For the sake of being succinct

Why is it we all seem to create lists around New Years? Lists of goals for the new year, lists of favorite parts of the year that's gone. I suppose it's for the sake of being succinct. So that when you look back on 2008, you won't have to sift through all the nonsense to find what was important to you. That said, life is in the details to me. I don't want to be a big walking highlight reel; we're more than that. We're made up of all the insignificant interactions, the mundane tasks, and that one song you hated that they played on the radio every 7 minutes. Oh sure, I'm gonna post my lists - but please try to remember that they're not all that I am.

Top 5 Songs of the 2008

1. If the Brakeman Turns My Way - Bright Eyes (Get out of my head, Conor!)
2. Coney Island - Good Old War (Where the hell have you been all my life?)
3. Record Year For Rainfall/Valerie Plame - The Decemberists (I couldn't decide!)
4. Radio, Radio (Live, Washington DC 1978) - Elvis Costello (AuralOrgasm)
5. Lost! - Coldplay ("You know how I know you're gay?")

Top 5 Experiences of 2008

1. Burning the cardboard bar with Andrew: It was the perfect way to say goodbye to my best friend without having to actually say it. I will remember sitting on that beach for the rest of my life.

2. The Decemberists at the Wiltern with Lindsay: Nothing else could have made me happy to have turned down my #1 tour guest.

3. Coldplay at the Pond with Drew: 10 feet away from Chris Martin when he played "The Scientist" with a wonderful new friend? Top THAT.

4. Writing Disney's Happiest Haunts Tour: Having created a product for a company like Disney is a feeling I never really understood until I had done it. It's very hard to put yourself creatively on the line that way, and I will cherish the feeling of immense accomplishment forever. Also, getting to tell Nick and John that my tour out-sold the Holiday tour this year was the best "take THAT" moment of 2008.

5. Getting my first tattoo: Yes, I said first. I got something meaningful, something literary, something I had been doodling on notebooks for 6 years. It took 3 hours and was not pleasant, but the pain was a bit cathartic and I couldn't be happier with the end result.

Top 5 Movies of 2008

1. The Dark Knight - EPIC comic book win
2. Wall-E - John, you've done it again.
3. Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Dear god, hilarious.
4. Sweeney Todd - I set the bar high for this one, and they met it.
5. Australia - Can we please, for god's sake, get Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale shirtless in a musical already? I don't think it's so much to ask for. Just be hot and sing to me.

Top 5 Books I read in 2008

1. Born Standing Up - Steve Martin
2. The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch
3. Team of Rivals - Doris Kearns Goodwin
4. The Pixar Touch - David A. Price
5. Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 - Hunter S. Thompson

Top 5 Things I Could Not Stop Thinking About in 2008

1. The election
2. Money
3. School
4. Work
5. Ways to trap my friends so they cant all move to fucking Europe.

Top 5 TV Shows of 2008

1. West Wing (It's been off the air for 2 years, and it's STILL the most relevant show on television.)
2. Dr. Who
3. Heroes (I finally got on the bandwagon in '08)
4. The Office
5. Top Gear/Daily Show (tie)

OK, there you have it. I'm sure I forgot a whole lot of things - perhaps I should have done quarterly lists. Fare thee well, 2008!