Final post of 2005

[bookzombie]

So, what sort of year has it been?

My review of the year

Good stuff
WisCon - getting back a second time, meeting old friends again and making new ones.
Joining LiveJournal - what a wonderful way of keeping in touch with people it has been.
Writing and submitting my first story - I thought this would never happen. Thanks pennski and John Meaney for encouraging me.
Rejoining the musical society - we are having such fun with the show.
Getting my interim pay review - not so much for the money (but hey, not complaining) but for finally getting some recognition for my efforts.
Finally losing enough weight that I could get my wedding and engagement ring off for the first time in about 8 years - a small but significant milestone.
Discovering some good Manga and Anime - proof that it's not all about giant robots!

Not so good stuff
It's been a pretty tough year at work - not a bad year, but a tough one. A little more relaxed next year would be good.
The incredible leaking drain - a pre-LJ thing I think, but I will spare you the grisly details.
Health - it's been pretty good most of the year, but the end of the year has been marked by coughs, colds and general run down-ness.
Temper - related to the work thing, I've probably lost my temper more frequently this year than I have for many years. Mainly, it tends to be the person who happens to approach me when I'm already irritated! Must try better in 2006...

Book highlights
I find this harder to do year on year. Maybe it's because I've read so much now that little surprises me. So below is a list of books I enjoyed for various reasons, offered without comment.
Memory and Dream - Charles De Lint
Resolution - John Meaney
Century Rain - Alistair Reynolds
Stamping Butterflies - Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Lots of stuff by Harlan Coben
Conrad's Fate - Diana Wynne Jones
Banner of Souls - Liz Williams
Olympos - Dan Simmons
Fruits Basket - Natsuki Takaya (up to volume 12)
River of Gods - Ian McDonald
1610: A Sundial in a Grave - Mary Gentle
Singularity Sky - Charles Stross
Live Bait - P. J. Tracy
The Dork Tower books - John Kovalic
Blind Lake - Robert Charles Wilson
Firebirds - ed. Sharyn November (anthology of the year!)
Which Lie Did I Tell? - William Goldman
Harrowing the Dragon - Patricia McKillip (collection of the year!)

Films and TV
As always, we didn't make it to the cinema as much as we'd like this year. But of the things we did see, Serenity was everything I hoped, the Wallace and Grommit movie was great fun and Mr and Mrs Smith hugely enjoyable (only spoiled by a lazy 'shoot out' ending). I enjoyed both the new Harry Potter film and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe more than I expected. Revenge of the Sith was what I expected - better than the previous two but nothing special and The Corpse Bride was surprisingly disappointing.

The revamped Doctor Who was not perfect, but still excellent overall and much better than it could have been. Russell T. Davies is not necessarily the best writer for the show: all of the non-Davies episodes were good, but Steven Moffat's two-parter (The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances) was for me the highlight of the season: funny, scary and heart-warming.
Another highlight for British TV was the recent adaptation of Bleak House. I'm not much of a Dickens fan, but this had me glued to the screen. Charles Dance was particularly good. But, oh, those jump cuts were annoying!
Fruits Basket made me fall in love anew with Anime, and Haibane Renmei helped confirm it. We've also been catching up with the Studio Ghibli stuff, which has been universally charming.
The two US imports which had us hooked this year were, predictably, Lost, though I doubt its longevity, and more surprisingly Veronica Mars. This one started off weak but after a couple of episodes we fell in love with it. Despite the lack of supernatural elements it was the most Buffy-like series on TV this year.



And that's it for now. A Happy New Year to all and I hope we get to catch up with everyone in person in 2006.

And remember, as Clarence puts in the book at the end of It's a Wonderful Life "Remember, no man is a failure who has friends". Thanks for all your friendship this year.

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[numbat.livejournal.com]

As online communities go LiveJournal is the best I've encountered. I look forward to posting more often now the mad rush of the holiday season is mostly over with at work.