2015 in review (not books)
Books:
Well, the reading of traditionally published fiction and non-fiction was not great. Librarything.com tells me that I read 42 books, including DNFs. Favorite was The Martian. Actually, I think I need to up the count to 43, because Taylor Fitzpatrick's You Could Make A Life was self-published in December; I originally read it as original hockey-fic and participated in her Kickstarter.
Movies:
I'm blanking here, because I know I saw more than two (or maybe I just *meant* to see more than two but didn't make it to the theater in time:
The Martian - really well done, I enjoyed it but for the very ending, which was very much a movie-wrap-up-ending...but the book was even better.
Red Army - I saw this when it came out at an indie theater, and much of the audience was Russian. I felt kind of ambivalent about the narrator's interactions with Fetisov. And, later, when he announced that he wanted to block Russian hockey players from going to the NHL until they were 28, I had to roll my eyes. My friend, Marina, who is from Russia, gave me an earful about the film. (Her father was a sports official in Moscow, and one of her earliest memories is of getting dolled up for the Olympic parade, so I feel like she has an interesting perspective on the Russian sports machine even if she was not an athlete.)
Television:
Great British Bake Off -- really enjoyed the two series that were aired on PBS, which seemed much more collegial than cooking competitions on FoodNetwork.
Major Crimes (still)
All the hockey
I've pretty much stopped watching professional football. I'll occasionally watch baseball but I like the radio broadcast better; I think visually TV just doesn't do baseball justice.
Theater and music:
January 3 - The Temptest @ Shakespeare Theater Co.
February 7 - Dunsinane @STC. (Really liked this play.)
February 22 - Metromaniacs @STC
April 11 - Man of La Mancha @ STC
July 5 - Tartuffe @ STC
July 19 - Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike @ Goodman Theatre (Chicago) - I liked this version better than the Broadway version I saw a couple of years ago.
October 5 - Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls with Skinny Lister, Beans on Toast - at Rams Head Live
October 6 - Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls, et al. at the 930 Club
October 10 - Salome @ STC (Reviewers loved this adaptation; I did not.)
November 27 - Improvised Shakespeare Co (The Jeweler's Daughter) in Chicago
December 5 - Kiss Me, Kate @ STC (I forget how much this play irritates me until I'm in the audience.)
December 6 - Notes from the Field: Doing Time in Education (Anna Deveare Smith) - Center Stage
Museums:
Heinz History Museum
Air & Space Museum
Shedd Aquarium
Andy Warhol Museum
Sports:
Okay, look, as I mentioned last year, I blame
asimplechord for the hockey portion of this, which is...most of this section.
January 28 - Penguins @ Capitals
February 21 - Islanders @ Capitals
February 25 - Penguins @ Capitals
March 14 - Bruins @ Penguins (Crosby out, Malkin injured in 1st)
March 15 - Red Wings @ Penguins (second game of back to back, Malkin out)
March 28 - Predators @ Capitals (no Shea Weber, no James Neal - Preds fans were disappointed)
April 10 - Islanders @ Penguins (final home game of the season)
April 22 - Rangers @ Penguins (game 4, first round of playoffs)
April 27 - Islanders @ Capitals (game 7, first round of playoffs; day of riots in Baltimore, which I did not know about until calls/texts during the game)
May 25 - Houston Astros @ Baltimore Orioles
June 13 - Pin Stripes @ Baltimore Orioles
August 2 - Detroit Tigers @ Baltimore Orioles
October 13 - Sharks @ Capitals
October 28 - Penguins @ Capitals (the Pens beat a Metro team! that seldom happens!)
November 19 - Stars @ Capitals -- Ovechkin scored goal #484 to become the highest scoring Russian in the NHL
November 21 - Sharks @ Penguins
November 28 - San Antonio Rampage @ Chicago Wolves (AHL)
December 18 - Bruins @ Penguins
December 19 - Hurricanes @ Penguins (bb goalie Matt Murray's debut!)
December 26 - Montreal @ Capitals (no Price, no Gallagher)
Travel:
Pittsburgh (March, April, November, December)
Chicago (July, November)
Rehoboth Beach (September)
That looks like a lot of travel, but Pittsburgh visits were daytrips or a single overnight, while Chicago was with family. I had tentatively planned on going to Turkey but suicide bombers in tourist areas put me off early on, and the escalation of everything in Syria and Turkey's involvement has put that on hold.
Goals for 2016 (mostly the same as for 2016):
Read more.
Write more.
Move my GK fic to AO3 and delete that LJ account.
Figure out professional goals; I feel like I've topped out in my job, and although I like it, I don't want to stay too long because I'm comfortable. I did that in my old job and then had a hard time shifting gears. I think this is going to be a problem, because management has put the kibosh on details and is trying to block anyone leaving/moving internally.
Travel more to new-to-me places.
Well, the reading of traditionally published fiction and non-fiction was not great. Librarything.com tells me that I read 42 books, including DNFs. Favorite was The Martian. Actually, I think I need to up the count to 43, because Taylor Fitzpatrick's You Could Make A Life was self-published in December; I originally read it as original hockey-fic and participated in her Kickstarter.
Movies:
I'm blanking here, because I know I saw more than two (or maybe I just *meant* to see more than two but didn't make it to the theater in time:
The Martian - really well done, I enjoyed it but for the very ending, which was very much a movie-wrap-up-ending...but the book was even better.
Red Army - I saw this when it came out at an indie theater, and much of the audience was Russian. I felt kind of ambivalent about the narrator's interactions with Fetisov. And, later, when he announced that he wanted to block Russian hockey players from going to the NHL until they were 28, I had to roll my eyes. My friend, Marina, who is from Russia, gave me an earful about the film. (Her father was a sports official in Moscow, and one of her earliest memories is of getting dolled up for the Olympic parade, so I feel like she has an interesting perspective on the Russian sports machine even if she was not an athlete.)
Television:
Great British Bake Off -- really enjoyed the two series that were aired on PBS, which seemed much more collegial than cooking competitions on FoodNetwork.
Major Crimes (still)
All the hockey
I've pretty much stopped watching professional football. I'll occasionally watch baseball but I like the radio broadcast better; I think visually TV just doesn't do baseball justice.
Theater and music:
January 3 - The Temptest @ Shakespeare Theater Co.
February 7 - Dunsinane @STC. (Really liked this play.)
February 22 - Metromaniacs @STC
April 11 - Man of La Mancha @ STC
July 5 - Tartuffe @ STC
July 19 - Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike @ Goodman Theatre (Chicago) - I liked this version better than the Broadway version I saw a couple of years ago.
October 5 - Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls with Skinny Lister, Beans on Toast - at Rams Head Live
October 6 - Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls, et al. at the 930 Club
October 10 - Salome @ STC (Reviewers loved this adaptation; I did not.)
November 27 - Improvised Shakespeare Co (The Jeweler's Daughter) in Chicago
December 5 - Kiss Me, Kate @ STC (I forget how much this play irritates me until I'm in the audience.)
December 6 - Notes from the Field: Doing Time in Education (Anna Deveare Smith) - Center Stage
Museums:
Heinz History Museum
Air & Space Museum
Shedd Aquarium
Andy Warhol Museum
Sports:
Okay, look, as I mentioned last year, I blame
asimplechord for the hockey portion of this, which is...most of this section.
January 28 - Penguins @ Capitals
February 21 - Islanders @ Capitals
February 25 - Penguins @ Capitals
March 14 - Bruins @ Penguins (Crosby out, Malkin injured in 1st)
March 15 - Red Wings @ Penguins (second game of back to back, Malkin out)
March 28 - Predators @ Capitals (no Shea Weber, no James Neal - Preds fans were disappointed)
April 10 - Islanders @ Penguins (final home game of the season)
April 22 - Rangers @ Penguins (game 4, first round of playoffs)
April 27 - Islanders @ Capitals (game 7, first round of playoffs; day of riots in Baltimore, which I did not know about until calls/texts during the game)
May 25 - Houston Astros @ Baltimore Orioles
June 13 - Pin Stripes @ Baltimore Orioles
August 2 - Detroit Tigers @ Baltimore Orioles
October 13 - Sharks @ Capitals
October 28 - Penguins @ Capitals (the Pens beat a Metro team! that seldom happens!)
November 19 - Stars @ Capitals -- Ovechkin scored goal #484 to become the highest scoring Russian in the NHL
November 21 - Sharks @ Penguins
November 28 - San Antonio Rampage @ Chicago Wolves (AHL)
December 18 - Bruins @ Penguins
December 19 - Hurricanes @ Penguins (bb goalie Matt Murray's debut!)
December 26 - Montreal @ Capitals (no Price, no Gallagher)
Travel:
Pittsburgh (March, April, November, December)
Chicago (July, November)
Rehoboth Beach (September)
That looks like a lot of travel, but Pittsburgh visits were daytrips or a single overnight, while Chicago was with family. I had tentatively planned on going to Turkey but suicide bombers in tourist areas put me off early on, and the escalation of everything in Syria and Turkey's involvement has put that on hold.
Goals for 2016 (mostly the same as for 2016):
Read more.
Write more.
Move my GK fic to AO3 and delete that LJ account.
Figure out professional goals; I feel like I've topped out in my job, and although I like it, I don't want to stay too long because I'm comfortable. I did that in my old job and then had a hard time shifting gears. I think this is going to be a problem, because management has put the kibosh on details and is trying to block anyone leaving/moving internally.
Travel more to new-to-me places.
- Toronto for World Cup of Hockey (yes, I have tickets).
- Indian Wells!
- Probably Pittsburgh at some point in the spring, and then maybe Nashville or a NJ/NY/NY trek for a weekend in the fall.