1. Party Down
The return of comedic greatness.
One of my favorite TV comedies of all time—a great show that was cancelled far too early—is being rebooted. It won’t hit the air until 2023 so I’m eagerly awaiting its arrival. Here’s a clip from the first episode back in 2009:
You can watch the original Party Down on Hulu here.
2. Therapy Me
I spent approximately 170 hours in Dialectic Behavior Therapy this year. I didn’t do it from my childhood home but this tweet cracked me up.
Mental illness is terrible, demoralizing, often debilitating, and also hilarious.
3. The James Webb Telescope
All that infinity.
This is enough for an atheist like me to doubt his doubts about God.
4. Crime Novel
I love this novel. It reads like 1920’s private detective film noir movie updated for our time.
Here’s a good review.
5. Banshees
An amazing and devastating movie about male friendship and loss.
It features two incredible performances. Watch the movie please.
6. Bernadette
Bernadette Mayer: 1945-2022
More about Mayer here.
7. Ghosts
The ghost of our love…
More about Salvant here.
8. The Joker
The man has VISION.
I think I love basketball even more than I love poetry. If you’d like to watch an 11-minute highlight reel of Joker’s best passes of his career, go here.
9. Lucia Berlin
Her book of stories was published posthumously in 2015 but I read it for the first time this year and it’s astonishing.
Here’s a story of hers you can read online.
10. My Sister’s Reservation Updates
I get so nostalgic about Eastern Washington snow. It always meant high school basketball season.
That fence poking out of the snow is four feet tall.
11. Baseball, Baseball, Baseball
Our Seattle Mariners making the playoffs for the first time in 21 years.
We watched the away games against the Blue Jays on the big screen in our home stadium.
Here’s the game-winning homer that clinched the playoff spot:
Diane and I were in the stadium for that home run and, yes, I cried.
12. The Existentialism of Cooking
The Bear is my favorite TV show of the year.
This show will make you nervous and hungry at the same time.
13. Nepotism Alert
My good and great friend, Jess Walter, publish an incredible book of short stories this year.
The title story will quietly and subtly wreck you. Here’s a great review.
14. Surreal Realism
Ling Ma’s stories are stunning, crazy, and wildly unpredictable. There’s one about a woman who lives with her husband and 100 ex-boyfriends!
You can read one of her stories here.
What a delightful list. Loved the no-look pass!
Looks like I have some reading to do. And a movie to watch. Brendan Gleeson is one of my all time favorites. He and Colin were great in "In Bruges". I have found real power in doubting my doubts. Thanks for the list.