Year-End Roundup

Current Reading: Myths of the North American Indians, by Lewis Spence

Inspirational Quote: "...and what have you done? Another year over and a new one just begun..." -- So This is Christmas, by John Lennon.

My second annual year in review...

Entertainment:

Best Movie I've Seen: The Dark Knight. Ledger's performance is riveting, but it's the writing -- the characters, the story -- that held me gaping in my seat.
Worst: Transformers 2. Perhaps not that bad, but if you were to ask me to describe the plot, I'd have to throw up my hands and say, "Megan Fox?"
Shortest: The Time Traveler's Wife. Penelope and I took off for the movies and left Telemachus in charge. Five minutes into the film, just as the main characters meet, we get a phone call. Aeneas is upset, Cassandra's in tears and Telemachus is denying responsibility. We left. It turned out to be nothing (it usually is, but Penelope couldn't believe it until she saw for herself), which makes this also the most expensive popcorn I've ever bought.

Best Book I've Read: I haven't read as much as I should have this year. I blame stress (more on that below). I think I'd have to go with Watchmen, although repeated readings have dulled its edge a fair bit. And here I'm disqualifying Pratchett because I've read all his books before (several times). Second would be Lake's Escapement, though.

Best Song I've Heard: I'd go with Fireflies, by Owl City. Catchy tune, confusing lyrics, but a synthesis that results in a song that could be about anything. A neat sound. I'm still fond of Coldplay, especially Life In Technicolour II.
Worst: My kid's choice in music. My father used to be a sailor, but I think he'd blush at some of the words and combinations that are coming up in their songs. It's all about anger and shock, and little of it is about meaning. That said, Eminem's biographical raps are heart-wrenching at times. Also: "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus. Every time it comes on the radio, I change the station and hope that the world gets over its fascination with her sometime soon. I have no doubt that she'll grow into a fine musician someday, but first she has to learn to push herself and that lesson usually only comes as the result of failure. I haven't linked to any of the songs I didn't like because... well, because I didn't like them, and I'm petty like that.

Best Television Show I've Seen: Stargate: Universe.
Worst: Um... Heroes, I guess. I almost watched one episode this season, but couldn't make it past the first commercial break. Other than that, I don't watch much television.

News:

Best News I've Heard: The economy is rebounding, and economic Armageddon has been avoided yet again.

Worst News: Sheesh. Who can pick? Some days, a glance at the newspaper is enough to make a Care Bear suicidal.

Personal Stuff:

Best Thing that Happened: I took my sons white-water rafting on the Ottawa river. It was a perfect, sunny, warm day and the only mar to the event was Aeneas's ear infection. He hadn't bothered telling anyone he had one, and only brought it up when being dunked in the water several times caused it to inflame. He was a trooper though, and we all had a good time.
Worst: Nortel's bankruptcy. I wasn't one of the thousands who were let go with a few hours notice and no severance, but I knew many of them personally. Watching them lose their livelihood while wondering whether mine would vanish as well is an experience I would not wish on an enemy, let alone a friend. Then, hearing about the millions of dollars awarded to the executives who destroyed the company with their short-sightedness and greed, allowed me to start each work day bitter to the point of nausea.

Most Fun Thing I've Done: Watched my children grow up, still. In fact, I doubt anything's ever going to top it. My boys are teenagers now, wrestling with love and maturity and responsibility. Cassandra's five, and the only I know for sure about her future is that she's going to surprise me at every turn.
Least: Housework. I'm doing this instead of cleaning the bathroom... and believe me, someone NEEDS to clean the bathroom.

Most Surprising Occurrence: I've gathered 14 followers. My gosh. I can't tell you how flattered I am. Fourteen of you believe I might write something worth reading, and you believe it so strongly that you've committed to monitoring my output. Goodness. The pressure is enormous!

New Year's Resolution: To finish the new book, finish "final" (yeah right) edits on the Magnus Somnium, and begin querying agents.

Happy 2010, everyone. May God stand between you and harm in all the dark places you must go.