No, you don’t get a car, and you don’t get a car, and you don’t get a car. Instead, today’s post — and the final one of 2018 — will highlight a few of my favorite things from this year. These are categories that weren’t featured in my BTR Year in Numbers post last Friday. Go ahead and give that a read if you’re curious about my favorite movies, books and blog posts. Onward!
Favorite TV Series of 2018
To be totally fair, Atypical isn’t exactly a “new” show for 2018. I’d known about it for some time and lined it up on my Netflix queue, but never got around to it until now. And it’s terrific. While it has received a mixed response from the autism community, I appreciate the complex characters and heartfelt story.
Runners-up for my favorite TV series of 2018 include Aggretsuko (which I mentioned back in the summer), Kim’s Convenience and This Is Us. We’re still working our way through the second season of This Is Us, actually.
Favorite Video Game of 2018
Between professional responsibilities and daddy duties, I don’t have nearly as much time to play video games as I once had. While I spent more the year getting in random spurts of Fallout Shelter, easily my personal game of the year is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch. And I’ve only had it for less than a month.
With a roster of over 70 diverse characters, simple yet deep control dynamics, and thoroughly satisfying Final Smash attacks like Giga Bowser above, Smash Bros. Ultimate is a complete package. I haven’t even touched the “World of Light” story mode yet!
Favorite Album of 2018
To be perfectly honest, I’m not totally hip to all the latest artists these days. Kendrick Lamar, however, has stood head and shoulders above the rest. When I heard that he’d be putting together Black Panther: The Album as the soundtrack to the Marvel movie, I was stoked. And he totally lived up to expectations. It’s no wonder that this is the FOURTH time Kendrick has received an Album of the Year Grammy nomination.
Notable runners-up include Dark All Day by GUNSHIP (love that tech noir vibe) and Sweetener by Ariana Grande (the best and hardest year of her career).
Favorite Tech of 2018
The Google Pixel 3 XL is not without its issues. As much as I love having a flagship phone as my daily driver, it hasn’t been a total game changer for me. That is until Google unlocked the Night Sight camera mode. It’s no exaggeration to say that it can literally see in the dark. Low light situations are challenging even for the best of cameras, and Night Sight really captures what was once almost uncapturable.
Two of my other favorite things from the world of tech this year are the 2nd-generation Echo Show (I play Jeopardy almost every day on it!) and the Mayflash Magic-NS adapter. The latter is how I can use my Xbox 360 controller on the Nintendo Switch.
Favorite YouTube Channel of 2018
There are a small handful of YouTubers who I (try to) follow religiously. While I’ve missed a Casey Neistat or a Sara Dietschy video here or there, I don’t think I’ve missed one from Dan Mace. Peter McKinnon is certainly up there too, and I enjoy following Tairalyn Ciulla and Wheezy Waiter too.
But if I had to pick just one YouTube channel as my favorite, it’d have to be Iz Harris. What’s curious is that she got started as a YouTuber even before she really started watching YouTube. Go figure. She tackles technical tutorials like in her introduction to storyboarding, but it’s the personal stories that really hit home. Talking about her depression was particularly moving. So good. So very good.
That’s it, folks. By the time some of you read this, it might already be 2019. Looking back, what were some of your favorite things of 2018?
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