Farewell, 2011. BRING IT, 2012!
A few highlights; no surprises here, I'd say. :)
1. "...but you dare not dream about it, you dare not dream. Sometimes to dream it, you think, almost, you kill the dream by trying to conceive it in your imagination." (source)
After a quick review of my 2011 posts, it's pretty clear this has been the year of Hiddleston: it started around my birthday when I first saw Thor and... went on enthusiastically from there, shall we say. :)
Tom is a delight on Twitter and in interviews/photoshoots, and I've enjoyed his work in everything I've seen so far. Loki is everything I could possibly want in a character, brought to life in a perfect performance. In Midnight in Paris, he made F. Scott Fitzgerald distinctive and legendary, yet he played the easy-to-caricature persona as a person, in a way that felt organic and true. I've yet to see The Deep Blue Sea and War Horse, but I suspect both will shatter me with their respective brands of heartbreak. And I can't wait for The Avengers next May. *explodes in fangirly confetti*
2. "Oh, someone taught your walls to talk / but if they ask me, I ain't heard a thing" (source)
I've been listening to Dessa's songs off and on for a while without paying much attention to the artist, but this year I finally bought all three of her albums, gave them a dedicated listen, and fell HARD. She set the place on fire at Joe's Pub earlier this year; if you ever get a chance to see her live, do yourself a favor and go for it. Dessa delivers poetic hip hop, stunning imagery in lyrics, beautiful vocals, and intelligent storytelling, all wrapped up in uplifting energy that is at once raw and sophisticated; her work may be classified as entertainment, but I always experience it as art. Many of her songs could make GREAT vids (check out The Bullpen, Children's Work, Mineshaft II, or Matches to Paper Dolls and tell me which fandom they remind you of), but many also feel too specific to have their narrative re-purposed in such a way. And her music is fiercely feminist - a true find in the genre.
Also, she's hella hot. #shallow
3. "Not every ex-soldier meets a reclusive billionaire." (source)
Coming in hot at the tail end of 2011, POI is my newest fandom: a TV show I really didn't expect to like, and yet I haven't been this invested in the pairing (and this creeped out/intrigued by the premise) since SGA. It's pretty safe to say you'll be seeing more about POI on this LJ; I have a draft of a post about Finch that seriously needs to be cut down to readable size, plus a fanmix, plus a list of fic recs... yeah. The show returns January 12 on CBS; I'll try to get all these posts out by then. I DON'T EVEN KNOW, YOU GUYS, BUT I KINDA LOVE THEM A LOT. ♥
Other things I've enjoyed this year:
- Some great theater: Stick Fly (what August: Osage County failed to be, this play brought in full force - LOVED IT); Cymbeline (fantastic, joyous production!); Seminar (imperfect, but oh, what amazing performances and a terrific part for Rickman); War Horse (stunning - also, complete sobfest); The Normal Heart (ditto & LOVED the cast); Arcadia (such a great play ♥, even if the production wasn't great); and saving the best for last, SLEEP NO MORE (the immersive theatre experience I cannot recommend strongly enough & hope to see for the third time in February).
- Some other fun events: The Scissor Sisters Q&A/short performance, inevitably enriched by the presence of fangirls ready to GET UP AND DANCE; Raja's drag show in a club in NYC, only weeks before she was announced as the RPDR S3 winner; McQueen exhibit at the Met (dreamy and gorgeous and yes, problematic); the NY Comic-Con (one day only, but I got to see all the panels/screenings and hang out with some awesome people); Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Halloween bash in NYC; Laura Marling's very short but enchanting show earlier this month; Neil Gaiman's talk for the 10th anniversary of American Gods... and others I can't remember at the moment. Wow, I've been busy!
- Meeting several ladies I've only encountered via social media in the past, and discovering that they are, indeed, just as fabulous in person. ♥ ♥ ♥
- Continuing to ♥ Adam (new album in March!!! YAY!!!!!) and Tommy (best side projects EVER)
- Enjoying Southland, Justified, The Good Wife, Haven, Fringe, Community; looking forward to White Collar, Suits, House, True Blood, Leverage, Doctor Who, Downton Abbey... oh, and there's also BBC's Sherlock. New eps this week! \o/
Overall, it's been a pretty great year! 2012 has some seriously impressive heights to reach, but I have faith (and also The Avengers trailer, heh). No matter what it brings, I'm deeply thankful that I will have many wonderful people in my life to share those moments. Fandom, ILU. ♥
1. "...but you dare not dream about it, you dare not dream. Sometimes to dream it, you think, almost, you kill the dream by trying to conceive it in your imagination." (source)
After a quick review of my 2011 posts, it's pretty clear this has been the year of Hiddleston: it started around my birthday when I first saw Thor and... went on enthusiastically from there, shall we say. :)
Tom is a delight on Twitter and in interviews/photoshoots, and I've enjoyed his work in everything I've seen so far. Loki is everything I could possibly want in a character, brought to life in a perfect performance. In Midnight in Paris, he made F. Scott Fitzgerald distinctive and legendary, yet he played the easy-to-caricature persona as a person, in a way that felt organic and true. I've yet to see The Deep Blue Sea and War Horse, but I suspect both will shatter me with their respective brands of heartbreak. And I can't wait for The Avengers next May. *explodes in fangirly confetti*
2. "Oh, someone taught your walls to talk / but if they ask me, I ain't heard a thing" (source)
I've been listening to Dessa's songs off and on for a while without paying much attention to the artist, but this year I finally bought all three of her albums, gave them a dedicated listen, and fell HARD. She set the place on fire at Joe's Pub earlier this year; if you ever get a chance to see her live, do yourself a favor and go for it. Dessa delivers poetic hip hop, stunning imagery in lyrics, beautiful vocals, and intelligent storytelling, all wrapped up in uplifting energy that is at once raw and sophisticated; her work may be classified as entertainment, but I always experience it as art. Many of her songs could make GREAT vids (check out The Bullpen, Children's Work, Mineshaft II, or Matches to Paper Dolls and tell me which fandom they remind you of), but many also feel too specific to have their narrative re-purposed in such a way. And her music is fiercely feminist - a true find in the genre.
Also, she's hella hot. #shallow
3. "Not every ex-soldier meets a reclusive billionaire." (source)
Coming in hot at the tail end of 2011, POI is my newest fandom: a TV show I really didn't expect to like, and yet I haven't been this invested in the pairing (and this creeped out/intrigued by the premise) since SGA. It's pretty safe to say you'll be seeing more about POI on this LJ; I have a draft of a post about Finch that seriously needs to be cut down to readable size, plus a fanmix, plus a list of fic recs... yeah. The show returns January 12 on CBS; I'll try to get all these posts out by then. I DON'T EVEN KNOW, YOU GUYS, BUT I KINDA LOVE THEM A LOT. ♥
Other things I've enjoyed this year:
- Some great theater: Stick Fly (what August: Osage County failed to be, this play brought in full force - LOVED IT); Cymbeline (fantastic, joyous production!); Seminar (imperfect, but oh, what amazing performances and a terrific part for Rickman); War Horse (stunning - also, complete sobfest); The Normal Heart (ditto & LOVED the cast); Arcadia (such a great play ♥, even if the production wasn't great); and saving the best for last, SLEEP NO MORE (the immersive theatre experience I cannot recommend strongly enough & hope to see for the third time in February).
- Some other fun events: The Scissor Sisters Q&A/short performance, inevitably enriched by the presence of fangirls ready to GET UP AND DANCE; Raja's drag show in a club in NYC, only weeks before she was announced as the RPDR S3 winner; McQueen exhibit at the Met (dreamy and gorgeous and yes, problematic); the NY Comic-Con (one day only, but I got to see all the panels/screenings and hang out with some awesome people); Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Halloween bash in NYC; Laura Marling's very short but enchanting show earlier this month; Neil Gaiman's talk for the 10th anniversary of American Gods... and others I can't remember at the moment. Wow, I've been busy!
- Meeting several ladies I've only encountered via social media in the past, and discovering that they are, indeed, just as fabulous in person. ♥ ♥ ♥
- Continuing to ♥ Adam (new album in March!!! YAY!!!!!) and Tommy (best side projects EVER)
- Enjoying Southland, Justified, The Good Wife, Haven, Fringe, Community; looking forward to White Collar, Suits, House, True Blood, Leverage, Doctor Who, Downton Abbey... oh, and there's also BBC's Sherlock. New eps this week! \o/
Overall, it's been a pretty great year! 2012 has some seriously impressive heights to reach, but I have faith (and also The Avengers trailer, heh). No matter what it brings, I'm deeply thankful that I will have many wonderful people in my life to share those moments. Fandom, ILU. ♥