Dec 31, 2025
My Favorite Things
2025
YEAR END LIST YEAR END LIST YEAR END LIST YEAR END LIST
A mysterious spam text that set the tenor for the year.
Not necessarily a list of the best things that came out this year, but the stuff that resonated with me. Hastily assembled for your reading pleasure. Hope you have a knockout start to 2026. Bless.
Favorite Experiences
I got married.
Getting Married
Big news, folks. I'm hitched! One of the cooler experiences of my life and I recommend that everyone tries it at least once. Two thumbs up. Five stars. Well worth the price of admission.
Ashlyn and I first met at an immersive dinner party here in Chicago. Got engaged deep within the skull-lined walls of the Paris Catacombs. And on December 1st, we got married at Sure Thing Chapel in Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada.
As a kid in Ohio, I never thought I'd share a story like that. Littering the globe with memories of a person you love. And it all feels so natural and easy. No wedding day jitters. No cold feet. That's how I know, you know? I hope that you all know someday, too.
Northwestern's Chicago Musical Theater Writing Group
Every time I submit a show for another opportunity (which is too often), I always include my belief that the soil in Chicago is ripe for a new type of musical theatre to take root. Something that exists outside the restrictive aesthetic bounds of Broadway. This year, I got to witness the first sprouts.
Twelve writers, eight shows. Each so artistically unique and yet all linked in their desire to try something different than the norm. Each infecting the other with ideas and inspiring each other to reach a little further than we believed was possible.
It's hard to overstate what a great moment this is for our city and the scene at large. For an institution like Northwestern to help fund and support emerging artists in this community. These opportunities are drying up fast. And if the soil is ripe, we’re finally starting to see some gardeners watering the seeds.
The Northern Lights
I'm not sure if this is some kind of ill-omen for the planet or just a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but the Northern Lights were really popping off this year. As far as I know (which isn't much), there's a solar pattern that's either waxing or waning in frequency, and the most recent geo-storm was a rarity in terms of intensity. I should really look into that more, but I have limited time on this Earth, and I don't need to be an expert in everything, or hell, even an amateur.
What I do know is that I could see the Northern Lights from Chicago. "See" is a strong word, but I definitely looked in its direction. A long exposure on my phone rendered a soft green cloud in the distant north above Lake Michigan. I spent most of my time helping the others who gathered on the Loyola Park pier change their camera settings to see it themselves.
To the naked eye, it was a gray blob. Unremarkable, really. But I felt a sense of genuine community with my neighbors that night. All coming together to try and connect with our strange world. Witness its natural beauty. An organic gathering of hundreds, removed from the inauthentic spectacles of everyday life.
NYC Trip
A spontaneous birthday weekend turned into a mini-vacation with some of my closest friends. I had never really travelled with friends before, at least not at that scale. Really elevates the experience.
Highlights:
- Running into Geoff Keighley at the concession line for Dead Outlaw
- Cole Escola's return to Oh, Mary!
- Orville Peck's frightening twist on the Emcee in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
- America Today by Thomas Hart Benton at The Met
- Eating with Ashlyn in Bryant Park on a beautiful sunny afternoon
- My annual MUJI visit. Why doesn't Chicago have a MUJI?
Favorite Books
A big, honking box set of Glass.
Philip Glass Piano Etudes
I've been chipping away at this collection throughout the year, playing through one etude a month. Currently at the point where it's well beyond my sight-reading skills (I'm not a fantastic pianist). But the accompanying essays are a great supplement. Short and sweet, but offer a great portrait of an artist through his reflection upon others.
McGlue
An impressive debut novel from Otessa Moshfegh’s. She has an incredible way of writing for character, a clear sense of purpose with each page. It's not easy to pull off a first-person depiction of delirium, especially with such an unsympathetic character, but you can still get a strong sense of pain and heartache underneath McGlue's rugged exterior. He is a true product of his time and living conditions. He became a monster because of the surrounding social pressures, whether it be his alcoholism, criminality, or repression.
Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet
Part science journal. Part symposium. A collection of essays and research from a variety of scientists that engage the reader in thinking across disciplines about our dying planet — a reflection of the intermingling systems of life that surround us. Evolution isn't survival of the fittest. It's a cooperative struggle.
Nightmare Alley
Much in line with last year's experience reading What Makes Sammy Run?, an incredibly American novel that exposes the darkest underbelly of this weird hell nation we've created. Our social capital is directly tied with our literal capital which is directly tied to how much we can con out of someone else. Unafraid to wallow in the rotten core of showbusiness. Got a real sense of rhythm and voice. A real point of view.
Favorite Films
The Music Box Theatre, where I see most of my movies.
No Other Land
It's hard for me to give a full, encompassing review of this documentary. The best that I can say is that it's a film that made me want to do something. The worst is that it feels impossible to do anything. In many ways, its an indictment of non-violent activism. Basel and his family are merely able to maintain life for a few decades. Constant rebuilding. Constant struggle. And at the end, they're left with less. It's horribly frustrating.
The relationship between Basel and Yuval is even more contrasted with the brief epilogue. Yuval is free to leave whenever he desires. His Israeli citizenship entitles him to freedom, even despite his harsh criticisms of their treatment of the Palestinians. But Basel is left with nothing. He's a prisoner in his own home. He's over-educated. Over-dedicated. And in the brief few years of production of this documentary, two members of his community are shot, and the town's only school is demolished.
I don't know what to do. I can protest. I can give money. But how does that help these people? Something greater than me needs to change.
The Testament of Ann Lee
A surprisingly sincere musical portrait of an early Shaker prophet. It's a hard one to recommend, but it really hits that emotional core that exists beyond all logic. A very distinct flavor that isn't for everyone's palate. Visually stunning. Musically bold. Extremely dour.
Nickel Boys
There's a version of this movie that would be sort of bog-standard Oscar bait. Thankfully, this takes such an artistic swing that it gives the horrific subject matter some genuinely emotional artistry. The POV shots are more than a gimmick. It helps to see this world through the eyes of the children. This isn't a God-like, bird's eye view, but an intimate and at times frightening fragment of the truth. We can only guess at what's happening just outside of the frame.
In fact, much of the horror of the film is never on screen. The abuse is hidden. Lurking somewhere out in the Florida heat. Perhaps this is the elder Elwood's (or rather, Turner's) way of protecting his psyche.
There are a few moments that stand out to me. I'm still struggling with the intention. One is when Elwood's grandmother hugs Turner. The other is when Turner meets an old fellow student at a bar. Each time, the scene is played in one long take. But there's a brief moment of repetition. A single, innocuous line, as if the actor was resetting. But it was clearly intentional.
High and Low
Saw this for the first time at The Music Box. Wanted to watch it before Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest.
Everything I knew about this film prior to watching was gleaned from the various apartment stills. I was expecting something like 12 Angry Men. Very quickly, I realized it was going to be more like an episode of Law & Order. A crime. An investigation. A few twists and a rousing conclusion. But it diverts again. As the police uncover the details, the scope widens into something that doesn’t quite fit into any genre framework. The title becomes clearer and more significant.
The structure was unconventional. Truly a film in multiple parts. A play-like mystery becomes a city-wide police procedural becomes a grimy exposé on the drug-fueled underbelly of Japan. It becomes increasingly radical in politics and cinematography as the film progresses, earmarked by shock of pink smoke in a fully black and white film. The mirrored sunglasses. The multiple angles of the suspects from the train. Mt Fuji through the mist. It's all so beautifully captured.
Favorite TV Shows
A timely revisit to a classic series.
Mussolini: Son of the Century
A television show that treats itself like cinema. Feels like Joe Wright's magnum opus in a way. A piece of art that actually captures the birth of fascism without veering into tired tropes or well-trod paths, charming you with one hand while beating you senseless with another. It’s like if Moulin Rouge was also Starship Troopers.
John Cena's Farewell Tour
This was actually really bad, but I loved how bad it was. Just a disaster in terms of central planning and storytelling. From the Rock's bizarre throat-slashing gesture to signal Cena's swiftly abandoned heel turn to his anticlimactic final tap out against Gunther, everything was sort of half-assed in a way I found compelling. How can the premier wrestling promotion fumble such a major storyline? How can so many people with so much money put out such a bland product? It's a real synecdoche of the modern media landscape. The hollowing out of the American cultural machine.
Twin Peaks (Rewatch)
I actually started this at the end of 2024, but it spilled over into the beginning of 2025, nearly ending with the death of the great David Lynch. That felt somewhat meaningfully coincidental, but it's hard to take too much stock in that idea. But that very idea is something that David Lynch believed in quite deeply. It informs so much of his work, including this one.
Much has been written about Twin Peaks, and it feels pointless to reiterate that here. What I did find remarkable this time around was how much it scared me. How truly horrifying some of the images presented were. The final episode of the original series is so unlike anything I had seen before or since. Unbelievable that this aired the year before I was born, and on a major network at that.
And The Return, my God, I cannot believe that it aired on television. It feltso raw. Straight from a creative mind and without studio involvement. An intricate puzzle box of a television show whose only key is somewhere deep within the brain of David Lynch. It’s something you feel, not something you solve.
Favorite Comic Books
A psychedelic twist on a classic DC hero.
Absolute Martian Manhunter
Every page of this thing is incredible. Just firing on all cylinders. Mind-bending panels. Psychologically complex storytelling. And grappling with some real heavy material. I don't really give a shit about Martian Manhunter, but this is well worth the money. A real antidote to John Cena's Retirement in that it shows how real artists can create something impactful and revolutionary within the shell of the major media machine.
The Death-Ray
The best deconstruction of the modern superhero genre, and one that predates the height of the craze. A funny twist on the classic origin story: an orphan is gifted a powerful Death Ray by his late father after he discovers his latent superpowers through smoking cigarettes. But that's about where the comedy stops.
He's endlessly lonely. Bullied at school. Forgotten by his long-distance girlfriend. Watching his grandfather succumb to dementia. His only friend is in fact quite mean, too. His super strength is terrifyingly powerful. His Death Ray has horrific implications. And though he promises to never use either for evil, he frequently gives in to abusing it to settle a few personal vendettas.
It's the true dark side of vigilantism. How power corrupts even the smallest of us.
It's Lonely at the Center of the Earth
A great work from a singular artist that is upsettingly younger than me. A real testament to voice and talent and how even the most personal of stories can be universal. Wish I was as courageous as Zoe when I was her age. Wish I was as courageous now.
Favorite Theatre
Dead Outlaw
Ashlyn and I got tickets to this on a whim after some great reviews but before the Tony nominations came out. I avoided spoiling myself too much prior. Wanted to go in as fresh as possible.
And boy, were we blown away! The opening number alone had us hollering for more. It felt like something that would come out of the Chicago scene. Rugged and raw, a little edge, but still with some heart.
Part alt-country concert, part Moth reading, part traditional stage musical. It's not something that's going to win the hearts of the Broadway crowd, which was why I was so surprised. It's a little too ironic. A little too different. It's not avant-garde by any means, but it was just a little too left-of-center for the tourists. Which is a damn shame.
The First Annual Inaugural Grief Awards
Vulnerability is a super power. My dear friend Andreas Tsironis is blessed with this gift.
Part memory play, part parody. A send-up of schlocky awards shows, self-therapy, and denial, all filtered through his own very real struggle with the recent loss of his father. Not sure if I would be able to write something as honest. Bold as hell.
It truly moved the audience to tears. That’s a hard thing to do. The finale sequence was a genuine gut-punch. Joke dense. Heartbreaking. A remarkable feat.
Consider: Consider the Lobster
Caught this show at the Neo-Futurists early in the year and have thought a lot about it since.
A staged reading of David Foster Wallace’s seminal essay on the ethics of lobster boiling, punctuated with stunts, gags, and personal anecdotes from the performers that skewer both Wallace and the performance itself. This wasn’t a love letter to Wallace, but it also wasn’t really a full take-down of him either. It was more of a reflection on ego and celebrity and the way we talk about art. Or maybe it was all a big joke. Or maybe it was genuinely sincere. Or maybe it wasn’t meant to be thought about much at all.
But I have!
Favorite Albums
YHWH Nailgun - 45 Pounds
Feels like a step forward in a genre that I'm not even sure is a genre. Every track has some kind of new sound to dig into. Inspirational in its aggression. Dense and textured but also somehow very straightforward. I want more.
Dijon - Baby
Somehow both forward-thinking and nostalgic. Vintage R&B songwriting with that modern glitched-out near-falling-apart production technique. And while Mk.gee has unfortunately made every Gen Z guitarist try to sound Like That, it still hits.
Chris Thile - Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 2
On the other end of the production spectrum, so much of this album was recorded in single takes out in public spaces. Tompkins Square Park in NYC. A wooden cabin on a Tennessee farm. It's exposed and honest and personal. No studio magic or post-production sheen. Just an artist engaging with Bach in his own way. Not sure if this is the end of this project for Chris Thile, but I hope he continues. Hopefully sooner than another 12 years.
Favorite Games
Another fantastic notebook game.
Blue Prince
An empty house with an ever-shifting arrangement of rooms, full of nested puzzles and mysteries to uncover. I like to put this into the category of “Notebook Games.” Video games that necessitate a trail of real-life paperwork to play. Cryptograms and logic puzzles and a healthy dose of random chance. My camera roll is still full of screen-grabs.
But the best part of these notebook games to me are playing along with someone else. Ashlyn and I spent hours sifting through each puzzle. One person would “drive,” the other would take notes. It made each run that much better. Each solution that much sweeter. Working together to solve the mysteries inside the endless mansion. Dying to get into the elusive Room 46.
This is a great game for those who aren’t video game-inclined. No enemies to shoot or reaction time tests. Just you and your brain.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
A time-consuming game that improves on nearly every aspect of the original. The gameplay is tighter and the onboarding process is quick and streamlined. While the first game luxuriated in the player's misery, this one offers them more choice. It's a delivery sandbox. Moving from point A to point B is no longer an arduous task, but an expression of style.
The first game was about the importance of human connection, and had a fairly optimistic view of technology's role in that. This game, however, was clearly influenced by the Covid pandemic, and has taken on a more cautious stance on our ever-present tech overlords. The emotional through-line is a little muddied. Grief casts a large shadow over our crew. Though it never quite hits as hard as the first game, I still found the ending to be very emotionally resonant.
Kojima sort of operates in the same way as David Lynch. He thinks in set-pieces and ideas, but arranges them in a loose, illogical manner. Plot developments are connected through vibes and theme, not necessarily purpose.