It’s another year, which means it’s finally time to write a blog entry about the past year. It’s time to recap what happened in list format, focusing of course on consumerist media and glossing over the things that really mattered emotionally, like our children’s milestones – the fact that Simon is actually a little human now in more than a simply biological sense and that Cecily infuriatingly refers to me either as “mommy” or “dolly” and is currently not napping even though she’s supposed to be darn it.

But first, let’s begin with everyone’s favorite part of the program (I know it certainly is mine!) and see how totally I failed this past year at resolution-keeping.

  • Write and “publish” a piece of interactive fiction each month.
    Massive Failure! This didn’t happen. At all.
  • Read a dozen books. Seriously. That’s not that many.
    Failure. I did better than last year, but not much. I think I read the first two books in the Dragon Tattoo series, along with a few odds and ends, but still probably never even reached the halfway point.
  • Come home in time for family dinner as often as possible.
    Success? Pat on the back to my past self for such a vaguely worded resolution that it’s hard to fail. Still, I felt like I worked later than I needed to more often than necessary.

Let’s move on! What’s up next, fair reader? What does 2014 hold for Scott’s Bound-for-Failure Resolution Wheel? Let’s give it a spin and find out where it lands.

  • Balance the family budget.
  • Brush up on programming enough to make a little game or project.
  • Read a dozen books. This is my year, I feel it.
  • Never yell at Simon. Not once.

That’s more things than last year. How can I possibly succeed? Maybe next year, one of my resolutions can be to not set myself up for failure. Alas, a man can dream.

Enough self-reflection. It’s time to turn our judgmental glares upon the stuff I watched, played, and barely read over the past year. Last year’s list format worked so well that I would be a fool to try something new. Here goes.

Best Movie I Saw in Theaters: Frozen
Best Movie I Saw in DBOX: Fast & Furious 6
Best Movie I Rented from Work: Les Miserables
Best Movie I Rented from Work and Didn’t Watch but Really Do Mean to Getting Around to Some Day: Argo
Best Movie I Bought on Black Friday Having Never Seen It Before: Pacific Rim
Best Movie I Didn’t See: Gravity
Best Movie in the Tinker Bell Series: Tinker Bell
Best New TV Show: Orange is the New Black
Best Old TV Show: Modern Family
Best New TV Show I Only Watched 2 Episodes Of: The Wrong Mans
Best TV Show to Keep Simon Entertained for Hours: Busytown Mysteries
Best TV Deal: Slurpees for Hulu Plus
Best Book I Read: Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish
Best Book I Thought About Reading: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
Best Book I Started Reading: Ready Player One
Best Thing Simon Said: “OK, girl, I’m going to flash you, OK?”
Best “Entertainment Weekly Best Album” Album I Bought: Same Trailer Different Park
Best “Entertainment Weekly Worst Album” Album I Bought: This is…Icona Pop
Best AAA Game: Bioshock Infinite
Best Indie Game: Guacamelee
Best Indie Game (Future): Starbound
Best Game According to Simon: The Cave
Best Game Where I Can Dress Up Like the Monkey King: Sleeping Dogs
Best Game for Making Me Think I’m Working on Sims Medieval: Desktop Dungeons
Best Game I Thought I Was Going to Dislike: Gone Home
Best Game I Bought Because of Peer Pressure: Spelunky
Best Game for Winning Free Bao from Brian Kaiser: Zen Pinball 2
Best Toddling: Cecily
Best Na Hoolk: Simon

See you next year!