2010 mostly sucked, but not entirely
The end of the year always brings some reminiscing about the good and bad, and 2010 is no different. Overall the year seemed pretty mediocre, but a couple things really stood out as being positive for me.
In 2010, the virtual became real, and I actually made real social engagements via the various social media services, especially Twitter. Thanks to this new “town square” I have a lot more casual friends then I have had in the past, and have made real-world friends through the various tweet-ups, get-togethers and other random events, both organized and disorganized. Of particular note, are a few close real-world friends that initially developed purely via Twitter, such as Matt and Megen here in town, as well as numerous out of town folks like Ryan, Ben, Justin, AJ and several other neat people who I never would have gotten to know at all but for a “silly” microblogging service named after the sound birds make.
I usually follow politics the same way a casual sports fan follow his or her teams – occasional moments of rapt attention and cheering/booing followed by long periods where you don’t pay any attention. In a year when the forces of intolerance were definitely on the rise, the unexpected and dramatic victory for Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal was one of the most gratifying and exciting political events I can remember, especially given that it came through the sausage-making apparatus of Congress rather then the drama of a legal decision or an election. For a couple weeks in December, I paid attention to the minute-by-minute minutiae of the Senate, and followed the ups and downs, and in the end, against all odds, the good guys won, the forces of evil were routed, and a major step forward for goodness in America actually happened. That was really awesome.
And on to miscellaneous ‘bests’ and ‘worsts’ of the past year…
Favorite game of 2010: A three-way battle between Angry Birds, Worlds with Friends, and Plants vs Zombies. I have to go with the latter; that game was truly amazing fun, although I am frustrated that unlike Angry Birds, the Plants vs Zombie folks have disappeared from the planet with nary an update or sequel in sight.
Favorite album of 2010: Weezer’s “Hurley” is simple, loud, catchy, and fun. Don’t need anything more complex.
Favorite movie of 2010: After the greatness of 2009, 2010 kinda stank. Nothing really stood out. Plenty of OK movies, but nothing remarkable. So, no favorite movie. But there were some decent movies, “True Grit” being the most recent one that comes to mind.
Biggest entertainment disappointment of 2010: The “Lost” finale. Ugh. Talk about finishing with a whimper. But hey, it was slightly better then the Battlestar finale.
Best comeback of 2010: “Futurama” – good news everyone, the show is as good as it was before, which is to say one of the funniest things on TV.
Crappiest sports moment of 2010: Northern Iowa. Seriously. Ugh.
Best sports moment of 2010: It’s a tie, between the first KU-KSU game where Sherron Collins single-handedly won the game for KU in the final minute, and the first quarter of the Nebraska-Missouri football game, where Nebraska went up 24-0 on Mizzou. I saw that in a sports bar filled with Missouri fans, which was quite enjoyable!
Best election result: Lawrence voters passed the library bond. How about that, a vote in favor of both literacy and progress.
Worst election result: Everything else.
2010 in one sentence: “Don’t touch my junk!”
