2008 has been a great year for a lot of things, especially reading. What I read this year, plus some casual criticism and links to previous casual criticism, after the jump. (more…)
Archive for the ‘2008’ Category
Year in Read, 2008
December 30, 2008The Year of Magical Happenings
December 12, 2008
However you feel about 2008, it’s undeniable that a lot happened. There was the primary, the New Jersey high end hooker, Bear Sterns, the Olympics, the housing bubble, the election, Prop 8, the auto crisis and the senate seat up for auction. Even if you’re not a black, gay Olympian managing the New York or Illinois state governments’ portfolio, it’s still been a hell of a year. For the first time in my life, I’m aware that I’m living through history. I should start taking notes.
2008 was a crazy year for me in every way, even on an iPod level. This year, I bought a nano, gave away my dying one, was given a classic ipod as a joke, which I regifted to my roommate, lost my new nano and was given my friend’s old iTouch.
Along with all the current events, I will look back on 2008 as the year my life started being what I wanted it to be. I suppose I could have skipped college and started writing fulltime seven years ago, but it took me until 2008 to feel like I could.
I’ve been close with my best friend since 8th grade. Now she’s getting a PhD in anthropology. We’ve known each other since before we knew what our dreams would be. Today, another friend of mine is moving into an apartment he’ll own. The older we get and the more 2008s we experience, the less we grow up with our friends and the more we agree with their lifestyle choices. I don’t know how to feel about that fact other than it’s true.
2007 Is So Over
December 15, 2007
Pronouncements about the end of the year come too quickly. There are still sixteen days left of 2007, and as the past fortnight taught me, a lot can happen in two weeks. It’s too soon for definitive statements about 2007, but I’m ready for some unambiguous ambitions for 2008.
A friend once asked me why people wait until the holidays to be nice and resolve to change their lives. A whale oil miracle doesn’t do much for my love of humanity, but New Year’s is just a good excuse to reassess and make goals.
My first resolution is start writing a book. About five months ago, I decided I’d rather be unpublished than never try. I gave myself J1 as a start date and told a lot of people about my plan. My hope is that I’ll feel socially obliged to carry it out.
My second resolution is to stop relying on email and text messages to socialize. I’m an adult, and if I can’t have a two minute conversation about meeting up at a bar, then I don’t deserve a drink.
There you have it: My dreams for 2008 are to become a failed novelist and to have a higher cellphone bill, or a lower one—I’m not too clear on how Verizon works.
As many girls from my high school yearbook put it, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you fail, you’ll be among the stars.” That doesn’t make sense astronomically, but the point is, it’s better to try and fuck up than to just be a fuck up. Feel free to think about that one later.
Don’t Stop (Believing)
June 21, 2007In a history seminar my senior year, my professor asked the class if we thought ads were manipulative, and then asked if we felt manipulated by them. Sometimes self-awareness is useless: everyone raised their hands to both questions.
The story reminds me of my reaction to the Hillary Clinton ad.
For an official interpretation of why the ad works, I recommend The Washington Post. For me, the Sopranos references align so well with the country’s relationship with the Clintons. Hillary saying “remember the good times” echoes the Sopranos’s series finale, but also parallels how she wants Americans to think about the Clintons. Sure, there was Monica, health care, the lack of peace in the Middle East, but who didn’t have a great time in the 90s with Bill in office and Hillary on the wings? The Chelsea/Meadow parallel parking joke works in the same way. We’ve known Chelsea since she was 13. From braces to the gawker stalker, we’ve watched her grow up and she’s been a great first kid. Even Bill and Hill’s bad acting is winning.
The ad is supposed to make Hillary appealing to the average voter. And it does, but Clinton gets points from me for the ad’s artistry and understanding of the new importance of YouTube. Or maybe I’m just rationalizing just how well the ad has manipulated me.
Before this week, Barack Obama had almost accidentally been winning the YouTube campaign front with user-generated spots like Vote Different and I Gotta a Crush … On Obama. But in 90 seconds, Hillary reminds us how a Clinton campaign rolls. I hope they’re making The War Room 2.
It’s Not TV
June 20, 2007Looks like Team Hillary finally figured out how to use Bill.
