I've probably got a few long-term regular readers to be expecting this. For as long as I've had a blog, which is getting close, now, to half of my life, I've designated superlatives for different things in my life that have had any sort of significant impact in the last year. I think, generally, I've posted a lot less lately than I did at the end of 2009 and for most of 2010, though I've intended for the opposite to happen. That being said, I'm going to stick to this little tradition, even though right now I don't feel particularly up for doing it. But that's a terrible excuse, so I'm going to do it, because if I don't do it tonight, I'm not going to get to it. I leave for St. Louis on Wednesday, and I cannot wait to spend 4 days with the rest of the InterVarsity staff in the country. It sounds breathtaking thinking about it. All that being said, I might be most looking forward to reconnecting with staff I already know who are a bit more local. Perhaps that makes me less adventurous or something. I'm also feeling extraordinarily excited for our worship times, led by Andy Kim. He's my personal favorite worship leader, still on InterVarsity staff. He might be the best worship leader in the world though. The fact that he's in our biregion makes me a bit prouder than propriety would allow.
That's a lot of ado, so without further of it...my yearly superlatives.
Literature:
Book of the year: This is always the hardest decision. I read a lot of books and a lot of them mean a lot to me when I'm reading them. 2010 was typical to that end. I read a total of 51 books and over 16000 pages. My biggest accomplishment among them was War and Peace, but, though I read it for most of the year, I don't think I could quite call it my "book of the year," even thought it might influence my life and way of thinking for awhile. Near the beginning of the year, I read one of the most interesting, best written novels I've ever encountered. It stuck with me all year long, and I found myself comparing books to it all year long, always deciding that whichever book I was reading was never quite as good, the narrative never quite as strong or the characters as quirky and compelling. I think, perhaps in the easiest decision I've ever made for this title, The Ground Beneath her Feet by Salman Rushdie is my book of 2010
Runner-up: Peace Like a River, Leif Enger
Author of the Year: This is strangely new this year. Perhaps I never read enough in past years. But it just makes so much sense. I've taken to more series reading lately thanks, I think, to Harry Potter, so authors are more immediately important than they have been. That being said, I'm not picking an author of whom I've read a series this year. Salman Rushdie didn't just write my book of the year. He also wrote two other books I read in 2010, both of which were hot contenders for runner up (The Enchantress of Florence and Fury).
Runner-up: J.R.R. Tolkien
Motion Pictures:
Film of the Year: The first year I did this, I'm not even sure I had a movie of the year. I wasn't into movies and I was far from writing an I.S. about film. But things change and this is now one of my most contested awards. My film count has dwindled significantly since graduating from college. I watched over 150 movies in 2008, but just over 70 in 2010. Thanks to the Hillsdale Film Society though, I've been able to see some great films I wouldn't necessarily gravitate to on my own. I was especially surprised though, when they showed a film without any dialogue. It consists of montage and time-lapse photography to paint a picture of the chaos of modern life. It may not be the best way to spend a Friday night (or, as I learned, a Sunday afternoon) but Koyannisqatsi by Godfrey Reggio, more than any other film, impacted my life in 2010.
Runner-Up: The Terminator, James Cameron
Television program of the year: I don't watch much t.v. Indeed, short of the occasional sports game, I don't make it a point to watch anything. That being said, there are still a few things that I'll watch anytime I get the chance, and in 2010 Parks and Recreation was that more than any other show.
Runner-Up: American Pickers
Music:
Song of the Year:
This is incredibly hard. Actually, it's near impossible. I don't really know what direction to go with it and it's a chore of chores to decide a single song out of the hundreds I listened to last year. Music means a lot to me, as it does for a lot of people my age, and singling out a single song as my top for a single year is a preposterous proposition. But, even so, it is the proposition with which I am currently faced. Partly because it's so hard a task, but also because it's absolutely what I feel to have been the most important song to me this year, I've got to pick: Mystery, by Charlie Hall
Runner-Up: Airplanes, B.o.B. and Eminem
Artist of the year
With extremely varied taste, this is hard to pick. Depending on the time of day and my mood, I could enjoy something and someone radically different from one day to the next. Picking a person or band that illustrates a year of music listening for me will never be easy. That being said, I think, for his presence in so many places and for his re-emergence, I'm actually going to go with Eminem this year. I can't really believe it either.
Runner-Up: Phoenix
Album of the year:
And maybe the album of all time....My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West is, perhaps, as I've said before, the best piece of musical art ever to emerge from the hip-hop genre, and perhaps since the jazz age. Kanye is an artist with a vision for his art and anyone who says otherwise, doesn't understand and hasn't taken the time to try.
Runner-Up: Dreaming Through the Noise, Vienna Teng
Sports:
Team of the Year: This always goes to the team I follow that has done the best in the calendar year. This year is actually simple. It's cut and dry. Teams were either completely unworthy or obvious choices. The winner is the Cincinnati Reds for making the playoffs for the first time in 15 years.
Runner-Up: Green Bay Packers
And that's all folks. I didn't really have the energy to do this tonight, but I pounded it out anyway, sort of for posterity's sake or something like that. I hope you enjoyed reading it! Happy New Year!
-Zack
"Sweet Jesus Christ, my sanity"
-Charlie Hall
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