Women being exceedingly impressive ‘round the clock –
Ariana Grande at life, et al.
Cardi B at Instagram
Cher at Twitter
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at Congress

TV: – finally made my way to Bojack Horseman. I laughed, I cried, I cried really extremely hard, and then laughed some more. King of the Hill, the 8th wonder of the world, returned to streaming platforms (Hulu) much to my total and complete joy. Other things I Also Really Liked™: Sabrina the Teenage Sally Draper, Haunting of Hill House, High Maintenance, and any and all incarnations of The Great British Bake Off.

Books – The Wind Up Bird Chronicle and Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami. I read them both this year and they were very good. Murakami is like a fever dream that you can’t stop thinking about once it’s passed. Just started After the Quake and I already love it, too.

Albums – 
Low – Double Negative
Soccer Mommy – Clean
Beak> – >>>
IDLES – Joy as an Act of Resistance
Shy Boys – Bell House
Travis Scott – Astroworld

But sooo many more… here’s all the songs from this year I shan’t be getting over any time soon: Spotify.

Shows – 
Xetas @ Memphis on Main, Champaign – TEXAS FOREVER
Pottery @ L’Escogriffe, Montreal – caught during POP Montreal. RIYL: Orange Juice. SOLD!
Antarctigo Vespucci @ Bottom Lounge, Chicago – Chris Farren & Jeff Rosenstock, perfect beings
Grapetooth @ Thalia Hall, Chicago – genuinely thrilled no one was injured
Kero Kero Bonito @ Thalia Hall, Chicago – pure, unpretentious joy-bliss

Misc. Great Basketball Stuff™: 
Rockets/Lakers fight – The NBA has gone notoriously soft in recent years, so to witness two mortal enemies get buck on each other during the first home game of LeBron James’ Lakers career was glorious, to say the least. Basketball gods giveth.

‘What the Hell Happened to Darius Miles?’ by Darius Miles in The Players’ Tribune. Read it and weep. Two taps to the head: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/what-the-hell-happened-to-darius-miles