2007: The year in review

A look back at 2007. It's a list!


My favorite movie theater experience of 2007

I think this has to be Once. I had heard a bit about this modern musical before I saw it, and was totally enchanted as I sat in the theater and watched this compelling, charming, and complex story about music, love, and life unfold. It just completely surprised me. I loved, loved, loved it. There were a lot of great movies out this year and some of them I haven't seen yet, but as far as a movie-going experience, this one is the most
memorable for me.
Runners up: Juno, Waitress, Children of Men, Stardust (at Comic Con, with a Q&A by Neil Gaiman and Jane Goldman afterwards), Ratatouille


My favorite movie DVD rental of 2007

Night Watch was probably the one I talked up to other people the most. Another movie that I hadn't heard much about, this Russian fantasy was surprising and fresh, and only a little bit nonsensical.
Runners up: Slither, Idiocracy, Knocked Up


My favorite TV show on DVD of 2007

There were so, so many (thanks, Netflix!). I would have to say the one thing I rented that I've devoured more quickly than anything else was Dexter. To say that this show is dark would probably be an understatement, and yet there's something I adore about being able to root for a serial killer. The acting is perfect, the humor is bold, and while very disturbing the show also manages to be really likable.
Runners up: Big Love, Rome, Deadwood, and Weeds


My favorite album of 2007

Like pretty much every other list in America, I loved The Arcade Fire's Neon Bible. I had never really paid much attention to them, but that album made me stand up and cheer. Or, you know, rock out to a giant pipe organ.
Runners up: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Living with the Living, Modest Mouse We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, Au Revoir Simone The Bird of Music


My favorite meal of 2007

One night we went to dinner at Spread, my favorite vegetarian/vegan restaurant, and I had one of the best salads of my life so far.
Runners up: Salad Style (the Vegan, oh it is good), Lalo's Tacos, Amarin Thai for the lunch special, roasted beets (who knew that I liked beets?) that I made myself


My favorite book of 2007

This is a tough one, because I did a lot of reading. I was in a class where I read probably close to 100 young adult books, and then ever since graduation I've been reading for myself again. I think I should split this into two parts. Also, these were not necessarily published in 2007.

Favorite young adult book: A Brief Chapter in my Impossible Life by Dana Reinhardt. It's a great first novel that deals with religion, adoption, family and love. I enjoyed it a lot. Runners up: Life as We Knew it by Susan Beth Pfeffer, Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Favorite adult book: Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. A fairy tale, told well, combining African myth and a sort of modern madcap mysticism. I read it twice. Runners up: Stardust by Neil Gaiman, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, On Writing by Stephen King.


My favorite knitting project of 2007

I'd have to say my first sweater. I had never made a garment like this, knit in the round with shaping and you know, for myself to wear in public, and it turned out pretty darn well. Not without mistakes, of course, but I learned a lot and it cured me of my sweater fear.

Other favorite memories of 2007 include seeing a monkey riding a deer at the zoo, meeting up with librarian friends at Comic Con and listening to Neil Gaiman speak, reading the very last Harry Potter book out loud to my husband, becoming an aunt, finishing my Master's and getting scammed into attending a market research seminar. It was a good year, in a lot of ways.

Happy New Year, everyone. I hope 2008 brings you all joy, fun, and riches both tangible and invisible.