The thing about being in my late 40s and having the brain
that I do is that time gets a little iffy for me. Oh, I’m fully oriented, but
I’m never sure if certain things occurred unless I check at least three other
sources to verify. 2018 was a year of things that I’m fairly confident I said,
thought, or did. C’mon gang, let’s look at the highlights!
The Iceman Cometh
 |
| courtesy of my dear dear friends @ Variety |
– and Jane was remindeth that lord above, New York City is a lot of work. In May, my spouse and I traveled to New York, the
primary motivation being to see Denzel Washington in Eugene O’Neill’s rollicking
kneeslapper, “The Iceman Cometh”. In my younger days, going to New York City
was thrilling and, as the song says, I wanted to be a part of it. As a bitch in
my 40s, I was exhausted seconds after
we landed. Though that might have been the waking nightmare that is LaGuardia.
Note to self: fly into ANY OTHER AIRPORT should my presence ever be required
again in NYC. I did finally go to MOMA, a joint I’d never managed to roll
through when I used to go to New York somewhat regularly, and that was very
very good. Seeing Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night”, one of my favorite paintings,
in person was rather moving. We then hopped on a train and hustled ourselves
down to our lady Kristin to see what was doing in her neck of the woods, and
paid a visit to Washington DC. Massive pick to click: the National Museum of
African-American History and Culture. Holy
cats is all I can say. Also a highlight – staying in a hotel that has
mothercrunking bunk beds.
Chicago’s Very Own
John Mulaney
 |
| John Mulaney from "Kid Gorgeous" |
We saw him, he’s terrific, I would like to be his friend and I don’t quite understand why I’m not.
David Duchovny –
I had another 5.4 second visit with one of my most beloved ex-Imaginary
Celebrity Boyfriends in August. That was delightful. The picture? Well, he
looks good. But he always looks good. *leers politely*
Tickets made me angry
– I got hosed on getting tickets to see Massive Attack because Ticketmaster
blows. I was also testy with my fun-sized rage angel Trent Reznor because I
don’t know how to read good sometimes. I was more successful with getting
passes to Star Wars Celebration for April 2019 – well, for one day, at least.
Sunday. The day that will probably not be a day when cool things and/or people
appear because that’s going to be Saturday.
And I will be there Sunday.
The Foo Fighters at
Wrigley Field
 |
| A sign for the Foo Fighters. I do not have a picture of a sign for U2. |
That was good! The Hotel Zachary, the “boutique hotel”
across the street from Wrigley Field, was darn fine!
U2 at the United
Center – that was also good! Those fellows sure know how to put on a show.
How Did This Get Made
– seeing Jason Mantzoukas in the flesh was a gift. I laughed so hard at a
certain bit I almost hyperventilated, which is a mark of a quality live comedy
podcast.
Avengers: Infinity War and other Fandom nonsense (spoilers and standard weirdness from me, your host)
 |
| "WHY" - my soul at "Avengers: Infinity War" |
I Called Captain
America “Honey” – and it was spectacular.
I Cooked Sometimes
– and I usually took photos of it.
 |
| Stuffin'. Or dressing. Whatever. |
Went To Vegas in the
Summer, Enjoyed a Cabana – I ate at Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen and holy
mother of fuck, the sticky toffee pudding is legit insane. I cocktailed
thoroughly. I lost my ass gambling. Went swimmin’ (well, floated around since I
don’t know how to swim) in a pool. All the hallmarks of a quality trip.
The Tooth and Nothing
But – I had a tooth decide to get enraged with me and had my first root
canal. The two-month long saga of repairing it has finally come to an end as I
now have my permanent crown. A crown that my insurance won’t pay for because it
is garbage insurance. America!
Uhhhh What Else What
Else – I saw some movies, like “BlackKKlansman” (which was very good!),
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (also very good!), “The Favourite” (oh shit this was good!), “Black Panther”
(seriously so good!) and “Annihilation” (it was fascinating/weird/good and
provided me with one of the best 2018 exchanges with my belov’d spouse:
Spouse (as Oscar Isaac’s character coughs up blood): Is he
still sexy vomiting blood?
Me: Yes. Yes, he is.
I also watched some television that I enjoyed a bunch, like
“The Good Place”, “Big Mouth”, “Bojack Horseman”, “Better Call Saul”, and
“Brooklyn 99”. “The X-Files” swung through for another season and I dug it, but
you know it’s my ride-or-die show. “The Venture Brothers” came back for an
all-too-brief season on Adult Swim and my gosh, this show. Not only is it a
fucking treasure trove of comedy with many references directed squarely at
those of us of Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer’s generation (that would be me),
but it’s also a show that is deeply invested in its characters and, in turn,
makes the viewer give a serious damn – and
it’s a cartoon. I just love it to bits. And even though he may now be consigned
to the ex-Imaginary Celebrity Boyfriend pile, Benedict Cumberbatch killed it in Showtime’s “Patrick Melrose”.
(I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.)
 |
| GRITTY WILL GET US THROUGH |
Weeping Publicly
While Seated – I capped off the year with a 36-hour visitation to Las Vegas
so I could have my not-frequent-enough public weeping/anger purge at Nine Inch
Nails. It was the first show of theirs that I literally sat through, which was
kind of odd (but made sense since I was in the balcony), but I still managed to
have a fine release of stress and anger and sadness like I always do at a NIN
show.
I Wrote a Lot (said
to the tune of “We Care a Lot” by Faith No More) – it’s stuff that you
haven’t seen yet and maybe never will, but this year was the most prolific I’ve
been since the very early 2000s. I’ve created a bit of a romcom-ish universe of
my own and it’s very fun (for me) to conjure up these little stories (and by
“little” I mean 130-150 page screenplays – I get…wordy) and it keeps me off the
ledge, off the street, and mentally functioning better because I’m able to
direct some of the hot nonsense that likes to kick my ass around into a more
productive, um, thing.
What’s On Deck for
2019: I can tell you I’ll be back in Vegas with m’lud in February for our
standard birthday/wedding anniversary trip. We’ll be seeing Thomas Middleditch
and Ben Schwartz be amusing at the Chicago Theater in April. That same month,
we’ll be swanning through McCormick Place to see just how nerdbirdy it gets at
Star Wars Celebration. That much I know for sure.
I hope my brain continues to cooperate with my medication as
we have had a reasonable détente for the last year and a bit. I hope I can
figure out a way to be fulfilled and successful at something that I actually
like doing. I hope I can stop being quite so haunted by my age and my failures.
I hope I can take the voluminous, bordering on sentient anger I have and make
it work positively in some fashion. I hope I can be happy.
