ten

Even if this year wasn't spectacular emotionally or professionally or any of that other wanky shit, it was pretty good for signifiers of artistic taste.  And if Facebook has taught us anything, it's that you're only as good as the things you like, right?

Favorite songs of 2010:
I spent a good two months listening only to acoustic stuff (I am the child of hippie parents), but eventually I came back around to the godless ways of electric instruments.  Despite being a Houston band, I never got to see Indian Jewelry play live, something I plan to remedy in 2011.  And I know the Beach House album was everyone's favorite of the year way back in January, but to be honest, my only exposure to it came over Thanksgiving when I heard "Norway" in a bar on the Upper East Side.  And since then I've listened to it approximately 15 times a day.  So it gets a spot on the list.

Phosphorescent - The Mermaid Parade
Warpaint - Undertow
Phantogram - Mouthful of Diamonds
Massive Attack - Paradise Circus
Interpol - Lights
Indian Jewelry - Excessive Moonlight
Beach House - Norway
Pacific Ocean Fire - You Were A Boxer
Hey!  A handy mixtape!

Favorite movies:
Netflix Instant improved my quality of life approximately ten-fold (data not shown), so I didn't have much use for "the cinema". I'm pretty sure The Town was the only movie I saw all year, so... Seriously though, it was great. You can keep making gritty dramas about downtrodden blue-collar Bostonians forced into a life of crime and I will continue to love them and hiss into whoever's ear is closest that that's Copley Square and I've been to that Au Bon Pain.

Favorite books:
My library card's been getting a lot of use lately, along with the "pay fines online" button on the HPL website. So much so that the very sweet librarian at the Montrose branch now gives me an extra four weeks when I check out. Delinquency has its perks.
Jennifer Egan - A Visit From The Goon Squad
Sam Lipsyte - The Ask
Sloane Crosley - How Did You Get This Number
Jaron Lanier - You Are Not A Gadget

So there's that. In sum, this year could have been worse. The next could be better. At this precise moment, this is all the emotional equivalent of a warm washcloth. I call it lethargic Zen.

reacclimating to texas is tough.  a week in new york is like a foreign immersion program and now people here walk too slowly, drive too nicely.