There is a blog project going on now called the The Best of 2009 Blog Challenge. It’s cool. There are prompts, one for each day in December, and hundreds of bloggers all over the world are responding to them – creating hundreds of “best of” lists for 2009. I have not been doing it. (I laughed typing that. Like maybe you’d think I was doing it, and you’d be scratching your head going, “j’s best list is very unclear, and stupid.”)
But now, suddenly, I’m interested – mostly because it’s the first time I’ve actually had a minute to check out the project. Since we’re already so far into December, I’m going to do mine in list form. I’ll do the prompts for the first 10 days now, then later, ten more, and then at the end of December, the last eleven. You play too, okay? I am actually far more interested in your lists than mine, but I will kick things off. Here goes…
My bests of 2009 so far…
- Best trip. Definitely that tiny little camping trip at the end of the summer when we realized we couldn’t stand the thought of a whole year without a vacation. It was spur of the moment and almost everything went wrong, but it was also incredible and moving for reasons I never did blog about, but will. Remind me; it’s cool. In the meantime, for those who weren’t reading me in the summer (or those who like reruns), I did get this post out of it: What I Didn’t Google on Vacation
- Restaurant moment. During the summer, I went out to dinner with The Boy. Just me and him. We’ve gone out together before, but never for dinner. We sat outside at an Italian restaurant. We watched people go by and listened to music being played in the amphitheater across the street. We engaged the waitress in a discussion of the best way to run off without paying the bill. We had a blast. We did pay the bill… we so need to do it again.
- Article. What Makes Us Happy by Joshua Wolf Shenk in the Atlantic. It’s long, but it’s fascinating.
- Book. I’m going to have to go with The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, by Michael Chabon. (And no one is surprised by that.)
- Night out. This one’s hard because I don’t get out much. (I laughed typing that too, though sadly, it’s true.) That said, tonight I went out with my amazing, wonderful friend (JB when she comments here) to see Where The Wild Things Are. Wow – the movie, the coffee afterward, the hour and a half gabbing in her car after they kicked us out of the coffee shop, all wonderful and soul-filling and worthy of making my best of list. So here it is.
- Workshop or Conference. I’m going to cheat on this one and say the Artist’s Way, even though I didn’t attend a workshop or conference (though there are such things). I’m doing the 12-week creative recovery program on my own. I’ve blogged about it before, though not nearly as much as I would have liked. Sometimes I feel a little like a zealot when it comes to this book. I picked it up because, over the years, many writers have recommended it, and this year feeling adrift and uncertain, I was drawn to the idea of a “recovery.” I will be finishing it in the next couple of weeks, and I’ll write about the experience, but for now… definitely a best of 2009.
- Blog find of the year. This one is hard. I’ve been blogging, and active in the blogging world, for about a year, so almost every amazing blog I’ve found, I found in 2009. I guess I’ll point you in the direction of my blog rolls. (And when you answer this question, don’t say Zebra Sounds. We’ll just all agree to let me believe it’s your favorite, but I’m hoping you guys will turn me on to some stuff I haven’t found yet. Think of this as “the best blog I want to recommend to j.” Unless I’m the only blog you read. And if that’s the case, I love you even more than I did before you told me that.)
- Moment of peace. I cannot think of a single best 2009 moment of peace, but I did discover yoga this year and I think that is as close as I come to “peace.” I’m actually okay with that.
- Challenge. My biggest 2009 challenge? Nano. No doubt about it. November was insane – I’ve never written so hard for so many days in my life. It left me exhausted, out of touch, massively behind, and in terrible need of a shower… and I already want to do it again. I need my head examined.
- Album. I didn’t buy many albums this year, but another wonderful friend (Tall Pajama Man to you) introduced me to Ottmar Libert’s Barcelona Nights, and I LOVE it. I play it all the time because it takes my breath away (and also there are no lyrics, so I can write to it.) Here’s a taste.
Okay, there you have it. J’s first ten “Bests of 2009.” I’d love if you did yours, and if not all ten, just pick one or however many come easily to you. Come on and play with me. You’re good at that. :-)
Wild
Thank you for permission to just answer a few….running on too little sleep to answer them all…
1-My daughter took me to the Botanical Gardens for my birthday [heaven]
5-The bridge project in Cleveland…it took place in an underground passage that used to be subway tunnels…jugglers, live music and performing artists of all kinds. Definitely an awesome evening
7- you can smack me with a wet noodle…
….. ZEBRASOUNDS
[also liked finding the #fridayflash group through Jon Strother] but Zs is the cat’s pajamas
8- Moment of peace? Daily
[this leads into the next answer]
9-Right up until nano….since then I’ve been broken
10-Gotta be Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Greatest Hits
[or the Rat Pack Christmas...which I have on right now in the background...but that's not all that cool a choice to tell to all you cats and kittens]
When I read your posts on 1 and 5, I wished I’d been there, so yeah. Excellent choices! 7… HUGS! “I’ve been broken” made me laugh. Oooo, Stevie Ray Vaughan. I will definitely check that one out.
And I know at least one cat who is going to love your Rat Pack Christmas suggestion.
would that be TpjM?
Karen, Probably TPM too, but I was thinking of Bobby. Hopefully they will both weigh in.
7. Of course Zebra Sounds & First Pages! I’m afraid that my blog list would otherwise be food blogs. Can’t wait to see your next 10.
Dani, Thank you! You’re so sweet. (I don’t care how much you profess otherwise.)
OK.
1. Best Trip — We surprised the kids and took them to an amusement park nearby for a couple of days right before school started because we hadn’t done anything all year. It was fun just waking them up that morning and putting them in the car — seeing the excitement on their faces when we told them where we were going.
2. Restaurant Moment — We went with friends to a place downtown. It was fun just being with them and walking around.
3. Article — Usually all the articles I read are about autism — I should change that.
4. Book — I bought a book of Flannery O’Connor collections — it was good remembering how much I like her.
5. Night Out — Well, I think there’s only been 2 or 3 this year, so they all were the best.
6. Workshop — Again, they all pertain to autism. But, my favorite was Scott Bellini.
7. Blog Find of the Year — duh, this one.
8. Moment of peace — hmmm, I’ll have to get back to you on this one.
9. Challenge — Well, besides the whole year — I’d say right now NY2010!
10. Album — Brandi Carlile
Ok — that’s about it. I do better with the next top 10.
Becky, I like that your best trip was motivated by the same last-chance-to-vacation panic that ours was! Yes! NY2010! Yay!
I will check out Brandi Carlile.
To clarify why I’ve been away so long, and combine it with item #1, best trip, I’ll tell you that after seeing your “Caption This” with the ring tailed lemurs, I just had to travel to Madagascar to find out what the heck they were all looking at. It was simply amazing, what they saw! Well worth it. Definitely the best trip this year.
kid
Allrighty-then J-stress. I gotta work on this a bit to make it worthy.
I shall return!
George “MacArthur” Angus
George, I was hoping you’d play. Suggest me a blog, baby.
J,
Oh, a fav is Alex over at Reality Unleashed. Do you know him? His comment replies are a riot, and his posts are worthy of inscription onto stone tablets. Serious.
Still reflecting on 2009. it has been… well, interesting.
George
I can’t play this game and here is why:
1. sent me to your old post, which , in turn, sent me to more old posts, and next thing you know a whole hour went by.
3. Had me reading an entire article on What makes me happy.
4. Had me stop and go out and buy and read the entire novel of The Yiddish Policemen’s Union. (there might have been a slight exaggeration)
10. Had me spend 3:37 minutes listening to music.
The only number I can play is 7. Your blog. I’ve also decided to change your name (I hope you don’t mind) to J-Hi. J-Lo is too low for you. So I came up with J-Hi. Not as in J is high but as in Your Highness. So I declare the blog find of the year is J-Hi’s.
Tricia, #1 makes me love you all the more, but #7 is going to make me seriously impossible to live with the rest of the day. Have to see if I can fit my enormous head through the door to do some Xmas shopping!
Glad you decided to jump in, Judy! It has been a seriously fun month. If you decide you want to read some more of the posts, there’s an aggregate of them on Delicious: http://delicious.com/gwenbell/%23best09 (and am adding yours now). Happy end of yearing.
Thanks Gwen! I have been reading them when I get a chance. I love the look back, before leaping forward. :-)