Best of 2024
It’s that time of year again! For 2024 I decided to mix it up and share my favorite stuff on shuffle. I’m hoping it lets each thing stand on its own rather than feel like a listicle within a category.
Music
My playlist for the best new music of 2024: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1FR1GOJrBKEGRKUxfXRc2r?si=cd8859c2f5f142f5
I reformatted my playlists recently because I wasn’t listening to previous years’ playlists one-by-one after I finish writing these annual posts.
Hm… Should I listen to the best of 2018 or best of 2019?
A question I never ask myself
Now I consolidate them into decades like Best of the 2010’s and the in-progress Best of the 2020’s once this year’s list has passed (about halfway through the next year). Because I’m rarely on the bleeding edge of new music, I recommend following the Best of the 20’s list for the most robust listenable-on-shuffle playlist at the moment.
Selected highlights from 2024:
Also: Doechii’s Tiny Desk Concert on NPR is a must watch.
Just a fun song I keep smiling at whenever it comes on.
How the hell is Crazy Town still around? 😆
The Substance (Prime)
The Substance is just an aesthetic joy. It plays so well with the different “gazes” of the characters and makes you pick apart and hate everyone on the screen. It’s both brutal and unserious in ways reminiscent of my beloved John Wick series. (In case it isn’t obvious, this is a body horror film, so it can be triggering)
Regal Ivy Sleep Bonnet (Regal Ivy)
Do you know how nice it is to wake up with your hair still as smooth and untangled as it was the night before? If so, you either already know about sleep bonnets or don’t have curly/wavy mind-of-its own like mine. Regal Ivy’s bonnets are affordable, have lots of cool styles, and stay on all night long, even when I toss and turn. And I don’t have to keep re-applying all my hair products every day just to keep it from frizzing out.
Delicious In Dungeon / Dungeon Meshi (Netflix)
Honorable Mentions for 2024 Anime on Netflix
- Dan Da Dan
- Ranma 1/2
Both of these are fun, but I wouldn’t consider them amazing just yet.
The Pet Carrier (Away Luggage)
Nothing has made traveling more comfortable and enjoyable than being able to bring Rogue with me on my two trips to the east coast this year.
She’s been amazing at adapting to all the crazy environments and obstacles she’s experienced at various airports and she behaves so well in her carrier under the seat in front of me while we’re in flight.
There’s something so comforting about having my pet with me. It makes the homesick feelings much more bearable.
And she gets along great with the the rest of the family.
The Penguin (Max)
I never feel compelled to watch DC Comics stuff. I can’t stand most of what they produce, especially if Zack Snyder has any influence over it. But since Peacemaker blew my socks off, I’ve been giving them more chances.
The Penguin is exactly what I didn’t know I wanted: a not-at-all-supernatural mafia thriller set in Gotham City. And it holds up with other solid mafia shows while also holding on to the style and world building from The Batman. The acting is impressive. The story is compelling. I looked forward to each episode more as the season progressed.
Honorable Mention for Dramatic Series:
- Shōgun (Hulu/Disney+)
Anthony Jeselnik: Bones and All (Netflix)
I didn’t laugh at loud at any other comedy specials this year, but I was excited for Jeselnik’s special near the end of the year. It doesn’t disappoint.
My Wall of Nick’s Perler Bead Art
My brother Nick enjoys making Perler Bead art of all sorts of things, but he knows my favorite stuff is pixel art from my favorite 8-bit and 16-bit games. He’s been very generous to send me so many of my requests this year.
Once I collected a number of his creations, I decided I needed a good way to display them prominently while still being able to move them around as I collected more. My solution was Velcro. I purchased lots of adhesive Velcro stickers and applied the “hard” sides to the Perler Bead art and hung 2 square yards of black felt on my wall to attach them to.
I’m very pleased with the result. 🥰
Dave the Diver (Steam and elsewhere)
I sunk over 100 hours into spear fishing, restaurant management, and filling drink orders in this cozy game with a fun light atmosphere and stylized graphics.
Niobium Piercings
To my chagrin, I recently learned — despite every piercing place telling me it’s hypoallergenic — surgical steel has nickel in it. It turns out I’ve been having minor allergic reactions to my piercings for at least 20 years. I thought all along my cleaning regimen was a totally normal thing, when in reality others with piercings don’t do quite so much.
But even if I wasn’t switching to niobium for its lack of nickel, I’d certainly consider it for its beauty. This year I swapped all my piercings out for this dark, iridescent metal that’s healed with ease. I’m now a big fan.
Emilia Pérez (Netflix)
This movie is insane in all the best ways. A tragedy from beginning to end with incredible bright points speckled throughout, and a unique storytelling style I didn’t expect to work so well. Don’t spoil too much for yourself and just watch it without looking it up.
Honorable Mention for artsy violent queer movies:
- Love Lies Bleeding (Max)
I Saw the TV Glow (Max)
I already wrote a microblog about I Saw the TV Glow shortly after watching it, and my feelings about it haven’t changed much. These feelings about it co-exist inside me:
- It’s innovative
- It’s deeply emotionally disturbing
- It’s thought-provoking, haunting even, and has been on my mind ever since
- I never want to watch it again
2024 was a great year for horror flicks and shows, at least for my tastes.
Woxer Bold Boxer Briefs (Woxer)
The comfiest undies I’ve ever owned. A little pricey unless you take advantage of sales, but well worth it.
The Xenogenesis Series by Octavia Butler (octaviabutler.com)
I started reading Dawn in 2022 and it hooked me within the first chapter. It was the first book by Octavia Butler I’d read and I was astounded by how she described things with every detail I ever wanted without ever boring me with excess. Even my favorite novels never felt quite so perfectly crafted for me as these.
These science fiction stories are constantly compelling and often incredibly uncomfortable. They tell of an alien race who swoops in as humanity has inevitably doomed itself to nuclear winter, scoops up a few hundred thousand people and other lifeforms, and makes plans for rehabilitating both the planet and its inhabitants… for a cost. All three books are tales of colonialism, indoctrination, and the insidious slow genocide a conquered culture endures even as its descendants “survive”.
Butler was always asked how she could see the future, and she would swat the question away.
I want to talk about what’s going to happen if we keep doing what we’ve been doing, if we keep recklessly endangering the environment, if we keep paying no attention to economic realities, if we keep paying no attention to educational needs, if we keep doing a lot of the things that are hurting us now. And that’s what I wound up writing about, and everything else just kind of fell into place.
Octavia Butler — NPR’s Throughline
I will be reading more from her.
Siren: Survive the Island (Netflix)
This show was recommended by Netflix’s algorithm after I finished enjoying season 2 of Physical 100 and my thumbs up rating for Squid Game probably helped too. Similarly, it’s a Korean reality competition show full of badass people being pushed to their limits.
Siren: Survive the Island pits 6 teams of professionals in extremely demanding fields against each other in a head-to-head battle to gain and maintain control over strategic bases on a deserted island. It’s exciting, inspiring, and surprising. The cameras are often at ground level, so it reminds me of my years running around the wild areas of New jersey firing paintball guns at each other.
Culinary Class Wars (Netflix)
Another Korean reality competition show I enjoyed this year was Culinary Class Wars. If you like Iron Chef, you’ll probably like this too. It also has the good parts of MasterChef without many of its shitty bits.
One of my favorite parts of this grueling cooking competition was the consistent judges sticking around for the entire show. While I didn’t like one of them at first, they both grew on me quickly as they did a good job explaining their choices at each decision point. I also appreciated when they did an entire event blindfolded so they had no idea whose dishes were made by who. There are also interesting team battles. By the end, I feel the winner was wholly deserving and it did a better job than most cooking competitions at getting the rankings right with my perception.
Triangle Strategy (Steam)
The original came out a few years ago, but I got it on sale this year and played it on my Steam Deck for over 100 hours. A really enjoyable strategy game with Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea vibes and a story that repeatedly requires you to make painful decisions between two terrible options. An apt challenge in any election year. Do you focus on harm reduction, go with your personal morals, or optimize for maximum personal gain? The choices you make actually affect the story, which I found really enjoyable.
X-Men ’97 (Disney+)
I’m skeptical of every reboot. I’m also skeptical of anything Disney produces. X-Men ’97 pulls off the incredible feat of feeling true to my own memories and headcanon for the original X-Men series on Fox when I was a kid, while also satisfying my adult desire for mature themes and fearless confrontation of real-world issues. It eases the audience in gently with the first episode but the pace quickens and feels all-killer-no-filler after that.
Honorable Mention for Disney+ slop:
- Star Wars: The Acolyte is above average Star Wars content, so of course they canceled it.
Ketamine Therapy (Legality)
As I mentioned earlier this year, introducing ketamine lozenges into my therapy regimen has done wonders for exploring and treating trauma and depression. If you feel you’re reaching a plateau in how far talk therapy can take you in dealing with similar issues, and you’re comfortable with (or at least not too afraid of) psychedelics, I highly recommend looking into legal and therapist-supervised sessions.
My Meditation Playlist
I don’t know if I’m especially attuned with music or if it’s just a common fact of most people’s experience with psychedelics. The playlist I put on seems to be a great sail with which I guide my tiny boat on the unpredictable seas of a trip.
I usually shuffle my playlists, but my doctor tells me it’s better to have a build-up sequence leading into higher intensity and then a cooldown for ketamine sessions. I built this playlist to be played in sequence and last roughly 2 hours to encompass most of my average session length. There are also lots of pre-built ketamine therapy playlists out there on Spotify and YouTube for inspiration.
Three Body Problem (Netflix)
Three Body Problem is probably my favorite new show of 2024. I’m a sucker for sci-fi, and this one was on my reading list when it came out in book form. Watching this version of it was phenomenal, to the point I’m not sure my imagination could’ve done much better if I were reading it. I’ve never believed this about any other piece of media — I think very highly of my own imagination.
EmuDeck (EmuDeck)
I’ve been loving my Steam Deck ever since I sold my other consoles to buy it, but nothing has made me more of a believer than being able to play every childhood favorite game on it alongside all my current gen titles seamlessly. It takes a good bit of setup, but it’s awesome once you gather all your ROMs and BIOS.
The Diplomat – Season 2 (Netflix)
I totally forgot about this show until Netflix notified me of the 2nd season release this year and I saw that I gave it two thumbs up. Within the season 1 recap I remembered why I enjoyed it so much and season 2 hit the ground sprinting. I binged it in two days and was ready for more right away. If you like political shows, it’s worth checking out.
Shangri-La Frontier (Crunchyroll)
I normally shrug off anime shows in MMORPG settings. I got my fill from .hack and Sword Art Online way back in the day, but Shangri-La Frontier is pretty fun. A big part of why I find it stickier than all the other attempts at this genre is because it skips a lot of filler. It explains its world faster than others do and gets into some action and drama every episode. That said, it’s not very deep. But sometimes I want a fun shallow anime I can giggle at while playing my Steam Deck.
ThermoBall Traction Booties (REI)
One of the few benefits of living in Arizona was the ability to comfortably wear sandals all year round. In California, I can get away with it most months, but these camping slippers let me have footwear that’s comfy, breathable, and easily slips on and off whenever it’s too cold for sandals. I bought them for my Thanksgiving trip to New Jersey (where it felt like 22°F), but I wear them all the time now. They’re perfect for walking the dogs on cold nights.
Will & Harper (Netflix)
This movie is good for today’s world. I hope as many cis people as possible see it.
It’s a heart-warming and heartbreaking look at two rich white friends who made it in the entertainment industry navigating a gender transition. I emphasize those descriptors because they’re impossible to avoid. Everywhere they go, people are on their best behavior for the cameras. Many of them are so starstruck by Will Ferrell (as I would be) to really notice Harper.
They talk about this in the film, to be fair. While there’s certainly some moments of discrimination and harassment documented, it comes in a form that feels less dangerous than the reality. In reality, we experience these things alone, without cameras and witnesses, and at mundane everyday occasions. So while I appreciate this movie is a short, approachable 101 level piece to show fence-sitting Gen X’ers and Boomers, it’s nothing special for people living it or in close proximity and true allyship.
Bluesky
I’ve switched to Bluesky for my regular sharing and online discussion needs. Though I never liked Twitter, Bluesky has grown on me quickly. The ability to create custom feeds and the ability to control what I see is such a basic thing and yet so remarkable in this age of enshittified social products. And it doesn’t even have ads yet!
I’m sure they’ll ruin it soon enough, but I’m happy to be rid of Facebook and it seems the only way to be healthy on these platforms now is to either not use them at all or jump ship for a better one at every opportunity.
Leaving Facebook
I’m finally pulling the trigger on leaving Facebook after years of wanting to.
- For memes, photos, and life updates too minor for a post here I’m using Bluesky.
- For Events, I’m switching to email and Google Calendar.
- If you’d like to join my Bay Area movie group let me know!
- For Messaging, I’m using Signal, Discord, or basic SMS text messaging.
I’m planning to leave Instagram in 2025, but I’m still finding other ways to follow several friends, artists, and other creators I follow on there.
2024 Stuff I Still Want to Check Out
- The City and Its Uncertain Walls – Haruki Murakami (my next book)
- Fallout (Prime)
- Constellation (Apple TV)
Lust in the Rain
I haven’t found this streaming anywhere yet, but it looks cool and has good reviews coming out of Japan so far.
Stuff I’m Looking Forward to 2025
In addition to leaving Meta products behind, I’m also looking forward to a few movies, shows, and games. I try not to get my hopes up too high, but I know I’ll value distractions wherever I can get them for a few years.
How About You?
I’m trying to invite readers to comment or discuss the article’s topic on Bluesky. Here are three discussion prompts you can Quote Post (reskeet):
Or just keep it simple: What do you think of my list?
Let me know if this seems fun and useful or you have an idea that’d encourage more discussion!