2010: the reckoning (part 1).

Technology.

No new technology in 2010. In fact, we have moved one old television out of circulation (dreaded blue screen of death), moved another old television into circulation, briefly considered and rejected the idea of getting another, better, More Modern television (rejected . . . but the idea may still be hanging around in someone's mind).

No new computers--well, a replacement for my MacBook Pro (work computer), the first one of which got a crack in its screen because someone--well, me--dropped it. On the driveway. But anyway, I have a new one. It is just as awesome as the old one. In fact, more awesome, because: no crack.

But speaking of television:

We loved and watched Modern Family, Big Bang Theory, 30 Rock, The Closer, Damages, Mad Men, and The Good Wife this year. And by the way: The Good Wife is just so good. If you have not picked it up, I highly recommend it.

Also, this year I watched every single episode of Lost, in the course of about two months. It made me obsessed and heartsick; I watched the ending and wept. Alone. And I have still not had the conversation--not with anyone!--to help me understand what that show did to me. C'est la vie, I guess.

In music:

I bought or (legally) downloaded the following this year. I asterisked* the ones I really liked and recommend. Some of these, honestly, I haven't listened to sufficiently to say anything about.

• Mary Halvorsen Quintet, Saturn Sings
• Mike Reed's Loose Assembly, Empathetic Parts
• Dan Tepfer with Lee Konitz, Duos with Lee
• Jane Jensen, Comic Book Whore (because of this one killer song in an episode of The Good Wife)
• Elton John and Leon Russell, The Union*
• Leonard Cohen, Songs for the Road*
• Martha Wainwright, Sans Fusils, Ni Souliers*
• Mandrill, Mandrill (I used to check this LP out of the library about a million times when I was a teenager)
• Cowboy Junkies, Rarities, B-Sides, and Slow Sad Waltzes*
• The Magnetic Fields, Get Lost
• Philip Glass, Piano Music*
• Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
• Sufjan Stevens, The Age of Adz*
• The Bad Plus, Never Stop*
• Mavis Staples, You are Not Alone*
• Of Montreal, False Priest
• Robert Plant, Band of Joy*
• The Best of Kurtis Blow*
• Weezer, Pinkerton
• Rufus Wainwright, Milwaukee At Last!!
• Marc Cohn, Listening Booth (1970)*
• Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Come on Back*
• Brandi Carlile, Give Up the Ghost*
• Sleigh Bells, Treats
• Band of Horses, Laredo
• Kris Kristofferson, Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends
• Battle Studies, John Mayer
• Wyclef Jean, The Ecleftic
• Gorillaz, Plastic Beach*
• Rufus Wainwright, All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu*
• Rosanne Cash, The List
• The Weepies, Say I Am You
• Paul Motian, Lost in a Dream*
• Lyle Lovett, Step Inside this House
• the bird and the bee, Interpreting the Masters Vol. I: Daryl Hall and John Oates
• John Hiatt, The Open Road
• Brad Paisley, American Saturday Night
• Mos Def, The Ecstatic*
• The Black Crowes, Before the Frost . . . Until the Freeze
• Charlotte Gainsbourg, IRM*
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It's Blitz
• Vampire Weekend, Contra
• Stacey Kent, Breakfast on the Morning Tram
• Rachael Yamagata, Elephants . . . Teeth Sinking Into Heart
• Justin Townes Earle, Harlem River Blues; Midnight at the Movies
• Frontier Ruckus, Deadmalls and Nightfalls; The Orion Songbook*
• Esperanza Spalding, Chamber Music Society
• Animal Collective, Meriweather Post Pavilion*
• Girl Talk, Feed the Animals

But what about live music, you say? Well,

• The Sufjan Stevens show was epic.
• We heard the Yellowjackets at our jazz series, and it was a great show, as was Frank Vignola's set. And honestly, John Pizzarelli was great as well.
• I feel I am forgetting something here. What is it?

Tomorrow, I reflect upon the movies. And also my character. Wait for it.