2023 in review

See previous year in review posts.

My view from the end of all things 2023:

Here’s what this year looked like for me:

• The overwhelming and overarching fact of my life this year was welcoming a second child in May. We’ve been living in the wake of that event ever since, for better (cuteness, brother silliness) or worse (his reflux and terrible sleep).
• On the professional front:
  • In January my job got reduced to half time with a day’s notice, so…
  • I had to pick up a second, full-time job to stay afloat. Worked not-great hours between both jobs for about two months, until…
  • My original job went back to full time. However…
  • After that experience I started looking hard for different job, and…
  • Finally got one, which I started in June and am very happy at.
• Enjoyed hangout times with friends and family
• Saw a shooting star at one of said hangout times
• Saw the Okee Dokee Brothers at Ravinia, and were first in line to get a vinyl signed and picture with the Bros
• Lots of fun stuff with the 4 year old, including:
  • Raised butterflies
  • Played Super Mario
  • Pondered bathtime
  • Spotted bugs
  • Fostered curiosity
  • Took him mini golfing for the first time
  • Many visits to the children’s museum and local pools
  • Went to a carnival and did a spinny ride for the first time
  • Took him to his first minor league baseball game and on the way out one of the parking attendants gave him a foul ball that had been hit out of the stadium
• Lots of fun stuff with Cinema Sugar:
  • Went to Groundhog Days in Woodstock, IL, for all things Groundhog Day
  • Shared my Back to the Future memorabilia
  • Wrote about when I started to love musicals
  • Pondered why I love movies so much
  • Interviewed composer James Newton Howard and The Family Stone writer/director Thomas Bezucha, among others
  • Was a guest on a podcast for the first time
• Celebrated 17 years blogging, which included:
  • keeping up my Recent Views, Media of the Moment, and Tools of the Moment series
  • offering or relaying some advice
  • snazzing up the post tags
• Did Halloween trick-or-treating in the snow with a fussy infant in tow but still managed to have a good time
• Got an electronic adjustable desk for my home office so I can work standing up or sitting down
• Read 15 books and watched 102 new movies
• Watched some good TV (Quarterback and Emergency NYC on Netflix) and great TV (The Bear)
• Added more quality discs to my collection, including the Back to the Future trilogy on Blu-ray, a Babylon SteelBook, and Criterion Blu-rays of Malcolm X, Summer Hours, Inside Llewyn Davis, and Sound of Metal