My Favorite Movies of 2011

1. Midnight in Paris. I don’t know why I loved this, I just did. It was a fun story and a beautiful look at the city itself.

2. Buck. Documentary about Buck Brannaman, the “horse whisperer”. I saw it at the Nashville Film Festival. I was glad to see it got a somewhat wide release over the summer.

3. Hugo. I went into this movie knowing little about it. I also went to the 3D version, even though I rarely think 3D is worth it. 3D was worth it for this movie. Loved the story, and loved how it was sort of a love letter to the movies.

4. Beginners. Another great story (obviously I tend to like movies with good stories).

5. Tree of Life. I thought the first part (the creation of the earth) was a little bit slow, but beautiful. Once it gets to the story of the family, it picks up. I’m pretty sure I don’t understand what half of it was supposed to mean, but that’s what made it good. Lots to think about afterwards.

Happy New Year!

(photo of Jensen Beach, 1/1/12)


One of my New Year’s goals was to write something every day. It doesn’t really have to be anything special, just anything. So I decided to do it here on my blog. I don’t know if I’ll be able to post something everyday (especially if I’m out of town or away from the computer) but I’m going to try. Who knows what I’ll wind up writing about?

A few years ago I started keeping track of all the movies and books I read in the year. My goal for 2011 was 100 movies and 25 books. I wound up with 121 movies and 33 books. I think for 2012 I’m going to go for 100/40. I would like to do a little less time on movies and more on reading. Of those 40 books, I’m going to try to make 12 of them classics I’ve never read. Lately I’ve been realizing that I am way behind on Russian and English literature.

A few other of my 2012 goals are to do more hiking, spend time in a city I’ve never been, and to cook one new recipe a month.

Looking forward to seeing what 2012 brings!