I’ve got a “What I had fun with in 2023” roundup in the hopper, super excited, but first I want to poll y’all: Share with me the Fun Things, the Low Art, the Cotton Candy of your year. I expect an essay next week, then my 2023 WIHFL, so that’s two weeks to get me to try your thing. Maybe it makes the list!
To set some quick terms, fun is:
Quick-hit, shaped by hands, a little guilty, bite-sized, ground-level, loved if not beloved, outright bad OR extremely well-crafted but of a medium or genre disrespected at the Oscars
Fun is not:
Algorithmic, AI-generated, market optimized, emotionless; it isn’t haute couture, unapproachably expensive (unless it’s a ripoff), to be enjoyed in the Tuscan countryside
oh here's a real one: back in the 60's, Time Life came out with like 28 little recipe books with cuisines from around the world, so i bought the whole set and jen and i have a goal to spend some time with each book to expand our palates and our cooking experience. we started with italian (since it's something familiar to ease in with) and just finished shopping for dish 28 out of the 37 we have planned. we bought three whole eggplants. this has also resulted in us cooking a number of things this year which we never would have before, such as leeks, chicken liver, farmer's cheese, salt pork, anchovy, artichoke, lamb, veal... so it's neato. we have also become quite comfortable making pasta from scratch. it's way easier than it sounds.
we still need to decide which cuisine to do next. maybe something less familiar like russian. who knows.
tbqh no idea if it was even the right amount - we need 1.5lbs of eggplant for the eggplant parmesan and 1.25 - 1.5lbs of eggplant for a marinated eggplant antipasto and APPARENTLY trader joseph's doesn't have scales so we just assume each eggplant was about a pound
Casual Animal for Chiefs games. They always have a delicious pop up food option and $2 small glasses of whichever beer you prefer after any chiefs touchdown! Also, Destiny 2. That game is horrible for new comers, especially playing alone. Thankfully, Bella’s parents are experts and now that I know what I’m doing it’s so enjoyable. The Legacy Edition of Destiny 2 is also free on Epic right now for a week!
Bubble Shooter has experienced a real revival in my life this year. Also, this weird thing happened where my 11-year-old wanted to go to a buffet for the first time (in her whole life) after a round of vaccines this year and now my kids are obsessed. So, I’m not at all ashamed to say that Asian Buffet on Barry road has been a real highlight of the year.
Personally, I’ve become very invested in getting the very best tinned fish a modest amount of money can buy. So far the smoked trout from TJs is winning.
WHAT A LIST! The buffet is one of the peak inventions of low culture, and if I know the one you’re talking about, that’s the peak buffet. (I grew up on Barry!) As for tinned fish, I’m noting that, we tried a Whole Foods tinned fish night but our game needs work
I read over 60 books this year so far and almost every single one was sci-fi/fantasy. I also feel like we've done a lot of celebrating recently, we had a friend's wedding and now they're having a baby, there was passed exams, a half-marathon, and a year of birthdays and holidays! All around just a lot of celebrating
Top 3 is tough, but since I could talk about books for hours, here are my top 3 recs:
Favorite Sci-fi: "Red Mars" by Kim Stanley Robinson
This series is a very detailed take on the colonization of Mars. The author invents new politics, sports, art forms and science, but does so in a very logical way that makes you think that if we colonized Mars, it would look a lot like this future. The closest I can compare it to is World War Z, both are very grounded, logical predictions about a hypothetical future. Honorable mentions to "The Expanse" series by James S.A Corey which is similarly grounded but a more exciting story/adventure and the "Ender's Game" series by Orson Scott Card, very fun and interesting until the series went super downhill.
Best Fantasy is probably "Assassin's Apprentice" by Robin Hobb.
I would describe it as a slice of life fantasy that was so full and busy that I couldn't put it down. Unfortunately, this book has some really sad points that I won't spoil but they ripped my heart out not once, but twice. Still a fantastic read, especially because if you finish the first trilogy, you get to read the second trilogy "Liveship Traders" which somehow even better, easily one of my all time top series. The series are separate enough that you could get away with skipping the Farseer Trilogy and start Liveship Traders with "Ship of Magic", if you were so inclined. Honorable mentions for all the Sandersons this year, especially "Tress of the Emerald Sea" and "Yumi and the Nightmare Painter".
Favorite Nonfiction: "How Not To Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking" by Jordan Ellenburg.
A cool book about math in everyday life for someone who doesn't know a lot of math. He talks about everything from the lottery to slime molds to Facebook. Very good at changing the way you think about things. I loved the explanation of the Winfall lottery loophole and the quote from a Nobel prize winning economist "If you never miss a plane, you're spending too much time in airports". Honorable mention would be "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee, which is the history of genetics, eugenics, and the Human Genome Project, explained really really well for someone who doesn't know anything about genetics.
If one million people want to read that essay, I am one of them. If one person wants to read that essay it is me. (Emma sketched some of the plot for me when she saw it and it sounds truly one of one)
Feeling a little attacked with that Tuscan countryside comment after my recent honeymoon ;)
- Brewery road trip for spring break: Wichita > Oklahoma City > Dallas > Tulsa
- Backpacking near Chattanooga after gorging on a steak the size of my head (protein, you know?)
- Noticing exhaust-stained tile mosaics adorning NYC subway station walls denoting street numbers
- Reading like a crazy person through Libby: The Witcher series, 1984, The Great Gatsby, Ready Player One, The Uglies series
Listen we need Matisse and Tuscany, we just also need Wichita. And exhaust stained street whatsits, thank u for this
oh here's a real one: back in the 60's, Time Life came out with like 28 little recipe books with cuisines from around the world, so i bought the whole set and jen and i have a goal to spend some time with each book to expand our palates and our cooking experience. we started with italian (since it's something familiar to ease in with) and just finished shopping for dish 28 out of the 37 we have planned. we bought three whole eggplants. this has also resulted in us cooking a number of things this year which we never would have before, such as leeks, chicken liver, farmer's cheese, salt pork, anchovy, artichoke, lamb, veal... so it's neato. we have also become quite comfortable making pasta from scratch. it's way easier than it sounds.
we still need to decide which cuisine to do next. maybe something less familiar like russian. who knows.
Omg that’s so cool, and you’re like most of the way done! Three eggplants is also A LOT of eggplants
tbqh no idea if it was even the right amount - we need 1.5lbs of eggplant for the eggplant parmesan and 1.25 - 1.5lbs of eggplant for a marinated eggplant antipasto and APPARENTLY trader joseph's doesn't have scales so we just assume each eggplant was about a pound
Casual Animal for Chiefs games. They always have a delicious pop up food option and $2 small glasses of whichever beer you prefer after any chiefs touchdown! Also, Destiny 2. That game is horrible for new comers, especially playing alone. Thankfully, Bella’s parents are experts and now that I know what I’m doing it’s so enjoyable. The Legacy Edition of Destiny 2 is also free on Epic right now for a week!
Oh no way, I’ve thought about getting into it! Ty Bella’s parents -- also $2 small beer 🤤
Bubble Shooter has experienced a real revival in my life this year. Also, this weird thing happened where my 11-year-old wanted to go to a buffet for the first time (in her whole life) after a round of vaccines this year and now my kids are obsessed. So, I’m not at all ashamed to say that Asian Buffet on Barry road has been a real highlight of the year.
Personally, I’ve become very invested in getting the very best tinned fish a modest amount of money can buy. So far the smoked trout from TJs is winning.
WHAT A LIST! The buffet is one of the peak inventions of low culture, and if I know the one you’re talking about, that’s the peak buffet. (I grew up on Barry!) As for tinned fish, I’m noting that, we tried a Whole Foods tinned fish night but our game needs work
I read over 60 books this year so far and almost every single one was sci-fi/fantasy. I also feel like we've done a lot of celebrating recently, we had a friend's wedding and now they're having a baby, there was passed exams, a half-marathon, and a year of birthdays and holidays! All around just a lot of celebrating
Celebrating is so good, it’s just like let’s all show up at the same place and share Good Feelings. Also drop ur top 3 books
Top 3 is tough, but since I could talk about books for hours, here are my top 3 recs:
Favorite Sci-fi: "Red Mars" by Kim Stanley Robinson
This series is a very detailed take on the colonization of Mars. The author invents new politics, sports, art forms and science, but does so in a very logical way that makes you think that if we colonized Mars, it would look a lot like this future. The closest I can compare it to is World War Z, both are very grounded, logical predictions about a hypothetical future. Honorable mentions to "The Expanse" series by James S.A Corey which is similarly grounded but a more exciting story/adventure and the "Ender's Game" series by Orson Scott Card, very fun and interesting until the series went super downhill.
Best Fantasy is probably "Assassin's Apprentice" by Robin Hobb.
I would describe it as a slice of life fantasy that was so full and busy that I couldn't put it down. Unfortunately, this book has some really sad points that I won't spoil but they ripped my heart out not once, but twice. Still a fantastic read, especially because if you finish the first trilogy, you get to read the second trilogy "Liveship Traders" which somehow even better, easily one of my all time top series. The series are separate enough that you could get away with skipping the Farseer Trilogy and start Liveship Traders with "Ship of Magic", if you were so inclined. Honorable mentions for all the Sandersons this year, especially "Tress of the Emerald Sea" and "Yumi and the Nightmare Painter".
Favorite Nonfiction: "How Not To Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking" by Jordan Ellenburg.
A cool book about math in everyday life for someone who doesn't know a lot of math. He talks about everything from the lottery to slime molds to Facebook. Very good at changing the way you think about things. I loved the explanation of the Winfall lottery loophole and the quote from a Nobel prize winning economist "If you never miss a plane, you're spending too much time in airports". Honorable mention would be "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee, which is the history of genetics, eugenics, and the Human Genome Project, explained really really well for someone who doesn't know anything about genetics.
i miss you
Saltburn! Not high-rated enough to win any big awards, but a super fun watch. May or may not be thinking through a critical essay on it rn :0
If one million people want to read that essay, I am one of them. If one person wants to read that essay it is me. (Emma sketched some of the plot for me when she saw it and it sounds truly one of one)
Tell Emma she has excellent taste! This is a future cult-classic imo.
baldur's gate 3