Year End Review 2018
This year sucked.
However some things worked.
Tops
Video game of the year
Arena reignited my interest in Magic for the first time since the Scars of Mirrodin block (2010-2011). Right after New Phyrexia was released I ended up putting my time into fighting games, especially Vampire Savior and I didn’t have any time for Magic anymore.
After playing this game a lot off and on since about a month before the open beta I’ve also bought a decent amount of cards and attended a prerelease. So I think they got their return on investment from me at least.
At one point toward the end of the year I tried to quit because of the amount of time it was taking from my evenings and weekends, but I actually found that the mental energy required to stay away was too much. I’ve decided to play super casual for a while and see how it goes.
So this game is super fun and I’ve heavily enjoyed it, but I might have been more productive if I hadn’t played.
Music of the year
This Would Be Funny If It Were Happening To Anyone But Me - flirting
Unlike past years I haven’t attended many shows (or maybe any?) or bought very many albums. Most of my listening was to records I’ve had for years and Monstercat’s Call of the Wild. I ran into flirting on Reddit sometime ago and bought their single at the time. This year they finally released some new music!
Streamer of the year
I’ve spent more time watching Giantwaffle than any other streamer this year.
I’ve always appreciated Waffle’s approach to games and his positive attitude. His chat is well policed and the in-jokes are funny.
Youtuber of the year
Casey Neistat (again…)
Casey’s aesthetic, work ethic, and lifestyle continues to push my imagination. Whenever I watch his stuff I want to actually go out and do something! For such a passive medium, his work contributes more to my active life than anything else I consume.
Anime of the year
Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai
This was a super down year for anime for me. I spent most of the year stuck in a web vortex (something I hope to correct next year). I only finished 5 series this year (MAL link). There might be a few movies missing from my MAL list due to the way air dates are calculated…
Bunny Girl Senpai is just too good! It’s in kind with Monogatari while still managing to stand on its own. If you aren’t convinced, check out Gigguk’s video on the show.
Laid Back Camp was really really good too!
Manga of the year
I actually read a lot of manga this year! Most of them were ongoing series. Bloom Into You stands out as being the one series that I reread multiple times as new volumes came out. The emotions it pulled up for me were very intense. I still haven’t started the anime because I’ve been too lazy to switch my subscription from Crunchyroll to VRV, but I’m really looking forward to binging it one day soon!
Comic of the year
Not a new comic obviously, but I started diving into Warren Ellis really heavily this year. His newsletter is excellent.
This is the year that killed the X-Men for me. Extermination just finally ended. I think I will be dropping Uncanny soon. I’ve been reading the X-Men since around 2008 with Messiah CompleX. It feels weird to no longer be interested in the team, but none of my favorite characters are heavily featured anymore. Hope made a guest appearance in a wrap up issue about Cable’s death, but was otherwise completely left out of everything for years. Blindfold is MIA despite Legion’s return. Layla Miller is MIA despite Multiple Man’s new big push. Pixie is the only character I care about who is getting any time at all and she isn’t even being written with an accent right now!
On top of missing all my favorites, the push to put all the toys back in the toybox is really just killing any lingering interest that I have in the series. Adult Jean is back, Logan is coming back, Cyclops is even coming back. They’re going to have to do something really incredible in the next month or so to pull me back in.
Other stuff
Again overall this year sucked. I’m going to be super glad when it’s over. But a few things have worked really well for me (when I’ve remembered to do them):
- New nutrition plan - specifically eating more frequently, with a planned snack at 4 PM
- Stay organized - keeping super organized and cleaned up really helps keep my anxiety down
- Blogging - I fleshed out my blog history and even managed to write some articles for my company blog!
Stuff I’ve been trying but haven’t perfected yet:
- Writing as meditation/filter
- A regular sleep schedule - ug.
Things I plan to try next year
- Writing more
- Camping! - The anime Laid Back Camp really stuck with me and I want to try some car camping this year
- Meditation
Other ongoing projects:
- House remodeling (forever and ever)
- Personal website
- Exercise and diet
On hold:
- Drawing and comics - I’m not sure when I’m going to start working on this again, but I don’t think it’s gone forever.
And well that’s it! I’ve got a party to go to tonight and then the Rose Bowl on TV tomorrow. I’m going to do my best to make 2019 less bad.