Reflections of the Way Life Used to Be

As I peer through the window of lost time Looking over my yesterday...

The Supremes seem like a nostalgic way to end the year and reflect on 2012.

Personally I had a good year.  There were no big steps backwards.  I didn't have the best of reading years--less than 200 books--but it certainly wasn't the worst either.

Some Favorite Books of the year include:

• The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
• Bring Up the Bodies
• Telegraph Avenue
• Esther Waters
• The Fault in Our Stars
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave
• The Power of Habit
• The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion
• In One Person

I continue to read more crime fiction than I do serious fiction, and 'The American Spy' and 'Before the Poison' were two favorites--as well as the latest Ian Rankin, Madame Ramotse, and Charles Todd books.

The same could be said for my movie viewing.  I watched less than 300 movies, but that isn't bad--not having a TV really helps.  If you can't stream it on Netflix or get it on a DVD, I couldn't watch it.  That doesn't eliminate all the detritus from the video landscape but it sure helps. 

Some Favorite Movies of the year include:

• The Descendents
• The Secret World of Arrietty
• Salmon Fishing in Yemen
•  Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
• The Help
• Chico and Rita
• Safety Not Guarenteed
• Young Goethe in Love
• Moonrise Kingdome
• Monsieur Lazhar

Some significant steps forward were that my eldest son got married--such a nice event, and very heart warming.  My spouse and I were responsible for the food and we did not let the bride and groom down.  I finally managed to get back to exercising regularly afterwards, which had been a huge hurdle that I hadn't managed to crack the code on, but it has been six good months.

My youngest son took his first college classes--he has yet to graduate from high school, but is dipping his toe in the college waters, and that went well.  And that was not a given, so a big relief as well as a big step forward.

All in all, a very good year indeed.  May 2013 be as good or better, and may some of the political lessons learned in 2012 affect the year to come.