Skip to main content

Best of 2023

2023 Year End Lists: 
It is indeed time for the 2023 Mix.  I LOVE putting this collection together and this year is no exception.  

Below is my track list and here is the link to it on Spotify.

1. Morning Zoo – Ratboys
2. Lots of Nothing – Spacey Jane, Benee
3. Same Old Bumpy Road – Dari Bay
4. Bad Love – Dehd
5. Moments in Between – Mini Trees
6. Pictures of You – Drugdealer
7. Boyhood – Japanese House
8. Nine Stories – Hazel English
9. Not Strong Enough – Boy Genius
10. Rings (Live) – Pinegrove
11. Sleeping On My Own – Beach Fossils
12. Locket -Superviolet
13. Anything You Want – Eliza McLamb
14. Old Man – Albert Hammond Jr.
15. Races – Barrie
16. Back on 74 – Jungle
17. So Right – Carly Rae Jepsen
18. Bogus Operandi – The Hives
19. Fantasize – Yesterday’s Clothes
20. Broadview – Slow Pulp
21. I Thought You’d Change – Hotline TNT
22. San Luis – Gregory Alan Isakov
23. Time to Run - Tycho

My Album of the Year is a tie between Dari Bay's "Longest Day of the Year" and Ratboys "The Window."

My favorite book of the year was The Wager.  I went all in on audiobooks this summer and I have absolutely loved it.  I can keep up my normal level of movement and "doing stuff" while listening to great books so it has been a marriage made in heaven.  But The Wager was easily my favorite as it (almost) made me want to join the 18th century era British Navy...almost.  Honorable mention to "Songs of Freedom" a memoir by Bono, which I found quite moving. 


My favorite films of the year include: Asteroid City, The Holdovers, and the Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.  My list is admittedly a bit heavy on Wes Anderson, but the Roald Dahl short films that he released via Netflix are just incredible.  Also, honorable mention to Barbie, Oppenheimer, Priscilla, and Napoleon. 

Favorite sporting moment of the year is easily Manchester City winning the Treble (Champions of the English Premiere League, the FA Cup, and the {long sought after} European Champion's League) back in June.

My favorite show of the year was seeing Boy Genius at the Asheville Civic Center.  It was extraordinary as Jessica and I danced, cried, laughed, and just rocked out all night.  Noah even waited in line for 8 hours to get on the third row.  Honorable mention to the Taylor Swift Eras tour in Atlanta and the Beths at the Orange Peel. 

Other personal highlights from this year include: Avery's playing soccer for NBHS, Noah attending NC Governor's School and going to Denmark, our big school trip to NYC, our Atlanta weekend for Taylor Swift, more trips to Winston-Salem to be with my Mom, our trips to Charleston, teaching (and coaching soccer) with some of my best friends, and Jessica and I celebrating 22 years.

I am grateful for the adventure and am most grateful for the people in my life (which is you, dear reader!).  Thanks for following along!










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Burrito Bracket

Eating a ginormous burrito at El Farolito in San Francisco, 2004 I LOVE burritos.  It is a passion that I share with my brother, and we actively seek out a quality burrito in almost every place we visit (Jessica is more of a Fish Taco kind of gal, but she enjoys burritos as well).  My love affair began around the age of 18, in the parking lots of Phish shows - where I could find any number of amazing burritos, cooked up on a dirty Coleman stove.  I just loved the explosion of flavor (and surprise) that came with each burrito I ate in those years. One of the the first times I visited Asheville for a few days in college, I came across Rio Burrito, a now defunct burrito-specific shop on Biltmore Avenue.  I went there all the time, and got to know all the nice folk who worked there.  So, I was quite disappointed when they shut it down - so much so that I wrote about it here.   But when Mamacitas opened in downtown Asheville in Spring 2004, I was smitten...
2 comments
Read more

Best of 2024

Ben Graham's 2024 Mixtape (The Best Songs of {mostly} 2024) Can You See Me Tonight  - Good Looks Misses - Domnic Fike Birdseed  - Merce Lemon Right Back to it - Waxahatchee Alien - Dehd When I Learned Your Name - Daniel Romano Away From the Castle  - Video Age One Bad Day - Spacey Jane That's What Time Does - Oso Oso Never Meant - Iron and Wine Big Blue - Hovvdy Deeper Well - Kacey Musgraves Where Were You - Tyler Ramsey Waiting and Waiting - Bonny Light Horseman She's Leaving You - MJ Lenderman Sexy to Someone - Clairo Stained Glass Window - Sunday 1994 Flowers - Real Estate Taste  - Sabrina Carpenter Run Your Mouth - Marias All I Ever Wanted  - Ivy LUNCH - Billie Eilish That's How I'm Feeling - Jack White Jerkin - Amyl & The Sniffers Burning (Live...Again) - War in Drugs Top Albums of 2024: Lived Here For a While  by Good Looks Poetry  by Dehd Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild  by Merce Lemon Tigers Blood  - Waxahatchee To...
Post a Comment
Read more

Im 30....seriously.

I am turning 30 today. So in the spirit of reflecting on these first 30 years of living, I am starting this blog. So, to begin - I shall update my status in life (this sounds complicated, so I will just try this in "list form."): Noah = greatest thing that ever happened to me. having a child was like an act of god, immediatly enacting a revolution on my perspective. Everyone tells you that " it is going to change everything." But I think I internalized that in a way that seemed to say ... things outside of me would change ie: schedules, sleeping, finaces, etc. Those things do change. But I did not accept that it would be ME that would go through the most profound changes. What I mean is, that the world itself has not shifted, but my view of that world (like Picasso in his Cubist period) has been transformed. It has been a traumatic shift for me, but in a beautiful way. Stop everything. "Icky Thump" by the White Stripes just came on the ipod. Sweet Jesus t...
1 comment
Read more