Hello, friends! I enjoyed things last year, and what would the internet be if I didn't use it to share neat things with you?

The Way Way Back was a lovely little movie. Kid with dysfunctional family manages to find his swagger by going to a water park. More quirky/indie comedies set in water parks, please! This one, written by Jim Rash, deftly walks the line between a downer and an unrealistic ending. Sam Rockwell has some fantastic lines delivered with aplomb too!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1727388/

A Deepness in the Sky is fantastic sci-fi by Vernor Vinge. Cryogenic sleep during sub-light speed, interstellar travel; authoritarian vs. market regimes; a human-like civilization of spiders; a star that only burns for a few decades out of every two centuries; sustaining civilization despite humankind's tendency towards self-destruction; humans working with computers to perfection; any of these ideas would stand as the center of a book alone. Vinge manages to weave them all together coherently without neglecting any of them. He does so without my current storytelling pet peeve: needless character endangerment. This has unseated Cryptonomicon as my favorite sci-fi novel. Big shoes to fill!

http://www.amazon.com/A-Deepness-Sky-Vernor-Vinge/dp/0812536355

And of course, music! Prince had a couple nice singles this year. The Roots and Elvis Costello collaborated on an album that marked off two squares on my musical bingo card. I came across a band from Denton called Midlake that has a pretty neat little sonic landscape. Janelle Monáe's album was lovely. All this (and more!) collected in this playlist:

http://rd.io/x/QFWiLx616g/

I hope 2014 finds you well, possibly enjoying one of these things, and finding much to enjoy in the people, places, and things around you!

Your pal,

~akk