Our Favorite Things from 2020

Year in Review
Written By Joel

A few days before the end of the year I’ll send Jenn an e-mail (ironic this year since we work a couple feet from each other) with a template to fill out for our favorite things. I make sure not to read hers before I write mine up so we don’t influence each others list. Being together for nearly two decades its not that surprising that our lists usually sound similar and this year is no exception. And so without further ado here are our favorite things from 2020.

Favorite TV Show

Jenn - The Great

What can I say, the show really lived up to its title! I couldn’t have been more captivated by this show. It had all the right ingredients - humor, romance, and drama - everything about it was witty and a delight to watch. The acting was fantastic, and the actors expertly transported me into their era and life. And even though I was routing on Catherine in her plot to kill Peter, I also hated how much I adored Peter’s character. If you are looking for a good satire, look no further, because this show is truly great. Huzzah!

Joel - Ted Lasso

If there was ever a year where I needed a positive, uplifting, life-affirming view on the world it was 2020. And no show better encapsulated than the beauty of humanity than Ted Lasso. On its surface it sounds like a run of the mill weeknight comedy on NBC, an American football coach gets a job coaching a premier league “football” team in the UK. But at its core, Ted Lasso is a show about loving life and being a beacon of hope for others. It’s a beautiful show and one that I’ve thought about extensively in 2020. I adore Ted Lasso. In a lot of ways, Ted Lasso is who I want to be. What a show!

Favorite Political Satire

Jenn - The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

This is not on the approved list Joel sent, ha, but my choice is The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. I have loved him since I started watching The Colbert Report over 15 years ago. He is what got me into political satire to begin with. As I write this, I’m going to commit (when this pandemic is all over), to go see him live at the Ed Sullivan Theatre in NYC. If there was ever a year to have his wit, empathy and brilliance, it was this year. His monologues were a light in what was a dark tunnel. The emotions, feelings and humor he displayed at the start of and during this pandemic brought such needed joy to my soul. Plus his take on our entire election season… although cliche, I laughed and cried with him. And when it was all said and done, I couldn’t be more proud to sit back and smile with him when Biden and Harris finally won. While I will always adore the newcomers like Oliver and Noah, Colbert will always have a special place in my heart.

Joel - Last Week Tonight

This category might be getting a little stale considering I haven’t changed my vote here since John Oliver started his show on HBO. In a year that both Jenn and I started to grow tired of the political grind to November, Last Week Tonight was the one show we kept coming back to. Although the majority of his show focused this year on Trump’s complete lack of interest in containing COVID-19, there were still hilarious moments and thought-provoking segments on topics that we knew nothing about, all done from the white void that is his home office.

Favorite Movie

Jenn - Palm Springs

Since it was such an unconventional year, I am going to do something a bit unconventional with my response. I am going to map these into Oscar-like categories, because I can’t just pick one.

Fav (New) Movie this Year: Palm Springs (Romantic comedy + time travel = love, love, love)

Fav (Rewatched) Movie: You’ve Got Mail (I think this might be my favorite of all time and may nudge out Titanic from its #1 spot, if not, its pretty close.)

Fav (New) Animated Movie: Soul (Joel and I question the validity of this (and many of Pixar’s movies) as a “kid” film. Regardless, it’s very deep and moving, and has great music.)

Fav (Rewatched) Animated Movie: The Grinch (I didn’t give this love last year when I first watched it, but this just gives me all the feels. The animation, music, story…go watch it.)

Fav Story: JoJo Rabbit (Extremely clever story, and so well acted.)

Fav Adapted Screenplay: Enola Park (What a joy to watch. I wish more movies came out like this when I was a little girl. I love seeing leading heroines.)

Fav Woody Allen Feature Film: A Rainy Day in New York (Say what you will about the man, but his movies are genius, and this one is no exception. I love his story arcs, and this movie, in particular, made me fall in love with NYC all over again.)

Joel - Palm Springs

It’s rare that a movie will surprise and delight me as much as Palm Springs did this summer. A movie directed by Max Barbakow and starring Andy Sandberg, Cristin Milioti, and JK Simmons it's a movie that takes lots of nods from Groundhog’s Day where Andy Sandberg’s character is still in an infinite loop. It's a very clever, well-acted, and well-produced movie that I found to be equal parts charming and witty. It’s not my strongest “favorite movie of the year” pick but that could be because many movies were pushed to 2021 due to the pandemic. 

Favorite Live Performance

Jenn - A Solider’s Play

Sadly, there wasn’t a lot of options to choose from this year, not for lack of trying. We started the year strong - in fact, I had achieved a triple header in March by seeing three plays in a week! But once the pandemic hit - like with everything else - the theatre went silent. Luckily, we saw an incredible play, called Soldiers Play before C-19 really hit. I actually can distinctively remember hearing people cough in the theatre and wondering if we should even be there….but it didn’t stop us from enjoying this amazing performance. To put it into one word, the show was captivating. So much so I forget how uncomfortable the seats were (very rare), and instead, was transported into a whole other world.

I would also be remiss not to mention the incredible experience of viewing our first-ever Opera at the Met earlier this year: Porgy and Bess. Even though I didn’t figure out the translation was on the chair in front of me until 2 hours into the 4-hour event, I truly enjoyed each second, and I can’t wait to continue my exposure and love of the Opera when it returns to the stage.

Finally, I have to give an honorable mention to The Christmas Carol we watched on TV this year. I can’t recall who the company was in NY, but the one-man performance by this extremely talented gentleman was jaw-dropping. How we transformed from one character to the next, and how the stage transformed with him during each act was flawless.

Joel - A Soldier’s Play

This is not to disparage my pick for favorite live performance of 2020, but just to be realistic. I loved A Soldier’s Play the second to last play we saw before broadway closed for the remainder of 2020, but had we had a full season of theater I am not sure it would have ended the year as my favorite. Regardless of the beauty of this stage performance is something that I’ve harkened back to several times throughout 2020. The acting was powerful and the script divine, it’s what I love most about live theater. You could feel the power in the voices on stage and I’ll never forget it.

I cannot wait to go back and see live shows again.

Favorite Song or Artist

Jenn - Reckless Love by Bethel Music

I can’t tell you how many times I played this song on repeat this year: Reckless Love by Bethel Music. I heard an adaptation of it during one of our Mariners services at the start of the pandemic, and it moved my heart. It’s been an anthem for me this year. I will confess, I have a lot of survivor’s guilt from my job, my health, and our family circumstances. It’s been challenging for me mentally and emotionally to say the least. But this song is my constant reminder that God is with me, he loves me, and watches over me - even though I am one in a million and beyond underserving.

“Before I spoke a word
You were singing over me
You have been so, so good to me
Before I took a breath
You breathed your life in me
You have been so, so kind to me
The overwhelming, never-ending
Reckless love of God
It chases me down
Fights ‘til I’m found
Leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn’t earn it
I don’t deserve it
Still you give yourself away”

Joel - All my Days by Alexi Murdoch

This song is not new, in fact it was released over 15 years ago. But as the gyms closed again this fall here in Orange County I’ve been forced to start running outside and listening to music rather than taking Peloton classes on the treadmill. One of the songs that came up early and often during my runs was All my Days by Alexi Murdoch. It’s a song that’s not about anything I’m going through now, its about finding his love that he’s been searching for. But there’s a few lines at the beginning of the song that always hit me hard with 2020 and the pandemic.

“I’ve been walking on
All of my days
And I’ve been tryna find
What’s been in my mind
As the days keep turning into night”

And every time I hear those lines I find myself thinking about this year and how I’m searching for a return to pre-pandemic life and I realize that I have everything I need and could ever want right here with me, with Jenn and Frasier. I’ve gotten emotional a few times while running listening to this song so it is my favorite of 2020.

Favorite Game (Or Board Game)

Jenn - Werewolves and Villagers

I introduced this game during our Friendsgiving this year, and it continues to be one of my favorites. It’s called Werewolves and Villagers. I first played it at a CK team building event, and was hooked. I love the ease of it, but also the fun of in trying to deceive others. I would play this more if it didn’t require so many people!

Joel - The Last of Us Part II

It’s a game world that I am fully invested in, something that has become rarer overtime for me. There are times in my life where I find myself growing apart from the video game industry and games like The Last of Us Part II remind me why I fell in love with video games so many years ago. This is a game that’s built on story and character development and I’ve never connected more with characters in video games than I have in both entries in The Last of Us series. This game wrecked me emotionally and is one that will easily be in my favorite games of all time.

Favorite Book

Jenn - Stories that Stick by Kindra Hall

While I had a couple of false starts with a few books, I am proud to say I finished one book this year (even if I literally cut it down to the wire)! The book is called Stories that Stick by Kindra Hall. Luckily, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and have already started implementing some of its framework and practices into my job. I’m super fortunate that my work gives me a stipend for learning, and so I have started using that money to purchase more business books. I know this for some may sound crazy, but I love reading business books. Truly love it. My goal in 2021 is to read a chapter from a book every night. With that I hope to be able to share a lot of great wisdom with you at the end of next year.

Joel - The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

I will say of any category this year, my favorite book was by far the toughest. I read 40 books in 2020 and on my GoodReads account, 11 of them I gave a perfect score. When it was all said and done it came down to four books, with The Pillars of the Earth just narrowly squeaking out my favorite. I love historical fiction, and I love epic novels. This is both of those things and weaves such a compelling narrative that I found myself swooning over every word of it. I’ve been wanting to read this book for years but the length and subject always felt like it might draw on for too long, but I couldn’t put it down and I finished this 1,000 page behemoth in less then a few weeks. A beautiful novel.

My very close runner ups are A Promised Land by Barack Obama, Caste by Isabel Wilkerson and American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins.

Favorite Purchase

Jenn - Mercedes GLC 300

I am not sure if this counts, but it is something Joel got me for Christmas. This may be scandalous for some to write down, but I am the proud owner of my first ever La Perla lingerie. These pieces are hand-sewn in Italy and are the most comfortable undergarments you could ever imagine (and extremely sexy on top of that). It’s something I have been wanting for a very long time (like business class tickets), and it made me so happy to finally accomplish that goal.

Something else I was super proud of purchasing this year was our Mercedes GLC 300. Proud because Joel and I bought a car that he and I worked hard to get to a point in our life where the cost, maintenance and ownership of owning such a vehicle is easily manageable for us. Even though it has its luxury car quirks, I adore this car. It’s spacious, luxurious and ostentatious (I mean, it shines its huge logo on the floor when parked!), and driving it feels like you’re sailing. I don’t know how long we will keep it, and how useful it will be for us in NYC, but having it here in SoCal has been a dream come true.

Joel - Somm Select Wine Club

I’ve never cooked more in my life then in 2020. With the pandemic and restaurants closing we’ve been forced to eat at home far more than ever before. What goes great with home cooked meals? Great wine. After falling out of love with the WSJ Wine Club I found Somm Select a more expensive wine club that we get a mix of wines each month from (usually 4-6 at a time). Along with the wine they provide descriptions of what you're drinking, why it's special, and when the best time to drink it is. We have fallen in love with so many wines that we would have never seen before had it not been for this service. It’s been a great addition to our lives in 2020.

Favorite Memory

Jenn - 2020 Election / Vote Center

You’ve heard me talk about my mom before, she was incredible. She was an activist, a feminist, and believed in equality for everyone. She instilled in me a passion for justice, showed me what empathy truly looks like, and was always finding ways to give back to the community. Not only are these just some of the reasons I love and admire her, I believe her impact on me is why I was able to have this unforgettable (and probably life-changing) memory this year.

Being outraged by the acts of our President for the past four years, and especially this year, is an understatement. Watching him strip women of their rights, condoning racial injustice and xenophobia, and letting our country burn in his wake - it angered me at my core. I had to do whatever I could to get people out to vote, and hopefully as a result, get him out of office. I won’t go into much detail, as I’m sure their will be many books and movies about this election (and period in our lives) - I will just say in 2020 we were facing a very dark time in our democracy (not to say that it’s entirely over).

In late October and early November of this year I signed up to work at a vote center. For 12 hours every day for almost a week (wearing a mask, a face shield, gloves, and putting hand sanitizer on almost every hour), I interacted with over 2,000 people to help them register and cast their vote. This process opened my eyes to our democratic system (and frankly how well organized and incredible it is), and helped me find compassion for those whose views don’t 100% match my own. It allowed me to work with some of the most amazing people, and it became a defining moment in my life: I have never felt more fulfilled.

I’m proud and happy to say that on November 7, those long days and hard work paid off. Biden won the election, and I was brought to tears. Much of the nation felt the same way, as thousands of people took to the streets dancing, singing and celebrating. Our authoritarian rule was over. The evil and darkness that lurked in our country the past four years was finally lifting. I remember rushing home to Joel (I was in San Diego with my Dad for some awesome father-daughter time), and giving him the biggest hug. We popped champagne (the one we had saved for Hillary’s win four years ago) - and for the first time - in a very long time - I felt hopeful.

Joel - Joe Biden Winning the Election

For much of the summer and fall Jenn and I volunteered and donated money to Joe Biden’s campaign. It’s something we’ve been passionate about since 2016 and when the announcement was finally made that Joe Biden would be the next President both Jenn and I were overcome with emotion. I’ll never forget popping the Mumm’s we had saved for the 2016 election and watching both Joe Biden and his VP Kamala Harris giving their acceptance speeches in front of their fans sitting in cars distancing due to COVID-19. It was a moment that Jenn and I had worked so hard to see happen and even now as I write this are very grateful to have witnessed and been a very small part of.

I do have a second one (I know this is cheating a bit) but flying back from New York to LAX when we decided to move back as a respite from COVID-19 in NYC is something I’ll never forget. We were so worried about bringing Frasier on a plane but he slept with me in my business class chair for almost the entire flight and cuddling with me like that gave I think both of us a little peace in that moment. It’s something I’ll cherish forever.

Joel

https://www.worldofjoel.com
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Jenn's “Not So” Quick Year-in-Review 2020
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Ranking the TV We Watched in 2020