A look at how I diverted myself in 2011.
Books
FAVORITE BOOKS I READ OR REREAD THIS YEAR, listed in the order I completed them:
Timon of Athens by William Shakespeare, ed. by Anthony B. Dawson and Gretchen E. Minton
How Proust Can Change Your Life by Alain de Botton
Twenty-Eight Artists and Two Saints by Joan Acocella
Call Me by Your Name by Andre Aciman
Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago by Mike Royko
We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live by Joan Didion
Plays
FAVORITE SHOWS I SAW THIS YEAR:
1. Church/Pullman, WA (Red Tape Theatre).
2. Solo Works (Theatre Zarko).
3. Moby-Dick (The Building Stage).
4. Waiting for Drew Peterson (The Annoyance).
For a complete rundown of the year's theatrical highlights, please see the post dated December 11, where you will find The Coasties: Fool's Gold Coast's Second Annual Non-Monetary Awards Recognizing Achievement in the Dramatic Arts.
Movies
FAVORITE MOVIES I SAW THIS YEAR:
1. The Tree of Life.
2. Of Gods and Men.
3. Cave of Forgotten Dreams.
Art
FAVORITE EXHIBITS I SAW THIS YEAR, listed in the order I saw them:
Erik de Bat, "Risk and Reward" @ Hilton Renaissance
"Nulla Dies Sine Linea" @ Instituto Cervantes
Matt Irie, "You Are the Vanishing Point" @ Ebersmoore
"Windows on the War: Soviet TASS Posters at Home and Abroad, 1941-1945" @ Art Institute of Chicago
Charles James, "Genius Deconstructed" @ Chicago History Museum
Primary Interests
US politics, female vocalists, my family, my dog Lucy, comedy, books, movies, theater, Chicago, pop music, Kito, the Internet, the BFF.
Glitter
It's New Year's Eve. Go nuts!
Happy 2012, everybody!