The Things I Loved in 2024
MAYBE IT'S NOT MY WEEKEND, BUT IT'S GONNA BE MY YEAR
When I woke up on Nov. 6 and ended my 12-hour news moratorium, it seemed a sure bet that seeing the headlines would be the worst thing to happen to me that day.
But no, the worst was still on its way. Specifically a distracted driver in a yellow Kia was on his way, because that’s who rear-ended me so hard that evening that they totaled my car.
Over the two hours that I sat on the side of Broad Street waiting for emergency services to arrive, I went from incredulous to scared to angry to defeated to amused. Because somehow, Nov. 6 was not even the worst day I had in 2024.
Indeed, 2024 was not my year. I’ve had down years defined by small, consistent troubles that just won’t budge, and others by forces majeures (hi, 2020), but 2024 was different. Food remained on my plate, and I kept good health and gainful employment. It’s just that when things went bad, they went capital-B Bad. I spent the year so concerned about stopping the run that I repeatedly got torched for big gains over the top.
But hey, sometimes you gotta take the L stair to King Street. And 2024 was not without some dizzying highs, such as an unforgettable two-week trip through Italy and seeing Underoath play They’re Only Chasing Safety live.
I also read, listened to and watched all sorts of great stuff this year, including this video of Tim and Eric, which played a somewhat significant role in keeping me upright for much of the back half of the year.
The helpful thing about bad years is that they must end, and they make looking forward to the next one a bit easier. So even though it’s not hard to find reasons to believe 2025 might blow up on the launchpad, I am choosing to believe next year is going to be a great one. Here’s to better days ahead.
I started doing this eight years ago and I look forward to writing this story every year. The mission statement remains the same: Too much of what’s out there is designed specifically to chap your ass, and it’s important to remember the great stuff. Here’s what I loved in 2024.
We’re Here To Help
Jake Johnson and Gareth Reynolds managed to break through in the very crowded advice podcast arena by channeling the energy of types of goofy-yet-thoughtful aunts and uncles you might meet at a bar.
The first segment from this episode with Max Greenfield might have been the hardest I laughed all year (starts at 4:40).
Dune by Frank Herbert
Dune is not an easy read. The main character is called, by my count, at least seven different names throughout the series. Fortunately, Denis Villeneuve’s two new Dune films are wildly entertaining and really capture Arrakis’ scale.
I greatly enjoyed both the book and the movies, the latter of which I recommend watching first. It’ll save you the hassle of trying to figure out if there’s a difference between Paul Atreides, Usul, the Kwisatz Haderach, Muad’Dib, Mahdi, and the Lisan al-Gaib (there isn’t).
Oldster Magazine by Sari Botton
Reading Oldster has honestly made the prospect of aging seem a bit less scary for me, thanks mostly to its questionnaire series. Try reading about the 86-year-old who decided to change her name or The Go-Go’s Kathy Valentine and not come out the other side feeling like you were let in on some secrets about the human condition that you can only learn by aging. Oldster also recently published a wholesome Dudes Rock story that made me want to call all my best friends.
Real Friends’ Blue Hour
Real Friends understands that the best genre of music is “sad but fast.” Blue Hour is a great album from a great band.
Cheerleader by Porter Robinson
This was the song of the dang summer for me, and the latest addition to the very long “Porter Robinson bangers” playlist.
Half-Life 2: 20th Anniversary Documentary
Half-Life 2 looms so large in my memory and is such a tentpole in gaming history that it seems impossible that it was made by actual people and not handed down from the skies like an oracle.
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Daniel Radcliffe gives nothing less than 110% effort through this entire film.
The Wire
There aren’t many things in life that are exactly as good as they’re hyped up to be, but The Wire is one of them, not least because of Robert Chew’s ability to steal any scene he’s in.
Inside the Secret Negotiations to Free Evan Gershkovich, Wall Street Journal
This was the most gripping thing I read all year. Thank god Evan Gershkovich is home.
Stage 1 of the 2024 Tour de France
I could write 1,000 words about Romain Bardet and how magical this win was, but the image of he and van den Broeck crossing the line, hands on their heads in disbelief, says it all.
The Michigan, SC Featured
Kudos to everyone at SC Featured for getting damn near everyone involved in The Michigan on the record for this incredibly cool oral history.
10 Years Since Northern Tier series
If you’ll indulge me some navel-gazing: Any writer will tell you that whenever they look back on anything they’ve written, they almost always hate it. Something happens when a story goes from a draft to a finished product that turns it from a masterpiece to a nadir in our heads.
But every once in a while, a story will endure and make you proud. These stories, especially the last one that focuses on All My Friends by LCD Soundsystem, are the kind of blogs I used to dream of being able to write as a college student, stories that even months later I can point to and confidently say, “I think this is good.”