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
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