For my first post here I am just going to do a quick catch-up on things I’ve done so far this year.
Movies
I’ve only watched 18 movies so far this year, which is really pitiful given my history. I’m not going to prattle on about everything, but here are the ones of note:
A Different Man - surprisingly funny and reaffirmed my appreciation of Sebastian Stan.
Presence - the first movie I saw in theaters this year and a huge disappointment. The only thing worse than the acting was how unremarkable the story was.
Conclave - Might’ve been my pick for Best Picture this year. I am a sucker for dialogue-driven single-location (mostly) thrillers.
Companion - another dark comedy that was a blast to see in theaters. I don’t think it left much lasting impact, but I had fun in the moment.
The Monkey - kind of all over the place and really pushed the envelope on how stupid it could be, but also satisfied me in a way I acknowledge it won’t for others.
TV
Finished my watch/rewatch of 30 Rock with my wife. Probably the best track record for a comedy show I’ve ever seen. The only episodes I actively disliked were the live ones.
We also binged Severance season 1 and watched season 2 week to week. My wife might be starting to fall off, but I’m fully on-board. I am a huge sucker for a mystery box show and I’m enjoying prowling reddit for theories (they’re always wrong).
Books
I’m 8 books into my 24 book goal for the year. Here are the standouts so far:
Mean Spirited by Nick Roberts (audiobook) - A unique take on a haunting story where it’s not a place or thing that is cursed, but a pet. This one was delightfully gruesome, although it resolves itself in kind of a lackluster way.
The September House by Carissa Orlando - a darkly comedic haunted house story that actually nails being about something in the end. Kind of takes the piss out of all of those “horror as a metaphor for grief” elevated horror stories.
Devolution by Max Brooks (audiobook) - A top notch full-cast presentation about a pack of sasquatches attacking a sustainable community in the wake of a volcano eruption. Surprisingly gory, but took a loooooong time to get going.
Games
I’ve started a “10 x 10” challenge for board games this year. For those unfamiliar, this is when you commit yourself to playing 10 different games at least 10 times over the course of the year. We’re 1/4 through the year at this point so I’m a little behind at only a total of 19 games played, but my hope is we’ll make it up over the summer.
Cities - a pretty brisk tile-placing and city-building game. Playing this one over and over is starting to highlight some flaws in strategy variability as time goes on. I’ll probably end up getting rid of this at the end of the challenge.
Ticket to Ride: Legends of the West - we’re playing this legacy campaign train game with my nephew as an introduction to more strategic games. Every time we play this I’m itching to set it back up and play the next game, but I am limited to his availability.
Castles of Burgundy - I picked up the super-duper elite special edition recently and we’ve been knocking out games every other week with friends. This has always been one of my favorite euro games and having big chunky plastic tiles and 3D castle minis fills me with joy.
As far as video games go, I’ve been filling little gaps in my time playing Marvel Rivals and Monster Hunter Wilds lately. I’ve also got my wife addicted to Balatro so I have also been doing that on the FOUR DIFFERENT PLATFORMS I OWN THE GAME ON. I haven’t felt the compulsion to really sink a lot of hours into any games yet this year, but maybe that will change.
What a great wrap up! I’ll have to revisit Devolution as I got bored early on and gave up. That board game challenge seems fun and that board is such a cool way to track your progress. May your fun continue!