Best of the Year, December 2018 Blog Challenge. #2018BOTY

Online graphic is from Beaton’s blog, Becoming the Muse.

Thank you to Beaton at becomingthemuse.wordpress.com for making me aware of this blog challenge! Since I have arrived late to this party, I will have to do this my own way. I am no good at posting daily these days. I have missed the first days, and some of these require me to really ponder my answer. So, I will try to present a few of my entries 2 to 3 times a week. I hope this does not disturb the universe. Yes, I totally stole that one from T.S. Eliot’s poetry, and I have a few others I like to say at random times. 🙂 At any rate, here are my Best from numbers 1 to 5:

1. Movie- Rental: Arrival. This one ‘arrived” on the scene in 2016 and came to me via Netflix DVD, because I have a really hard time getting out to see new movies, what with writing and the like. It is sci-fi, but it is a thinking movie. There is a mystery to solve; you have to pay attention. It also can be quite touching and powerful. Amy Adams’ performance was moving and emotional. Loved it!                                    Movie seen in the theater: BlackkKlansman. The acting was awesome, the plot intense, and the subject matter, heavy. I saw it with my young adult son, and we both loved it and appreciated the message it gave. It was wrought with irony, and sometimes we laughed. At times, I cried. We walked out of that theater, the two of us and everyone else, in silence. The ending was so disturbing in drawing a comparison between 70s/80s Klan activity and racial attitudes to what has gone on this year. Kudos to the director for his raw honesty.

1. TV Show season- Season 2 of “Travellers,” available on Netflix. Superb acting and great writing, despite just a few plotholes. This was a total time travel indulgence for me that had me binge-watching for days. It got me through a sinus infection, and I probably laid around more than necessary, but hey, I was entertained and definitely hooked!

3. Fiction book- The Watchmage of New York, by C.A. Sanders.

It’s magical and has a little of a Neil Gaiman feel to it. It’s the turn of the century, there’s a detective solving crimes, and not every character you encounter is human. Absolutely loved it and highly recommend it!

4. Nonfiction book- Untamed, the Wildest Woman in America and the Fight for Cumberland Island by Will Harlan

I found this woman to be quite an inspiration. She was totally unlike me, but thank God there are people like her. She fought hunters and poachers on the island to protect birds, sea turtles, etc. She would raise a gun to them and defend the island to the death. She was no quitter, and I found that really admirable, as well as finding her strange habits interesting, if not to my taste. (Roadkill just doesn’t appeal to me) 🙂 There were also many chapters that included far out scientific facts about sea turtles and other secrets of nature.

5. Song- Man on Fire, by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. I love this band and have for a few years. They are so natural, free, and loving. In the videos, they look like a bunch of hippies who have gathered in a park to have fun and sing some tunes. Love seems to flow through the smiles of the lead singers. What’s not to like? That, and Man on Fire is downright inspiring. It gets me going when I feel tired in the morning, making me want to go out and use what talent I have to inspire and to love others. I just discovered it this past year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08WeoqWilRQ

Thanks for reading! My plan is, in a few days, to post my Dec. 6-11 Best of the Year.  How about yours?

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