gchoate17

[gchoate17]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Keith Edwards (@keithedwards)

Remember when Republicans still claimed to be the party of family values?

[gchoate17]

The weird thing about posting something real from The Onion is that you have to say "This is real." But then there are layers to the falseness within the real news. Like an onion. Anyway, this is brilliant.

[gchoate17]

Reports are starting to roll in...

[gchoate17]

[gchoate17]

Go Trojans.

[gchoate17]

Stats for Spotify provides full-year stats now, but since I started doing this in six-month increments, I'm just going to keep that up. Here’s what my first six months of 2024 looked like.

Songs:

“All Alone” by Mal Waldron

“Breathing Song" by Samia

“Kill Her Freak Out" by Samia

“Tomorrow” by Aileen Quinn (Magnus request)

“King of Sweden" by Future Islands

“Meet You at the Graveyard” by Cleffy

“Charm You" by Samia

“Nothing Matters" by The Last Dinner Party

“To Me It Was” by Samia

“Sea Lions" by Samia

Artists:

Future Islands

Hans Zimmer

Samia

Mal Waldron

Chet Baker

Steve Earle

Foxing

The Last Dinner Party

Lola Young

Laufey

[gchoate17]

Solar panels up and running full throttle. About to show Entergy who's in charge of electricity up in our house. Bring on that Arkansas August heat.

[gchoate17]

Mal Waldron -- "All Alone"

Not nearly as good as the album version, but it's nice to see the man at work.

[gchoate17]

Nat King Cole, "Nature Boy."

[gchoate17]

In my most impressive bout of media consumption thus far, I watched 52 seasons of television shows in 2023, 19 more than my previous personal best count last year. I dropped the ball on taking good notes about each season, and 52 is just too many to research, so I'm dumping them in buckets based on the five-star system I applied upon completing the season, though no show earned five stars this year. Rewatched seasons are marked. Previous years’ rankings are linked at the bottom.

Four Stars:

Game of Thrones (Seasons 1-3)

Breaking Bad (Seasons 1-2) - Rewatch

Veep (Season 6)

Barry (Season 1)

Seinfeld (Season 6) - Rewatch

Friday Night Lights (Season 1)

Succession (Seasons 2-3)

Hello, Tomorrow (Season 1)

MerPeople (Season 1)

Three Stars:

Barry (Seasons 2-3)

Breaking Bad (Season 3) - (Rewatch)

Veep (Season 3-5, 7)

Documentary Now! (Seasons 2-4)

Succession (Season 1)

The Righteous Gemstones (Seasons 1 & 3)

Shiny Happy People (Season 1)

Better Call Saul (Season 5)

Seinfeld (Seasons 7-9)

Transatlantic (Season 1)

Ted Lasso (Seasons 1-2)

Friday Night Lights (Season 2)

Two Stars:

Breaking Bad (Seasons 4-5) - (Rewatch)

The Righteous Gemstones (Season 2)

Beef (Season 1)

The Big Door Prize (Season 1)

Documentary Now! (Season 1)

Black Mirror (Season 6)

Severance (Season 1)

A Crowded Room (Season 1)

The Shrink Next Door (Season 1)

Quarterbacks (Season 1)

The Last of Us (Season 1)

Barry (Season 4)

Ted Lasso (Season 3)

Succession (Season 4)

One Star:

Sex Education (Season 4)

Friday Night Lights (Season 3)

See previous lists here: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017.

[gchoate17]

I watched 25 movies in 2023 – down from 30 last year. Here they are, ranked in order. 

Cherry

Fantastic story, well told. It covered a lot of ground in a short time and made me believe everything. Despite the bad decision, I never stopped pulling for him. Tom Holland crushed it.

2. Tetris

I love these stories that pull the curtain back on pop culture phenomena. An enthralling sprint from start to finish.

3. I, Tonya

Nice job of showing the other side of the story. I felt some empathy for “the monster.” Also, I wasn’t expecting to laugh, but I laughed multiple times.

4. Dune (2021)

It’s always impressive when someone creates a new world that seems to add up. The story is set, now show me the sequel.

5. White Noise

Intellectual and quirky, but ridiculous, in a good way. But it also feels a little too unhinged. Adam Driver crushes it.

6. The Beanie Bubble

Zach Galifinakis’s best performance? Enough of a true story to give me the satisfaction of learning something while also pointing to the ridiculous nature of American capitalism in the 1990s.

7. On the Rocks

Bill Murray and his character carry it.

8. Barbie

Stylistically, really fun. Concept, fantastic. Kate McKinnon and Michael Cera’s characters are the best part of the movie. It was also nice to see so many actors from Sex Education. Of course, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling were fantastic as well. Overall, the was good, but it certainly didn’t measure up to the hype (and how could it). My only real complaint comes with when they have all been enlightened and they name all of the problems with society, which is a little too on the nose for me. We got it without being told.

9. Narvik

I’ve been into Dutch things lately, and I always like a new perspective on World War II, but I wouldn’t say this one is a can’t-miss.

10. Seven Kings Must Die

SPOILER ALERT: I feel like I couldn't get into the movie because legitimately the only person I was pulling for at the end was Uhtred. King Athelstan was a dumbass who deserved to die. All the kings who got duped into allying with the evil Dane guy made the move I would have made. Moral of the story: War is terrible. But that final shot of the Great Hall was awesome.

11. Parasite

Kind of funny. A little too far-fetched.

12. This is Where I Leave You

Weak story, great actors.

13. Air

I know why they did it, but it was a mistake to make a movie about Air Jordans without Michael Jordan.

14. Blood & Gold

I couldn’t buy that what happened in that small town didn’t alert larger authorities. In that way, it was a lot like Three Kings, but less humorous.

15. Those People

I am writing this review months after I watched the movie and even after watching the trailer, I have no recollection of ever seeing this movie, but in my notes I gave it three stars, so I’m putting it at the end of my three-star movies for the year.

16. Everything Everywhere All at Once

Loved the first half-ish, and the acting was great, but – as is with most action mind-benders – when anything can happen because the filmmakers aren’t bound by the rules of reality, it felt completely out of control by the end.

17. The Covenant

Movies that pretend like you can move about freely in war are out of touch with reality. But I do love a battle-buddy flick.

18. Raymond & Ray

A little absurd, but Ethan Hawke and Ewan McGregor are always likable.

19. To Leslie

Predictable addiction story. Bad Southern accents.

20. Midsommar

A horror film, but replace the dark aesthetic with light. Immature characters who ignore all the red flags.

21. The Wonder

SPOILER ALERT: Eerie and intriguing, but my investment diminished once the jig was up. I don’t buy that a devout little girl like that would just walk away.

22. Greyhound

SPOILER ALERT: Decent action sequences at sea, but not enough background for any of it to really mean anything. Elizabeth Shue needed to come back, for sure. Otherwise, why have her play the role?

23. Dead for a Dollar

I’m a Christoph Waltz fan, but this one was full of melodrama.

24. The Incident (1967)

None of the characters do what they should and there was no payoff. I did enjoy seeing those actors in the early stages of their career, though.

25. The Menu

I want to know how Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, and John Leguizamo got trapped in this stupid-ass movie.

See previous years’ lists here: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017.

[gchoate17]

Stats for Spotify doesn’t do a full year, so here’s what my last six months of 2023 looked like.

Songs:

"Meet you at the Graveyard" by Cleffy

"sever the blight" by Hemlocke Springs

"march 2023" by Cleffy

"Peppers" by Lana Del Rey, Tommy Genesis

"girlfriend" by Hemlocke Springs

"Hide Behind My Disguise" by Cleffy

"Without drugs I'd be Dead" by Cleffy

"Don't Hate Me" by Lola Young

"Contagious" by Night Riots

"CRM" by Cleffy

Artists:

Foxing

Night Riots

Petey

Gossip

Hemlocke Springs

Touche Amore

Cleffy

Manchester Orchestra

Henry Mancini

Chappell Roan

[gchoate17]

In keeping with tradition, here’s my top ten list of the best events of 2023 and the worst events of 2023, vaguely ranked in the order that they most impacted my life. I'm using the above photo because most of the year I was at the whim of Magnus's sleeping habits.

Best

Magnus finally stopped requiring us to stay in his room while he sleeps. (April-May)

Mags went to daycare. (March 13)

At my 1,200-person firm’s annual meeting in Irving, Texas this year, my company president recognized my little hardworking video team with the highest honor we could have ever hoped for. And unbeknownst to me, my boss arranged for Liz and my mother to be there to see it happen. (October 26)

I committed to a gym. Between developing a regular fitness routine and celebrating a year without alcohol (September 7), I can see positive changes in my body – I lost weight, but now I’m gaining muscle. (March-December)

After attending daycare for almost two weeks, Mags made it through nap time for the first time, which led to staying full days at school. (March 27)

Gus pushed through some fear and developed a love for swimming, thanks to Liz’s commitment to taking him to the pool nearly every day this summer. (Summer)

I joined the board of directors at the UA-Little Rock Alumni Association and the Downtown Little Rock Partnership, two organizations I genuinely care about, and where I feel like I can affect positive change in the community. (January)

We upgraded Liz from a Subaru Outback to a Subaru Ascent, giving our family (and my back) more room to work with. (April 27)

Liz and I watched Chappell Roan put on a fantastic hometown show in Springfield, Missouri. (March 6)

Liz tagged along on a work trip that took us to Greenville, South Carolina, among other places, and we kind of fell in love with the downtown area there. (July 26)

Worst

Gus started playing baseball and I quickly became aware of how little time I have spent playing catch with him or showing him how to swing a bat during the first five years of his life. This is one of my greatest failures as a father to date. (Spring)

The tornado hit Little Rock. Beyond the devastation it caused to the city; I was at work, Gus was at school, and Liz and Magnus were at home – I’ve never felt so strongly the desire to have my family wrapped up in my arms. (March 31)

I couldn’t keep up with Argenta Reading Series, and put it on an indefinite hiatus. Again. (April 29)

Magnus came down with a double-ear infection and a cold at the same time, meaning he and his parents didn’t sleep for a solid week. And on the day he got better, Gus got what we suspect was the flu, keeping us from sleep again. We're still finding used Kleenex around the house, in our cars. (December 10-24)

At a concert this summer, I saw Conor Oberst unleash an immature and irresponsible political rant that’s made me not want to listen to his music anymore, which makes me terribly sad because he’s one of my favorites. (May 15)

I left my Fitbit at a hotel in Frisco, Texas. (June 11) (To raise awareness for my missing Fitbit, my team at work held a surprise mandatory fun walk, which made me so happy, and IT WORKED because when my friend Erin saw the video about the fun walk, she mailed me an extra Fitbit she had.)

The parking deck at the office added bollards to keep me from employing my highly efficient parking deck hack. It took me over a month to develop a new one, but I have and it’s better than the first, and I’m convinced they have given up trying to stop me. (August 3)

Each of my children had weird mishaps at different times that kind of sent me into a “what do I do!?” parenting panic. Magnus got a corn kernel jammed up his nose (July 9); Gus somehow managed to get a sequin jammed between two teeth while on a family vacation (January 4). [The corn kernel incident did payoff with some video footage in which I am the hero, so – given the safe outcome – this one could have easily landed on the “Best” list.]

Gus started getting carsick this year (although, he is pretty good at making sure his vomit stays in the bag we give him).

Gus got strep throat. (mid-May)

Previous Best/Worst Lists: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.

[gchoate17]

I read 25 books this year, nine of which were fiction. I went down a Malcolm Gladwell hole (that I thought I'd already been down) for a bit, and I read a few good books written by friends, but it's worth noting that I would gladly lose friends before I put a book on this list that didn't deserve to be there. Here were my top 11, ranked in the order that I enjoyed them:

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)

A perfect futuristic dystopian novel in that it feels like a such a real-world possibility and doesn't overlook the finest of details -- the obvious ones, as well as the subtle ones. I'm eager to pick up the next one.

2. The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Galdwell (2021)

A fascinating perspective on the advancement of air power and bombing in the years leading up to (and during) World War II. As with most honest war stories, there is no clear good and evil after digging beneath the surface, and Gladwell does a phenomenal job of digging. I highly recommend the audiobook because of the use of recorded interviews.

3. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (2000)

Somehow I accidentally deleted my review of this one and now I'm going to lose sleep over it. What I remember, seven months after reading it, is that I'm a connector and I need to collaborate with mavens if I really want to get an idea off the ground. And also that I should be pushing Blues Clues onto my children, even though I'm a die-hard Sesame Streeter.

4. The Lost Son by Stephanie Vanderslice (2022)

I struggled with the back and forth in time and place at first — as I normally do — but settled into it after the first 50 pages, when the narrative takes off. A good gut-punch will tether you to a story no matter where it goes in space and time. In this book, Vanderslice gives us a solid World War II family drama that pulls especially hard on the ties that bind siblings to each other, and parents to their children. I finished this one with a quiet, snotty cry next to a stranger on an airplane.

5. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (2008)

Gladwell tells a good story and I'm a big fan of debunking the myth that "genius" alone leads to success -- one also needs resources and the luck of generational timing. As a dad, though, my major takeaway is that my kids should be going to school year-round.

6. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (2019)

I appreciated the distance in perspective from what Atwood gave us in The Handmaid's Tale. I especially enjoyed Aunt Lydia's perspective and the story of her indoctrination. As the three narratives drifted closer together, I found myself eager for further development of the tale instead of hearing the same tale from different points of view. Still, this should be required reading for the contemporary age.

7. Bettyville by George Hodgman (2015)

Hodgman pieces together vignettes that seem at times unrelated to the next or the last, but he somehow manages to weave together a narrative that is as complete as one can hope. The relationships he gives us are at once sad and humorous, and painfully true when it comes to hiding our fears from the ones we love. This book is ultimately a declaration of the love and forgiveness he has for his mother. And ultimately, oddly, it's also a demonstration of the love she has for him.

8. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (2021)

This memoir written about a time of sorrow and unknowing follows the writer's exploration of her memories and she applies them to her present day in that common humanistic attempt to make sense of it all. The journey of this book feels authentic, especially because Zauner provides a fantastic soundtrack through Japanese Breakfast that corroborates and reiterates the feelings in the book. She has so much love for her mother and it comes through. (Also, I want to go to Korea and eat all the things now.)

9. Homegrown by Jeffrey Toobin (2023)

It's amazing that we (and Toobin) have access to so many pieces of evidence of McVeigh's life. This book feels exhaustive, but I was glued to everything right up until McVeigh goes into custody. The early sections of the court case got a little dry, but keeping those sections were the right editorial choice because it showed the excessive expenses associated with his defense. Toobin lured me back in. My wife was glad when I finished this one because I finally stopped coming home and saying, "Back to Tim McVeigh -- GET THIS!" and launching into what I learned about him/the case. The whole thing is fascinating.

10. On Animals by Susan Orlean (2021)

An interesting look at how humans interact with various animals in a specific time and place, but also throughout history. Well researched, but full of warm language. A plethora of interesting tidbits to share with the wife (that she doesn't really care about probably, but she humors me and listens).

11. We Hold Our Breath by Micah Fields (2023)

Though I've visited a half-dozen or so times, Houston has never had a definable personality for me. I appreciated the personality of the city Fields gives us here, but his real accomplishment is the portrait he provides of his imperfect mother. It's in how he writes honestly about her flaws that we see the love he has for her. That's not easy to do.

Previous Book Lists: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011.

[gchoate17]

People are loving my Top 10 Arkansas Meals this year. LOVING IT. Go read it here.

[gchoate17]