Best of 2008

I have already listed most of the albums that I found most interesting for this year. Kathleen Edwards, Alejandro Escovedo, Centro-Matic, the Raconteurs and, of course, The Hold Steady. There are others. My Morning Jacket and Vampire Weekend both proved to be far more interesting than I had anticipated. I just downloaded the Fleet Foxes album, and as Ubub told me, I do like it a lot. All of these are worth listening to multiple times. I have others in the sidebar, but these are truly my favorites.

But what else was a favorite of 2008?

Goes without saying that one of my favorite moments was that Tuesday evening in early November when America voted against the Republican policy of the last 8 years, looked past prejudice, and actually voted for someone smart. That certainly made the list, because I was pretty nearly convinced that McCain would still win, despite all the problems. I was reminded of that the other night, when I remembered the RNC convention. My back was hurting so very badly, and Sarah Palin scared me very much--at least, as SOF pointed out, until she started speaking. That was a low moment for the year.

Best live music. We didn't do as much live music this year as in the past, but saw a few good shows. Top of that list, I think, would have to be Slaid Cleaves here in Norman. Tremendous show and he demonstrated, again, why he is one of the best artists that most have never heard of. Also loved the Greencards, and another contender was seeing my friend Terry Ware's Shambles play at the Norman Music Festival.

Best book. I read quite a lot, but yet struggle to come up with good books to pass on. For this year, however, the best book was Tony Horowitz' Blue Latitudes--which was the reading I chose for our trip to Hawaii. I could not possibly have chosen a better book for this particular trip, and my only regret was that it wasn't just a little longer. I finished it in Hawaii and had to scrounge to find something to read on the way home. This book centered me on this cruise and gave me a historical and cultural context to understand the Pacific.

Best Vacation. We skied in Taos in March and had a great time, but it is very hard to match the trip to Hawaii. Thanks to SOF's parents, we had the vacation that we would never do on our own--truly a one-in-a-lifetime type trip.

Best Family moment. And we had a lot this year. The aforementioned Hawaii trip included several such great moments with the family. But beyond Hawaii, we had a lot of great family connections. We began 2008 with our nieces K and M, and my parents, in Oklahoma City freezing in the New Year. We met my folks in San Antonio for K's graduation, and then, of course, had a snowy Christmas in Colorado just last week. It was a good year for family, and I hope 2009 is another.

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I am sure there is more that I would like to add to this list, and I probably will as I think about the past year, but this will suffice for now. I know this is the 3rd of January, but I am still in New Year's mode and wishing you all a great New Year.