house, my rules, I’ll have you know I don’t give a damn or a fuck about new releases. I’m listing things that gave shape to my year. Much of it was in fact new to me.
Decided to rank these because ranked lists are imo spicy. It’s a bit cowardly to number things and not assign them a value, right? Make a choice! State a preference! Ya know.
Is this interesting to any of you? I guess we’re past that point.
books
I resolved to read one book a month and I’m surprised to have kept my promise. Could I have been more ambitious? Sure. But maybe I wouldn’t have read at all. If you want to read more (or frankly, do anything) I recommend against lofty goals - decide on something so easy it would be hard not to do it.
One book a month allows you to really absorb what you’re reading without rushing through. End of the day, that is what matters.
Idk about you. I read to be stunned. I also read for pleasure and betterment.
Thematically, my interests this year drifted toward madness, existentialism, and what to do with a life. Pretty typical for me tbh. My only nonfiction read, Say Nothing, was about Belfast/ the troubles. I was most impressed by the short, translated books: Zama and Die My Love.
Of the list, the one I whole heartedly recommend to anyone is Black Swans. It has stayed with me. I want to be able to reference Babitz more freely, so please read it, so we can talk excitedly about envy, marrying for money and tango on Eve’s terms.
Black Swans - Eve Babitz
Parable of the Sower - Octavia Butler
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky
Die My Love - Ariana Harwicz
Nausea - Jean-Paul Sartre
Say Nothing - Patrick Radden Keefe
Stoner - John Williams
The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga
Death in Her Hands - Ottessa Moshfegh
movies
Equipped with a criterion login (thank u Jack) and ample time, you would think I’d have done more with my movie-going. But I’m content to have checked off some long over-due items on my “to watch” list. I also really got into Nic Cage for no reason.
Someone once said to me: “There is a lineage of actors who changed acting as an art form. Marlon Brando, Nic Cage, and now Robert Pattinson are all similar in that they make bold, interesting choices.”
Marinate for a moment on that. Absolutely insane thing to say.
Later I discovered this was sort of borrowed from Ethan Hawke, who I generally agree with, in a “whatever you say, handsome” way. So I’ve decided to run with it. And now I’m telling people that, too.
After Hours (1985)
Mulholland Drive (2001)
Moonstruck (1987)
Persona (1966)
Daisies (1966)
A Vampire’s Kiss (1989)
Wild at Heart (1990)
The Lair of the White Worm (1988)
Rebecca (1940)
albums
The first half of my 2022, my listening habits were marked by a breakup. (Thank you Carly Simon for seeing me thru — imagine going thru a breakup in 1971 when “You’re So Vain” came out. That would’ve SLAPPEd.)
And in the second half, I plunged into a new enjoyment of music that previously felt inaccessible to me. My tastes veered pretty male. Like, mid-life male. Actually, come to think of it, 90s rock is now like, “dad rock.”
Also went to some pretty insane concerts this year, including Sharon Van Etten + Angel Olsen (I cried), Morrissey, Bauhaus (they have aged very well and are still super cool), Devo, Blondie (I danced a lot), and Bill Callahan (my boyfriend).
Pink Moon – Nick Drake
Dongs of Sevotion – Smog
Norman Fucking Rockwell – Lana Del Rey
Meddle – Pink Floyd
Born To Be With You – Dion
69 Love Songs – The Magnetic Fields
Self Titled - Blur
1992 – 2001 – Acetone
New Long Leg – Dry Cleaning
Fear – John Cale
What did you guys really like this year? I’d like to hear. :)