184: top eight of two thousand eight

And, of course, the disclaimer: These are all "things" experienced, as opposed to released. If only I led a life that included being in "the know" about these sorts of things, but really, I'm contentedly just keeping up. Thus, my lists might be woefully out of date, but because it's mainly media-focused (in books and film), if you are interested, these things are still floating about. And, of course, my memories are simply ones to bear witness right here, or in "real time," if I'm lucky enough to be able to spend that sort of time with you.

Wishing everyone the best 2009.

xo

(online) Poems:
- "Running Away Together" by Maxine Kumin
- "Late Hours" by Liesel Mueller
- "Water Lilies" by Thomas James
- "Naming the Stars" by Joyce Sutphen
- "Chrysalis" by Arthur Sze
- "The Pond" by Amy Lowell
- "Autumn" by Adam Zagajewski
- "The Wedding Vow" by Sharon Olds
A poetry resource page I'm always working on: HERE.

Books:
- Late Wife by Claudia Emerson
- The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood
- Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason
- The Shell Collector by Anthony Doerr
- Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernierres
- American Sublime by Elizabeth Alexander
- Letters from Side Lake by Peter Leschak

Runners Up: The Ice Storm by Rick Moody, Bee Season by Myla Goldberg, Without by Donald Hall, The Whale Rider, Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukiyama, The Wednesday Wars by Gary D Schmidt, Sold by Patricia McCormick, Midwest Eclogue by David Baker, The Dancer Upstairs by Nicolas Shakespeare, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski, Mudbound by Hillary Jordan, The World Without Us by Alan Weisman, Rebecca by Daphne duMourier, The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy, When the Elephants Dance by Tess Uriza Holthe, and No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
(Number of books read in 2008: 128)
A permanently growing list of favorites: HERE.

Films:
- Borat
- Kikujiro
- Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall... and Spring
- The Lives of Others
- The Savages
- Margot at the Wedding
- Lars and the Real Girl
- Away From Here

Runners Up: Love in the Time of Cholera, Catch and Release (because Boulder is gorgeous), and Never Forever
A permanently growing list of favorites: HERE.

Songs:
- "Gone Gone Gone" by Alison Kraus and Robert Plant
- "Breakable" by Ingrid Michaelson
- "These Words" by Natasha Bedingfield
- "Foundations" by Kate Nash
- "You Don't Know Me" by Ben Folds with Regina Spektor
- For getting stuck in my head: "That's Not My Name" by the Ting Tings
- "East to the West" by Michael Franti and Spearhead
- Rodrigo y Gabriela

Favorite pictures of the day (since the blog move):
- June 7
- June 22
- June 29
- July 5
- August 8
- September 26
- October 17
- November 25
- extra: December 21

Runners up: June 8, June 18, June 10, June 25, June 26, July 2, July 7, August 24, August 30, September 27, September 28, November 13, November 15, November 22, November 23, November 30, December 19

Favorite blogs of 2008:
- sweet | salty
- the glass doorknob and shari's new blog
- webster's daily
- the habit of being
- simply breakfast
- 3191
- soulemama
- orangette
And others.

Memories:
- Palm Beach Poetry Festival. The end of January in Florida, every day--poetry. A magical, magical week for me.
- Getting into the University of Minnesota MFA program. Huzzah! (And ten others...)
- I have a nephew! A godson! And I was witness. :)
- Well, it seems strange here in the middle, but I have to tell you: still crazy about that husband of mine. Still feeling blessed, and somehow, some way, our partnership has even improved since we've been married.
- Camping: Afton, Jay Cooke, and William O'Brien
- Seriously, working at a bookstore is way too good and way too ... addictive.
- I'm pretty hopeful about our next president.
- The seasons this year have felt richer to me: perhaps because I've been getting into the dirt more, exploring, learning, walking, wandering. I hope to do more of that next year too.

Worst (Anything):
- Madison passing away. She had a good, long, life, and we were blessed to have that sweet pup in our lives.
- Missing Grandpa. Knowing how much my grandma misses her husband.
- I suppose our string of bad car luck this winter could count, though we didn't get too frustrated. The pipes freezing also wasn't a plus. But really, all has been repaired and there was no major inconvenience. It's good for me to walk to work (and for Ryan to wash his hair in the tub).
- Many, many books, including: I Know This Much is True, Absolute Friends, The Almost Moon, Nineteen Minutes, A Multitude of Sins, Blind Your Ponies, and The Worst Thing I've Ever Done.
- Many, many films, including: Premonition, Captivity, The Contract, The Butterfly Effect, The Reaping and Conspiracy.
- That internship was not exactly a positive experience. I'll leave it at that.
- The economy. Yeech.
- Sarah Palin. Yeech. (And Bush. Yeech, yeech.)

See also: Recipes. Next year, I intend to create a "top nine" recipes, but for now, you can see my slowly growing list of favorites.

See also: Fiber arts. Again, next year, I'll see if I can create a "top nine" crafty projects, though I'm not always as focused on knitting and sewing as I might wish.

See also: Top Six of Two Thousand Six. And: Top Seven of Two Thousand Seven.

And of course: THANK YOU all for visiting this little spot of mine on the web. It means so much to hear back from you, via email and via comments, and I love being able to live vicariously through so many wonderful experiences out there. I love how inspirational this blogging world can be; it's made me quite a bit braver, I know.

And you? Your "best" and / or "worst"?