Reminiscences of 2017- Certainly not a recap post

I was just thinking about the past the other day, taking a little stroll down memory lane, remembering all the things I did back in the year 2017. Do you recall the year of which I speak?

I know what you’re thinking. “Ah, I see,” you’re saying to yourself. “She was too lazy to do a yearly recap post at the end of the year like a normal person, so now she’s doing it LATE.”

To that I say HA! And no. I am not writing a late recap post.

I am simply reminiscing about the dear old days gone by. That is all. I was just thinking about some of the things I did that far, distant year and thought I would share them with you.

Books

Note: I am allergic to the whole concept of choosing a single favorite. My symptoms include increased heart rate, hyperventilating, running in the opposite direction, and strangled screaming. But here are SOME favorites PLURAL, in no particular order, that I read in 2017:

Christopher Banks, orphaned at age 9, is all grown up and a detecitive now, ready to go find his missing parents! Excpet this is Ishiguro, who doesn’t know the meaning of the words “happy ending,” so we should all be very concerned.

Time thieves and storytelling and a magic turtle. Overall a refreshingly unique fairy tale-ish story.

Aron, my dear sweet child. Such incredible writing and so many TEARS.

Arcady needs a hug, but if you try to give him one he will probably punch you. He doesn’t really understand the concept of hugs.

Beautiful writing, beautiful illustrations, and Conor is a sweet suffering child who needs a hug.

Let’s read a book about a boy who is raised by ghosts because his family was brutally murdered when he was a baby. What fun!

Caden is schizophrenic and needs help. His perspective is fascinating.

Auggie is sweet and loveable, no matter what his face looks like and huzzah for sibling relationships!

SO STRESSFUL. But we love you, Joe. Please don’t die.

Lazlo is a librarian which is lovely, and the writing is lovely, and the plot and the world are both well built, but do we really need five straight pages of kissing?? I think not.

Alien invasion, but no explosions or teens trying to save the world! It’s more about the real life, economical implications of an alien invasion…. Trust me; it’s more interesting than it sounds.

Doug is salty and hilarious and also really just needs a hug sometimes though he probably won’t admit it.

So much pain for Aza, she named her car Harold (bless her heart), who the heck leaves their fortune to their LIZARD instead of their KIDS, and someone please give Noah a hug.

Conclusion? Everyone needs hugs.

Music

By which I mean BROADWAY CAST RECORDINGS:

So many lovable, quirky characters. Excellent music.

EVAN. Let me give you a hug.

I’ve been waiting for this ALL MY LIFE. The new songs are glorious and so is Ramin Karimloo.

Corey Cott’s voice is FLAWLESS. 1940s style music that makes you want to dance (or cry in the case of “Welcome Home”).

Usnavi is such an awkward dork. Full of lyrical genius like: “See the twisty thing is broken”

Writing

This was quite a good year for writing. I actually FINISHED the first draft of a book. A very short book, mind you, but a book nonetheless.

It’s about chess and sandwiches and Beach Boys and it needs severe editing, but I still manage to love it.

And then I wrote ANOTHER book. And a SECOND DRAFT.

In case you’re wondering what it’s about, I will tell you it is saved on my computer as “Untitled story about kid with issues (Ha ha. That is basically EVERY STORY I’VE EVER WRITTEN)”. So now I’m sure everything is clear to you.

Other Things

At first I titled this section “Life,” but then I realized that was a silly thing to call it because books and music are writing are life and I’ve already covered those.

So what else did I do?

I went to NYC which was CRAZY. I got to see my sister’s choir sing at Carnegie hall AND I got to see BROADWAY SHOWS. My Playbills are my most prized possessions.

 

 

But was my theater-viewing over for the year? No indeed! After that I went to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and got to see Beauty and the Beast, which is not Shakespeare (as my sister keeps pointing out), but is one of my favorite musicals. I also got to see Henry IV part one, which is Shakespeare and which I thought was going to be incredibly boring. BUT IT WAS AMAZING. I had withdrawals for the next two weeks.

 

(I’m guessing you can tell which pictures are from which show)

Did I do anything else in 2017??

It’s so long ago I can’t even remember.

Thus I shall conclude my reminiscing.

 

Do you recall that long past year 2017, or is it beyond memory? Did you have a favorite book, or are you as allergic to picking a favorite as I am? Have you ever been to NYC or OSF? Are you shocked that I actually did other things besides reading and writing (because I am)?

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