It’s been a slow process, but I’ve been able to gather the extent of my literary losses following the untimely dispatching of my hard drive in October. It could’ve been way worse, but here was the damage: I lost the first drafts and doodlings of my most recent poems, the redrafting I’d accomplished in August of Ministers of Grace Book 2: Virtues & Occultations, and an embarrassing number of photographs that never made it to Instagram. Somehow I’ve been able to sleep at night. I’m not entirely devastated by the loss off the headway that I’d made on Book 2, as it wasn’t substantial, and I still have the copious notes I’d made to expand the text into something that adheres to the series as a whole.
This past Saturday (11/30) was the fourth anniversary of Sage Holloway and the Ministers of Grace universe taking up a whole complex of houses in my head. Sage and I have been talking about getting back into Book 2 again. She’s got some ideas as to how she and Merula can kick more tail than they did in the first draft. Of course, we’re going to have to carve out some time for that. Ever since grad school ten years ago, I’ve discovered that the holidays are the worst time for trying to get anything writerly done. In fact, during the first draft, I had to take a break one-third of the way in because Christmas hit, and I resumed work after New Year’s in order to complete it by 1/20/10. I have no expectations for being massively productive over the holidays, as I’ve just moved yet again (but hopefully for the last time for a long time, really and truly and mercifully, after eight times in eight months), but if I do manage to get in some serious writing time, you can count me among the pleasantly surprised this holiday season. If not, know that writing a few times a week is going to make it to my assembly of do-this-in-2014 imperatives.
And on a side note, I have been trying to get Cherubim & Seraphim added to the iBookstore, but the review process is taking a shocking amount of time. I’ll let you know as soon as it’s available for sale there.
One of the things that I regularly engage in over the holidays is listing my favorite things that I experienced over the course of the year and sharing them among a set of interested parties. As this year was a particularly expansive year – one in which I was on the receiving end of so many generous blessings – I’m feeling similarly generous. Please find below my top fives sometimes moar, sometimes less of the Best Year Ever.
♥ EAB
films – cinema excursions
1. Pacific Rim – I’d had no idea that this film was about kaiju, and the surprise was so welcome that I squealed in the cinema when I found out. Guillermo del Toro always pulls together fantastic things, and this is no exception.
2. Fruitvale Station – A harrowing film about the shooting of Oscar Grant in Oakland at the Fruitvale BART station back on New Year’s Eve 2008/9. You’ll cry at least part of your face off, but it’s worth it.
3. Man of Steel – I’d never found the Superman mythology compelling until I saw this film. I know the reviews were mixed on this one, but I loved it.
4. Evil Dead – I was heavily skeptical about this, given my love for the original Evil Dead trilogy and the musical, but it was actually scary.
5. The Conjuring – Great little horror flick about the Warrens. Love it.
6. Catching Fire – While I had serious issues with the engineering within The Hunger Games trilogy, I do think that the cinematic version of this tale can be saved. That Susanne Collins isn’t the primary writer on the screenplays means that it might actually be done right.
honorable mentions
1. Three Days of the Condor – There were a few films (often based on books!) from the 1970s that prophesied a time when corporations would rule the world, politicians would be powerless to those who manage their pursestrings, intelligence agencies would run amok without legislative oversight and the government’s assassination program would target innocents. Sidney Pollack helmed this one and cast his pal Robert Redford as the beleaguered lead in this often overlooked gem.
2. One of the amaaaazing things about being back in New York is getting to see screenings of classic films at IFC and the Sunshine Cinema. I got to see a couple of my favorites this year: The Shining and Poltergeist. Seeing the full frame of The Shining on the big screen was particularly impressive, as all previous video releases were all in the 4:3 aspect ratio. (I can’t attest to BluRay editions, though.)
b-films
1. The Room
2. The Room
3. The Room – While it might seem absurd to name a film thrice, it’s because The Room is an unforgettable film, so much so that I believe that chanting it has to summon some terrible Beetlejuice-like creature with even worse hair and an indecipherable accent. It is rightly referred to as the Citizen Kane of bad films. While I adore the laughably regrettable and regrettably laughable missteps that comprise The Room as it is endured within the comfort of one’s own home, it pales to the interactive experience that one finds at a midnight cult showing. If there’s one by you and you’ve already partaken in The Room’s hideousness, go now or forever use your plastic spoons sensibly.
4. Samurai Cop – If you were obsessed with Lethal Weapon photo stills and unillustrated martial arts how-to books and had never actually seen a film in your whole goddamn life, this would be the movie you’d make. It is a counterintuitive mess featuring a migrating wig and a scene-stealing police captain.
5. Sharknado – I gave into the hype, and it was pretty funny. The sheer concept of it is SyFy gold.
tv
1. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Joss Whedon (et al, as the case is), as brilliant as he is, has a hard time starting a serialized story. For example, Buffy the film wasn’t as good, and neither were the first few episodes of the tv series, but after it hit a stride a few episodes in, it was outstanding. The same thing went with Angel. And Firefly. In other words, you kinda have to weather that rough start to get to the gold. After a few episodes, I can confidently state that I’m hooked although I admittedly wasn’t convinced at first.
2. Game of Thrones – This show is so damn good I can’t take it. #redwedding. That’s all.
3. House of Cards – When I got my Netflix back – yay! – the first suggestion they made was this, and I binged. Brilliantly done.
4. Law & Order – I watched all of it – all twenty seasons, every last episode in reverse order – during the winter while I was creating the final version of my book. It was a Benjamin Button experience, watching Sam Waterston age backwards until Michael Moriarty laid him to rest after cradling his infantine head and, too, aged backwards. This show became a standard for anthological cop/law tv, I miss it, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that. FYI: S. Epatha Merkerson does not age. The only change she ever makes is her wardrobe.
5. South Park – They’re still doing it, and they’re still killing it.
Perennial favorites still include Psych, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report.
miscellaneous streamables
1. Life of Pi – I still don’t like narratives about writers writing, but it’s such a beautiful film, so much so that I can even forgive the weird writer guy for looking so checked out every time he was on camera.
2. Scott Pilgrim – I don’t know why I missed this one, but I’m glad I righted this wrong. Speaking of Michael Cera…
3. This Is the End.
4. The Dark Knight Returns, Parts I & II – Part II was released this year, and it was just as wicked as the previous installment.
5. The Bletchley Circle – A surprising little British miniseries about a group of female codebreakers from Bletchley tracking down a serial killer in the ’50s.
music
1. Queens of the Stone Age – …Like Clockwork – I love these guys, and they’re back. The tracks in which Dave Grohl is on drums are transcendental.
2. Wye Oak – Civilian – Singer Jenn Wasner has a husky frankness in her voice, like she’s letting you – and only you – in on a secret.
3. Metz – METZ – Death by Audio, the music venue in Williamsburg, contains an innate falsehood in its name. The truth is that there are many other things that can kill you there, from the deterioration of the structural integrity of the warehouse in which it’s located, to the electrical system, and back again to the complete lack of temperature control therein. The only thing that won’t kill you is the music, but it is probable – and only probable and not due to one’s assertions on theology – that if you do die due to the collapse of a support beam while rocking out, you might be en route to heaven. When I caught Metz there in August ’12, the experience was such that I know that I will never, ever be as hot as I was in that venue after the power had failed and the indoor temperature soared well over 110 degrees. Nevertheless, I was so impressed by the band that they’ve been on my radar ever since, even though I only really dove into this album this summer.
4. The M Machine – Metropolis I and Metropolis II – If you like electronica, start with “The Palace” on Metropolis II. You should be totally in love by the time you hit “Tiny Anthem.”
5. Stevie Wonder – Innervisions – The day after I flew into LGA and moved back to NYC, I had brunch at Grey Dog in Chelsea, and “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing” came on, after Supertramp’s “Take the Long Way Home” played, and it was an apropos welcome home. This album was consequently on heavy rotation in the weeks that followed my return, and I recommend y’all revisit it, too.
books/comics
1. Brian K. Vaughan – Y: The Last Man – This is a phenomenal graphic novel series about a world in which all males on the planet have been wiped out by some mysterious illness save a 20-something human named Yorick and his monkey Ampersand. It’s an incredible critique on society as well as the underdeveloped state of feminism. I’ve been talking about this since I binged on all ten volumes over Memorial Day weekend.
2. Stephen King – Doctor Sleep – I’m a King apologist, so while this is flawed, it was great to reconnect with Danny Torrance and feel some of the terror that King can convey in prose.
3. Michael Lewis – The Big Short – Great little narrative explaining some of the WTF that precipitated the financial crisis of ’08.
4. Victor Cha – The Impossible State – This is a comprehensive, alarming and unforgettable book about the sweeping sovereign dysfunction that is North Korea.
5. John Burnside – The Devil’s Footprints – I love the darkly charming voice in this novel.
honorable mention
T.S. Eliot – “The Dry Salvages” from Four Quartets – It was a religious experience when I read Four Quartets a couple of years ago. I had the treat of making my way to Gloucester this year, where I was able to sit near the ocean and experience the atmosphere that surrounds the actual Dry Salvages, the rock formation just off the coast. The whole time, I had phrases from this portion of “The Dry Salvages” ringing through my ears:
For most of us, there is only the unattended
Moment, the moment in and out of time,
The distraction fit, lost in a shaft of sunlight,
The wild thyme unseen, or the winter lightning
Or the waterfall, or music heard so deeply
That it is not heard at all, but you are the music
While the music lasts.
live things/shows etc
1. Rain Room at MoMA – By far one of the coolest installations ever. It was worth the wait to get in, because everything inside is prismatic and cool (temperature-wise, quite welcome in June) and beautiful.
2. Magritte show at MoMA – I fell in love with Magritte’s clouds when I was visiting MoMA in June for the Rain Room. If you’re into surrealists, I highly recommend this show, esp. as it includes a number of private collection pieces that are stunning to behold with your own eyes.
3. Book of Mormon – Have you ever laughed so hard that you (basically) black out? I laughed until my sides hurt, I thought I was going to puke, and until my brain shut off because it was just too damn funny. Save up your pennies over the course of six months and see this. It’s worth it.
4. The Colbert Report on September 5, 2013 – Not only do you get to see Stephen Colbert out of character, you get to feel his energy. He’s an awesome presence on a stage. Plus I was on camera shouting, KILL THESE KITTENS!!!
5. CitiField – Another great thing about being back in NYC is seeing the Mets play. Hellsyeah.
web & apps
Trust me and clicky-clicky:
1. Texts from Star Trek: The Next Generation
2. This has to be the angriest customer service call ever
3. Pretty things: My Modern Met
4. Moar pretty things: Petapixel
miscellany
1. I released a book, which was a massive life accomplishment. It’s the first in a trilogy called Ministers of Grace, and forgive me, but this is my shameless plug for it if you haven’t read it already. You can read all about it here: http://ministersofgrace.com.
2. I also did some blogging about my time at ———-. Of course, it’s not at all about ———-. Not at all: http://copyclerking.tumblr.com/
3. I am an addict and I must be put down because I can put down a half-dozen donuts from The Cinnamon Snail and still function normally. Best damn food truck in the world, I tell ya!
4. At the start of this year, I made the following vow:
Dear 2013,
While you’re in charge, I vow to pursue expansion, discipline, and transformation with all the ferocity I can muster. I refuse to be limited by my expectations or perceptions.
Love, EAB
It wasn’t always easy, but I made this vow my mission. This has truly been one of the best years of my life, if not the best year so far.
Here’s looking forward to doing it again in ’14.