the girly who shall end all girls

picked this up on Tumblr, where I think you're supposed to have people pick the questions but meh. I like this list better than the classic questionnaire I've used before

End of the year Asks

1. Song of the year? I Don’t Wanna Dance with Nobody by Sub-Radio
2. Album of the year? I don’t think I listened to a full album that was new-to-me this year. I feel like singles are bigger than ever, and between that and my not being particularly connected to drivers of new music (other than Spotify) I just don’t discover or listen to albums end-to-end.
3. Favorite musical artist / group you started listening to this year? I think I technically discovered Sub-Radio last year, so it would have to be Kishi Bashi. I went to his film Omoiyari at SIFF Docs Fest, kind of on a whim, and it was quite good.
4. Movie of the year? Recency bias, but god damn Godzilla Minus One is amazing. Crying at a monster movie over a dude with PTSD was definitely not on my bingo card for 2023.
5. TV show of the year? Oof. There were all the queer love stories - Our Flag Means Death, Good Omens, Interview with the Vampire. The one-two punch of Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks (and the crossover!). There was my indoctrination into dropout.tv. I think, in spite of being uneven overall (no, the musical episode wasn’t good) it would have to be Strange New Worlds.
6. Episode of tv or webisode that defined the year for you? Probably the one that’s been quoted constantly in my house since it first aired: Lower Decks “I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee”. Moopsy!
7. Favorite actor of the year? While not technically a 2023 joint, I watched it in 2023 - Eric Bogosian in Interview with the Vampire was a favorite performance.
8. Game of the year? Jedi Survivor. It’s always good to be a Jedi, and the storytelling in this one was top-notch.
9. Best month for you this year? This year was complicated. It might have been January, when I went to Disneyland with mimerki.
10. Something that made you cry this year? Well, my best friend died and that generated a lot of tears both before and after. My runner-up for “movie of the year” is Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. I encourage folks to watch it, it’s sweet and funny. But if you have seen it: I saw it after mimerki had started palliative care, and the end absolutely wrecked me. (I do not recommend ugly crying in an n95 mask, it gets hard to breathe.) And she died the next day, so yeah
11. Something you want to do again next year? If I can find the time and money, I’d love to do a quick trip to Disneyland and get C to Galaxy’s Edge. It’s really not hard to do from here and I love how walkable it is inside and out.
12. Talk about a new friend you made this year Not something I managed: first I was being very covid-cautious, then I was very sad (and busy), then I was just busy.
13. How was your birthday this year? Dismal. I had covid and lost my sense of taste for a couple weeks.
14. Favorite book you read this year? The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard. On the one hand, it’s a fantasy novel about implementing UBI, and burnout, and friendship. It’s also about someone who leaves home and is successful in ways that aren’t meaningful to their family of origin. (While I think it could have used a ruthless edit, I also think that might have stripped out most of what is good about it. It’s just a long warm bath of a book.)
15. What’s a bad habit you picked up this year? Buying coffee and a pastry way too often (because neither of us could manage to consistently plan for breakfast).
16. Post a picture from the beginning of the year [the Millennium Falcon in a spaceport setting with rock spires in the background]
17. Post a picture from the end of the year
    [the view from Kerry Park in Seattle, featuring the Space Needle and Mt Rainier]
18. A memorable meal this year? Our anniversary was a significant one and we kind of forgot about it, then managed to snag a last-minute reservation at The Herbfarm a few days after. They were absolutely brilliant with C’s dietary needs. It’s totally worth the money.
19. What’re you excited about for next year? I remembered our anniversary earlier this time, and we finally snagged a reservation for a cabin at a resort on the Pacific Coast that’s well-known for being dog friendly. Looking forward to walking the beach and/or watching the waves roll in by the fire.
20. What’s something you learned this year? When you die in the US, you become a business for tax purposes. The SSN is retired, and the estate gets an EIN just like a business.
21. What’s something new about your place of residence (room, home, or general location) now vs the start of the year? My whole place of residence is new! I am sitting in front of my fireplace right now, looking at the lights of the cityscape out my window. It’s awesome
22. Favorite place you visited this year? Galaxy’s Edge. If you love Star Wars, it's a delight. (yes, I really liked Disneyland)
23. If you could send a message to yourself back on the first day of the year, what would it be? You always feel better after you get some exercise, don’t skip it.
24. Did you keep any New Year’s Resolutions? I don’t think I made any
25. Did you create any characters (in games, art, or writing) this year? Describe one Currently playing Worlds Without Number with the Friday group. Our party is all from a somewhat isolated coastal island and we’re slowly exploring the wider world. I rolled randomly for pretty much everything and then crafted a character based on the stats. So he’s Buck, the butcher’s apprentice; he’s strong and kind but not very bright. I found a picture of a rugby player that I really like for him - square-headed and plain with a great smile.

1. pirate D added me to his Duolingo Plus family plan, so i've been practicing French. it was my minor in college - my reading comprehension remains pretty good, but I haven't held a conversation for more than ten years. i'm enjoying the gamification of language learning but because this is a refresh rather than completely new, part of me is always analyzing their translation choices and how they introduce concepts. (in my head, "il mange" is usually "he eats" not "he is eating". or i think of "ça va?" as "how's it going?" instead of "how are you doing?". but i'm learning to give the owl the answer it wants.) it's been fun re-accessing dormant knowledge - i start a new area and all this stuff comes up out of cold storage. it's pretty cool. looking forward to getting into a place where i'm learning something new.


2. i quit playing most video games around Gamergate. (yeah, i know, that's what they wanted. but i have so many other hobbies.) on a whim i decided to look into Jedi: Fallen Order when they announced the sequel, and it was all of $10 on xbox. i have definitely gotten more than $10 of joy from it - it's an adventure game with more exploration than boss fights, really reminds me of the joy i got from Tomb Raider back in the day, but with SO MANY MAPS AND HINTS. what the hell, it even tells you where there are doors that you can open and highlights unexplored areas. :old-man-yelling-at-cloud: i wish Cal did backflips, but his lightsaber is cooler than dual Uzis, and driving an spoiler was way too much fun. also, look at this little droid companion:


3. my mother-in-law has been complaining about not being able to play Civilization II anymore for something like 10 years. so i made a VM image of Windows XP SP3 with CivII installed, had C play a few rounds to confirm it works well, and have written up instructions for the east coast kids to set it up for her. fingers crossed. it's a 1995 game - it starts with a setup dialog about how you need 16MB of RAM to use all the 3D effects.