2015 was a good year. It was a year I was able to have a successful long-term weekly biblestudy with two other guys. It was a year we proved we could function easily without owning a car(and then bought one anyways) It was a year of building new relationships, and strengthening old ones.
I attended many concerts this year, but some of my favorite were from WOMFest. This small underground series of house shows was a great way to see local music, and meet new people. The warm summer nights with a late setting sun made for great atmosphere, and all the bands that played were phenomenal. Because it’s nature(WordOfMouth fest) it’s a hard event to track down, but I really hope I can attend again in 2016.
2015 we went halfway through without a car. In September of 2014 we sold our car and committed to biking, public transit, and car-sharing options we had available to us. For the most part, it was a lot easier then I was expecting. We both had to commit up front by buying paniers and bike gear to bike in wet weather, and lights for biking after dark. We used ZipCar about once a month for errands where we needed a car. One of the unexpected issues we had was we were much less likely to go on day hikes. We did a long term rental for some camping trips, but using ZipCar for a whole day to drive out somewhere for an afternoon hike can get expensive quickly. This meant outside of in-city hikes(which there are actually quite a lot of) we stopped going on hikes. At last, we bought a new Jeep which we loving called Marceline the Vampire queen. This Jeep isn’t great for gas mileage, and the stereo leaves a lot to be desired, but it has been a good vehicle for driving into the mountains for spending some time in the outdoors.
We ended up using Marceline to drive up to Olympic National Park where we did our second-ever backpacking trip. We got to reunite with old friends, and introduce new ones to the joy of backpacking. We did other camping this year, including a really cool site over Memorial Day weekend in an area of Mt Hood that had nobody else around. We were able to take my mother-in-law on her first camping trip to a beachside campground that had perfect summer camping weather. We also got to take our new Jeep on a trip down to Crater Lake for the car free rim-ride. It was a long warm summer, and we got a lot in when we could.
It was a really good year also for movies. There were several I really wanted to watch, but even without that I had a hard time coming up with a top 10. Keeping with my standard format, I don’t order a top ten, I just present you my favorite ten movies. This year is a little different in that, my #1 pick is very much my favorite movie of the year. Rarely do I watch movies twice, even more rare twice while they’re in the theater.
*) Dope – If you’ve followed me for very long, you know I love coming of age films. This one by Rick Famuyiwa is no exception.
*) Ex Machina – The first of 4 sci-fi movies that make this list, Ex Machina is one I continually re-think. It is a story of complexity that I wrote off at first, but the longer I thought about it the more meaning I took from it.
*) Kumiko the Treasure Hunter – This movie is fascinating. A movie about a girl who travels from Japan to Fargo, ND in search of the buried treasure from the Coen brothers film of the same name, this movie sounds like a tale of whimsy and adventure. It ended up being a film about loneliness, our need to fit in, and finding meaning.
*) Slow West – Westerns are making a slow comeback over the years. Michael Fassbender has a great, commanding presence in this movie and the scenery is a beautiful setting for a western.
*) The Martian – Second Sci-Fi movie, and this one is another one I hope to re-watch soon. I love space, movies about space, the idea of exploring space – basically all things space. I hope this movie not only inspires Hollywood to give us more realistic movies in space, I hope this movie inspires a new generation of people who want to explore space themselves. The likes of NASA, and SpaceX won’t continue without the continued interest of new generations to fuel them.
*) Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Enough has been written on this movie I won’t add any more.
*) Woman in Gold – Even though I find Nazi films usually hard to handle, there are two on this list. They are both unique takes on that “genre?” this one being a mix of flashback and legal drama around getting a famous painting from the Austrian government
*) It Follows – I wish I could have seen some other horror films this year, but I’m really glad this is one I did get to see. What a fascinating, original take on a traditional idea but taken to the next level.
*) Phoenix – Another film set around a Nazi story, this takes place after the war is over. The premise is one that would be hard to pull off, but the cast does an amazing job.
LEGIT #1 Mad Max: Fury Road – Saw this movie twice in theaters, and I want to watch it again. Not a dull moment, and so many surprises around every corner. The visuals, the sound, THE STUNTS, the amazing action filled story that somehow took a car chase and turned it into an amazing movie.
Some other movies I saw this year worth mentioning that weren’t released in 2015.
*) Battered Bastards of Baseball – When I saw this movie, little did I know what a year my hometown KC Royals would have. This movie sort of kick started an interest in baseball.
*) Grizzly Man – As an avid lover of the outdoors, and one who isn’t pro-hunting, this movie had a lot that resonated with me.
At the start of 2015 I set a goal for myself to read more non-fiction. As I look back at all the books I read, there wasn’t a lot of them. Outside that, the sci-fi/fantasy book club i’m in took up a large chunk of my reading.
*) Essentialism – My pastor recommended this book several times as a good read on eliminating the useless from your life and focusing on what really matters. I have a tendency to always jump at the new and shiny, and not stick with what I’ve already started
*) You’re never weird on the internet(almost) – I’ve been a big fan of Felicia Day from the early days of The Guild, and this is a honest, funny biography about her life growing up homeschooled(like me!) and becoming the head of a large nerd kingdom.
*) Girl in Landscape – Of all the Sci-fi/Fantasy books I read in 2015, this one really stuck with me. I’m a big fan of any artist, be it movies, tv, books, whatever, that use great themes(in this example, the idea of a young woman moving to a new planet) to tell a story that transcends those themes(relationships, adolescence)
To make up for my lack of non-fiction books, I read a lot of graphic novels.
*) Lumberjanes – I had heard a lot about this book and finally got to read some of it. I love the art, I love the characters, I love the story, I love this book
*) Complete Maus – (Again, more Nazi stories) This book almost transcends the typical idea of a graphic novel into full blown required-reading in school lit. Much like Girl In Landscape, the author is using the idea of anthropomorphizing characters during WWII and the Nazi occupation, builds a real sense of dread and fear.
* ) Y: The last man – I wrapped this series up this year. I really liked how this series started, and as we got to know the characters I loved their relationships that came about and the adventures they would go on. I did feel like the end of the series didn’t work for me. What was a great ride had a really hard time coming down, and trying to wrap up various plots didn’t really leave me satisfied
*) Ms Marvel – A new series I started this year. I have been going through several DC superhero characters and trying to find one that works for me, but most of them feel too dark or moody. Then I turned to Ms Marvel and found exactly what I was looking for.
*) Fables – I started this series a while back, but decided this year I would get back into it. I love how it takes cues from all over the old fairy tales and creates a dark tale from them.
Like I said, 2015 was a good year and I can’t wait to see what happens in 2016
These are the breaks 