I was at Kaiser getting some imaging done, and had fun comparing and contrasting my Tern bike to the one already parked.
I observed that the other bike did not have the folding handlebar mechanism and that the light was down on the front fender rather than on the handlebar.
I also checked out the locking method. I use three: a front-wheel lock, a U-lock and cable, and a U-lock on the back wheel that also holds my helmet.
The other bike used wo U-locks and two cables. It looked like it worked well and was fast to set up.
70mm films cost extra, but they often come with fun perks, like this handout for the Brutalist. It contained a sleeve, a brochure highlighting the architect’s works, and a postcard. A24 did a great job of promoting this film and sustaining the idea that László Tóth was a real architect.
Sara writes from Wallace, Idaho, where the town highlights the work done in the old brothels as well as the work done in the mines.
Not learned via this postcard, but learned via text: Lana Turner was born and raised in Wallace, Idaho, at least until her family relocated to Hollywood where Turner was discovered. That was news to this Idaho native.
Getting things done didn’t come as naturally to me in 2024 (and 2023, (and 2022, and 2021, if we are being honest)) as it had before. Early in 2024, I made two sheets of basic stuff, one for my stuff, and one to stay on top of my aunt’s finances.
The sheets took probably 10 minutes to make, and they worked very well. You will notice the additions that appeared as the year went on. The delimitation for books and movies was particularly important. It’s really hard to catch those up in one session at the end of the month so switching up the goal to the 15th and the last day helped.
With my aunt’s stuff, it was nice to cross things off as I canceled things no longer needed.
You will notice that I gave myself the last week in December off. A just reward after a year of good work.
I’ve drafted new sheets for 2025. Let’s see if they work as well as these did.
Letterboxd is like Goodreads for movies, but not owned by Amazon. If you like to keep track of movies you watch, and see your friends’ reviews, check out Letterboxd.
I’m a paying member (It’s like $20/year), so I get stuff, one of which is an expanded year in review.
Here are screenshots from mine:
While I logged 209 films, some of those are short films. I’ve tallied the feature-length films watched in 2024 and the number is 190. As you will see below, July was the biggest month with 25 films (thanks, Covid) and October was the lowest month, with 8 (thanks 50th birthday party).
You can see the influence of both the Hollywood Movie Musical project where I attempted to watch as many movie musicals during my unemployment, starting with the Jazz Singer. That’s how I got five Janette McDonald features. William Wyler being the most-seen director is due to the Filmspotting marathon in the first half of the year.
My biggest week was the week in July I had Covid, when I watched 15 movies. (15!) The movie musicals project really took a great leap forward then. Those high numbers in early February are the Oscar-nominated shorts program, which always throw off the count early in the year. There was only one week I didn’t watch a film, and that (ironically) was the week of my birthday, when I was neck deep in party prep.
I’m glad that my first and last movies of 2024 were both directed by women. I kept track of women-directed films watched, and the total was 57. I’m glad my past goal to watch 52 movies by women in a year has become routine enough that this year I just tracked movies directed by women, rather than written by or directed by women. I think this reflects a slight upswing in directing jobs for women, but probably more my habits and my ability to find movies directed by women.
The Diary Milestones section was interesting, including one movie I watched and had no idea it was a rewatch (Gurnesy), a movie I remembered too late that I barely tolerated one of the actors (Babes), one of my favorite films (Good One) and one of my favorite theater experiences (Outliers and Outlaws).
The other fun thing in this screenshot is the most watched theme: Moving relationship stories (yep, 37 films including Challengers, Nowhere Special, A Real Pain, and Take This Waltz) and the nanogenre weird, dream, journey. That one I had too look up, but yep. Things like Barbie, Turtles All the Way Down, and Nightbitch.
This is always the fun quiz part. Can I remember the films I saw these actors in? We’ve covered Janette MacDonald, but Mr. Chalamet? A Complete Unknown. And what else? Did I watch Call Me By Your Name again?
[Checks]. Ah. I rewatched Lady Bird, plus rewatched Dune, in preparation for Dune: Part Two. So four. No rewatch of Call Me By Your Name.
I am not very good at this game.
I know Catherine O’Hara was in both Beetlejuices, but what about the other two films I saw her in? Apparently she did voice work in Elemental and the Wild Robot. Interestingly, my Zendaya streak is also due to the Dunes, plus Challengers.
Of this list, I think it’s fun that Luca Guadagnino had both one of my favorite films this year (Challengers) and one film that I really did not like (Queer).
Also included in this stat: Longest: Ben Hur (222 minutes, and I watched it over two days). Shortest: I’m Hip (4 minutes, which was an add-on to the Oscar Nominated Short Films Animated Program.
For posterity, here is an alphabetical list of the movies I rated five stars (as of 1/20/25):
Blitz
Challengers
The Fall Guy
Good One
Mean Girls
We Grown Now
Woman of the Hour
And here are the films I rated four stars (as of 1/20/25)
Civil War
Conclave
The Greatest Night in Pop
Hard Truths
Lee
Love Lies Bleeding
My Old Ass
National Anthem
Outliers and Outlaws
The Piano Lesson
A Real Pain
Rebel Ridge
Thank you, Goodnight—The Bon Jovi Story
Tuesday
Turtles All the Way Down
Will & Harper
As always, I look at those lists and think, eh, some of those can be adjusted. My Old Ass? Probably should be in the 5-star crowd. Mean Girls? Maybe actually a four-star movie that I watched very early in the year. But the adjusting can go on forever. I really liked all of these movies.
Thad passed along this unique puzzle, and Matt puzzled away, completing it in a short amount of time. (Some evening game time was sacrificed. And perhaps some normal bedtimes.)
The puzzle mechanism has a surprise, which has not been photographed so the vast readers of this blog don’t have the surprise spoiled. But I was glad I got to see it.
Sara writes from the ski lodge that she had planned to do work while others skied, but the noise and the lack of easy wifi access had her turning in other directions.
Matt came home from Christmas in Michigan with puzzles, and I learned that Matt gets super obsessed with puzzles.
It’s not like I had ever seen him gravitate toward a puzzle when they came into his orbit. But I hadn’t seen puzzles in the Orange Door, and I think that was the difference.
This puzzle was two-sided. He did the first side in Michigan, and came home and puzzled together the other side.
He’s got mad puzzle skills though. Very impressive.
Why yes! It’s 2025! That means it’s time for a new five-year standard diary.
Look how shiny it is!
This brings my time using the standard diary total to 20 full years.
Usually my favorite part about the five-year diary is reading back through the entries of the previous years as I complete each day’s entry. But 2020 through 2024 were rough, and I didn’t often read back as I filled in the 2024 days.
Here’s hoping 2025-2029 will bring smoother sailing.
